rattlesnake pen

[edstreet]

this is a rhodium euro twist pen I finished last night.

The blank I bought for it. I was very hesitant to use it as I was not sure what to expect or how it would look in the end.

After a slow progress, slow to not botch it and figure out how the material is I was super happy in the end. I used mostly my belt sander to rough round it, a roughing gouge to true it then 30 grit cloth paper to shape it, a parting tool for the tenion then 60, 220, 800 and 2500 grit paper. From there it was on to Novus #2 then #1 with a paper towel, then finished with water and finger polishing. Had to do more horizontal sanding than with stabilized wood, mostly with 2500 and the Novus.

The look is outstanding deep. It looks super deep and detailed plus you don't really see the epoxy covering unless you hold it at an angle and the light reflects on it (some of the images you can see it) I am also impressed with the magnification effects the encasing has on it.

I decided to get some good closeup photo's as well. This is the bottom

Top, note the center band is *NOT* glued in place, it's just sitting there.

some reflection here and you can see the encasing material in the middle on both the top and bottom.

The only bad thing I have to say about this is I had to reglue one of the tubes. I was squaring the end and it came out, I used my loctite 324 speed bonder and it wont be coming out ever again.

Ed

 

[Radman]

Very nice! Great photography, great pen. Almost looks like fish scales up close.
[8D]

 

[Stevej72]

Ed, you did a great job with that pen. Very nice photography as well.

 

[Rifleman1776]

Outstanding. Great photography also.

 

[NavyDiver]

Great job with the pen and the photos!

 

[its_virgil]

I think this is the first snakeskin I remember seeing built on the euro. Probably not, but... Nice choice of kit and the finish is a good selection also. Good photos! I'm sick my DSLR (rebel) is broken...[!]
Do a good turn daily!
Don

 

[edstreet]

Don,

So far I do not turn daily. I am doing around 1-2 a week, mostly on the weekends, but when I can see the final product I will go turn it as soon as I can.

I have a 300d (digital rebel) with a sigma 50mm 1:1 macro lens and a photogenic PL1250 monolight with a light tent.

Ed

 

[edstreet]

Several people have ask me today if I could take their snakeskin or etc and do something like this. Does anyone know what is involved in that process? What equipment I would need, etc..

Ed

 

[its_virgil]

Ed,
I cast my own snake blanks as do several others here. You can see how I do them here: http://content.penturners.org/articles/2006/snakeskinblanks.pdf
Email me if you have any questions and I'll see if I can help you out.
Do a good turn daily!
Don

Originally posted by edstreet
<br />Several people have ask me today if I could take their snakeskin or etc and do something like this. Does anyone know what is involved in that process? What equipment I would need, etc..

Ed

 

[edstreet]

I have been looking over the pdf file, very informative indeed. I was wondering about the cork. would it not be better/easier to pack the tubes with play dough or modeling clay then just put the whole things under the vacuum?

I was looking at the tank and thought a 4" PVC pipe should work (will just be doing a few blanks at a time.

Ed

 

[its_virgil]

Thanks for looking and reading the casting article. I'm glad you found it informateve.

Using corks have been the only way I can keep the resin from getting inside the tubes during pressure casting. Note that only the resin is sujected to the vacuum, not the entire casting with the skin etal. I've (and others) have worked diligently to develop a method of casting these skin blanks. But, we are always ready to learn a better way, so if you try other ways of doing this and find something better then please share it with us. I have not tried any other pressure or vacuum vessel...I will stick with my paint tank. Let us know when you find an easier way of doing this. Good luck.
Do a good turn daily!
Don

Originally posted by edstreet
<br />I have been looking over the pdf file, very informative indeed. I was wondering about the cork. would it not be better/easier to pack the tubes with play dough or modeling clay then just put the whole things under the vacuum?

I was looking at the tank and thought a 4" PVC pipe should work (will just be doing a few blanks at a time.

Ed

 

[OKLAHOMAN]

Don't know if PVC would work with snake. I just don't know if you could center the tube properly or if you would have enough open space to dissapate the air bubbles, but as Don said if you are successful let us know. I just cast some snake and cactus and the pictures are not the greatest but maybe this will help you.

<br />

<br />

<br />

Originally posted by edstreet
<br />I have been looking over the pdf file, very informative indeed. I was wondering about the cork. would it not be better/easier to pack the tubes with play dough or modeling clay then just put the whole things under the vacuum?

I was looking at the tank and thought a 4" PVC pipe should work (will just be doing a few blanks at a time.

Ed

 

[great12b4ever]

Nice Pen, good work. Hey guys you are causing me problems. I am fairly new and trying to get decent on simple wood pens, and then I see pens like these, and I am wanting, no that's not right, say chomping at the bit to bet into acrylicas and casting like ya'll are doing. LOML is already doing the silent treatment because of the time and $$$ being spent. Oh well, I think I will take her out to a nice dinner.
I think Burger King is open [][]

Rob

 

[edstreet]

well if it helps any this is pen #14 for me. Started back in june (that's like 60 days ago)

If this is like making micarta then the job is over rated and often seen as more difficult than it really is. In all fairness stabilized woods are way easier than raw woods to work with.

I suppose the logical thing to ask now would be since we have several people here that are making sucessful castings and the proper setup what would they charge me to send materials to get casted like this?

Ed