Burls and Beans

[karlkuehn]

Been playing with some Carbera kits. I really like these pens, they show off the blanks well, are simple to assemble, and fit together better than the Sierras (IMO). Kits are from Berea (via Ernie at Bear Tooth)

Michigan Black Cherry Burl with bright copper Carbera and Mylands 3-step finish:

Ultramarine Blue Dyed Box Elder Burl with chrome Carbera and CA/BLO finish:

My wife is the manager of a Starbucks satellite, so I wanted to make something unique for her. Every one is casting grape nuts, shredded wheat, corn cobs, rice, THEIR PARENTS ASHES (gah![]), so I figured I'd be able to pull off some coffee beans. Turned out even better than I'd hoped!

Coffee Beans cast in pearlized resin with shredded gold leaf, polished to MM 12000, plastic polish and micro wax. Kit is a satin copper Carbera. :

 

[johncrane]

Nice looking pens Karl the last one sure is different well done.[]

 

[rhahnfl]

I too think they show off the blanks well. Especially when done with corn cobs.

 

[Ligget]

Lovely work on all Karl![]

 

[drayman]

very nice karl, keep it up.

 

[kkwall]

Lovely pens, and great photo's. Love the coffee bean ones.[8D][]

 

[guts]

Karl,great job on all of them but the first one really stands out.

 

[GaryMGg]

Nice work Karl.

 

[winpooh498]

Very nice!
I have a block of "coffee beans" in the shop right now. Did you use a pressure pot? did you have a problem with floating? We don't have a PP and the beans floated so much that we had to put a piece of wood on top with a weight. I have tried to turn one blank from the block and my bean kept popping out, I am going to try again today.
Great job on them all!

 

[louisbry]

Great pens. I like the first one the best. The coffee bean one kinda unique. Did the beans cut through and if so did you stabalize them with CA?

 

[johnnycnc]

Kewl beans,Karl!Nice job on all,but
the beans are my pick.[]

 

[karlkuehn]

Yeah, the beans tried to float, so I weighted them down with a piece of wood as well. The pressure/vac pot helped to push the resin into the beans pretty well. The smell was wonderful while I was turning the pen, and I even considered not putting a finish on to keep the pen like a scratch and sniff, but in the end, I used a finish on them. []

While I was turning, I didn't have any problems with the beans popping out, but I had also degreased them well before casting. They're pretty oily coming out of the bag. Really sharp tools helps, too!