A great idea and nice job. I have done a few rattlesnake skins and have the separation more times than not. Usually it happens before turning but has happened while assembling the pen. If you work it out, please let me know what you did. The separation has been very frustrating.
What i think i should have done was to take some 220-320 grit sandpaper to the section being pressed in, and lightly sand the plating off. But it is also possible that the resin was not 100% cured on the inside of the blank. It might have been slightly soft. I wont rule that out yet till i check into it more thoroughly.
Yup... I have had that S#$T happen with feathers. Great looking pen though. What words came out of your mouth as you pressed the fitting in.
as it was happening, prolly: .......well son - of - a .........but i wouldnt have completed that saying. I really work on not saying bad words anymore. I used to cuss like a sailor, but i figured i wasnt setting a very good example to others by doing so.
Did you polish the Indian head cent, or buy a copper-red one?
The penny came to me just slightly darker, but not much, then i took the dremel wire wheel to it to shine it up a bit.
Looks awesome Seamus! I have also had that separation doing snakeskins and other castings. Most often it occurs when I press the components in. I think, in my case anyway, it's just the pressure against it.
Thanks Jennifer! My thinking here is that the resin may have been just slightly tacky right above the skin(like maybe it wasnt fully hardened.) I dont really know, but if this were the case then it would make sense because as i pressed in the component, if it were slightly larger from too much plating then it would cause expansion of the tube, which would then press into the resin . this is really difficult to describe without having an example to show in person.
Thank you for all your comments as well. I have always made it a goal of mine to master the art of snakeskin casting, Huge thanks to a good friend CaptG (Gary Nicholls) for helping me break through some of my barriers!