My Pith pen for Bernie

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Brooks803

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This has been the hardest thing for me to turn EVER! It's made from this stuff:
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I believe it's called Parallam (link to the wiki: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parallam). This thing was like turning a herringbone that hadn't had enough glue. Look at it the wrong way and a piece flies off, sneeze in the proximity and a piece flys off, turn the lathe off while it's on the madrel...a piece flys off (anyone notice a pattern here?). Hence the reason for the Oops bands. I only needed 1 but it looked uneven so I parted off the other side to balance it out. I used 2 whole bottles of thin CA just to get it turned down. I'd take 2 LIGHT cuts and then have to soak it in CA, it took a couple days to get finished turning. Put on my CA finish and polished it up with some PlastX. Thanks for looking!

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warreng8170

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Feb 6, 2008
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Hey Jonathon, It sounds like your PITH pen turned into a PITA pen :biggrin: I must say it came out great though. I also agree that the opps bands adds some contrast to the pen. I am picturing it without them and definitely prefer your version.
 

Lenny

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THAT is Very Cool! :cool:

I got out of framing a decade ago and have never used any of the engineered wood .... but now that I know what else it's good for ....:):)
 

sbwertz

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May 11, 2010
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I got a couple of those blanks in a blank swap about a year ago. I was still a very beginning turner, and I simply couldn't turn them! I gave up after the fourth or fifth time I had to glue it back together.
 

Brooks803

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Thats a great looking pen. I see some of that material being cast in the near future????

I actually did cast the piece that made this pen. The really dark spots is where the PR got in to. Overall it didn't do a great job. Because of how this stuff is made there are tons of air pockets that the PR just couldn't get to. If I ever come across some of this stuff again I have some better ideas as to how to approach it.


I got a couple of those blanks in a blank swap about a year ago. I was still a very beginning turner, and I simply couldn't turn them! I gave up after the fourth or fifth time I had to glue it back together.

Lol...I know your pain and suffering! :eek: Maybe one day you'll give it another go. I know I had a hard time packing this pen to send off to Bernie. I wanted to keep it bc of all I went through to get it made.
 

cnirenberg

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Jan 26, 2004
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Jonathon,
That is one cool looking pen. I saw this stuff before and was hesitant to turn it due to all the voids. I guess I really didn't want it bad enough. I wonder if something like Curtis' Cactus juice would help to stabilize the blank prior to PR casting as a worthless wood. Just wondering. The finished product is spectacular.
 

RHossack

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Nov 24, 2006
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Liberty Lake, WA, USA.
I really like the look of that ...

I need to see if I can find some of that to test my patience ...

OH! ... I'm married, I have learned to have plenty of patience over the years.
 

Brooks803

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Jonathon,
That is one cool looking pen. I saw this stuff before and was hesitant to turn it due to all the voids. I guess I really didn't want it bad enough. I wonder if something like Curtis' Cactus juice would help to stabilize the blank prior to PR casting as a worthless wood. Just wondering. The finished product is spectacular.

I was actually thinking the same thing about the cactus juice. I'm actually going to look for some more of this stuff :beat-up:. I just bought a small vacum pump so next thing is the chamber. I'm gonna wait a bit to place that order though. Curtis has alot going on right now.

With your casting skills, You couldn't fake a pine looking blank??? Great looking been though.

Lol...I have made some that look like wood before, but I wanted to stick "close" to the rules. This was pine & construction materials so I thought it'd be perfect. A bit outside the box and a pain to deal with, but fun.
 
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