Abstract: A method and apparatus for forming a drum handling ring having an inverted frustoconical geometry to facilitate engagement of a conventional parrot beak gripper with the ring. The end of an advancing, straight strip of heated thermoplastic material, continuously provided by an extrusion head, is fed at a first location to the circular periphery of a continuously rotating, large diameter turntable where the strip is clamped thereto and then cooled so that the clamped portion of the strip thermally sets into an arcuate shape corresponding to the periphery of the turntable. At a second location diametrically opposed to the first, the now arcuate end portion of the strip is unclamped and guided away from the turntable periphery to a cutting station where the continuously advancing strip is cut into arcuate pieces each having an arc length generally corresponding to the desired circumference of a drum handling ring.