Retro She-Oak Cast

[Ironwood]

This is a blank from my second She-oak cast.

I had a bit of trouble with the cap, the resin cracked when I pressed the hardware in. Had to glue up another and re-turn it, this time I reamed out the tube for a better fit.

 

[SDB777]

Finial is a nice touch! Makes everything blend....


Looks similar to our 'American Sweetgum Pods'. Very cool!





Scott (casting is fun) B

 

[robutacion]

Finial is a nice touch! Makes everything blend....


Looks similar to our 'American Sweetgum Pods'. Very cool!





Scott (casting is fun) B

Yes Scott, it does...!

Was only a few days that I discover a large She-Oak tree in the middle of the town next door, McLaren Vale. I took a few pics of the tree/branches and 1 pic of the ground that has to have at least 3" thick of old pods, just unbelievable.

I didn't take any, and I know many other places where I can get these pods if I wanted too but, there are already too many folks casting them here in Australia and lots of you guys casting them in the US, from the Sweetgum tree, they look very identical indeed...!

The only pic that didn't come out any good was the one of the ground, as it got out of focus and you can't see what the pic is about, the other pics are OK and I will share them here. I may go there next Wednesday and take a couple of new pics of the ground under that big tree, so that you guys can see what I mean...!

PS: Nice pen, bytheway

Cheers
George

 

[Band Saw Box]

Really nice pen, I like the custom finial, well done.

 

[BayouPenturner]

beautiful pen, I agree the custom cap ties it all together

 

[BSea]

Very cool pen. I also think it looks very similar to cast sweet gum balls. And I also think the finial ties it all together. Great job! :good: And that's one of my favorite kits.

I took a few pics of the tree/branches and 1 pic of the ground that has to have at least 3" thick of old pods, just unbelievable.

Our sweet gum trees do the same thing. Some years are worse than others. We had 1 in our front yard. After about 5 years, I had enough of the blanket of gum balls, and had it removed. That was long before pen turning though. But they are everywhere, so if I ever decide to make a few cast of them, there is not a short supply.

 

[MikeL]

I've tried making one of these myself and ended with a blow out. You did a great job. Ditto on what folks are saying about the finial.

 

[Ironwood]

Hey, thanks for the comments Guys. Have to agree on the comments on the finial, it really does make the pen look much better.

 

[GeoWade]

Awesome stuff!

 

[SDB777]

Thanks for the photo's George.....guess the pods are close, but the 'leaves' certainly look a LOT different!


Ironwood,
Did you need to 'harden' the pods prior to casting?
Or just give them a go going over with some thinCA during the turning?




Scott (assuming some pressure casting here too) B

 

[mikespenturningz]

Like the color and look of this blank. The finial is really nice. Great job on this pen..

 

[skiprat]

Ditto repeato from me too on the finial. :wink: The whole pen is cool, but your attention to detail in getting the little 'bug' central really makes it stand out.:good::good::good:

 

[Ironwood]

Ironwood,
Did you need to 'harden' the pods prior to casting?
Or just give them a go going over with some thinCA during the turning?

Scott (assuming some pressure casting here too) B

No prior treatment on these Scott, they are hard little suckers.
I cast them under pressure to try and get the resin right into the seed cavities, it seems to be working.
They do require a drizzle with CA when getting close to size.

Ditto repeato from me too on the finial. :wink: The whole pen is cool, but your attention to detail in getting the little 'bug' central really makes it stand out.:good::good::good:

Thanks Skip. Yeah, I had to trim two sides off the blank to get the pod central.

 

[jeff]

Brad, that's a great looking pen for our front page :biggrin:

 

[Dalecamino]

I have to agree with the others. It's a BEAUT! Congratulations on the front marquee! It's not an easy task to get there.

 

[Cwalker935]

Awesome.

 

[Ironwood]

Brad, that's a great looking pen for our front page :biggrin:

Wow Jeff, its an honour to have my pen featured on the front page.
I almost fell off my chair when I opened up the forum on my computer

I have to agree with the others. It's a BEAUT! Congratulations on the front marquee! It's not an easy task to get there.

Thanks Dale, I never expected to make the front page.

Awesome.

Cheers CW.

 

[CrimsonKeel]

Great color choice with that cast. grats on front page

 

[johncrane]

Congrats on the front page! looks really good, well done.

 

[Notnate]

Very cool!