Banksia Nut

[Malakin]

My fellow turners,

I wasn't really sure where to post this but I'm guessing this is as good a place as any.

I have aquired a banksia nut with a view to turning a Chairmans fountain pen and matching letter opener out if it.
Never having turned banksia before I was after some advice.
Making a set if blanks isn't really that much of an issue and neither is filling in the holes. I have some ivory shavings that will get mixed with clear filler and set into the voids.
What I would like to know is do the holes run all the way through? If I was to cut the blank in half would it look the same? The last thing I want is to find that the holes are only on the very outside if the nut.

Many thanks

Mal

 

[Dai Sensei]

The go all the way to the middle of the seed pod

 

[Randy Simmons]

Yes, the holes do go all the way through, which is GREAT for inlay work or casting. Anyone out there ever casted a banksia nut? just wondering.

They are pretty easy to turn, but they dont really produce clean shavings, more like really gritty dust. It gets everywhere! But they are really fun to work with. Just make sure to stabilize the fuzzy bits with CA :wink:

Randy

 

[crabcreekind]

Yes, the holes do go all the way through, which is GREAT for inlay work or casting. Anyone out there ever casted a banksia nut? just wondering.

They are pretty easy to turn, but they dont really produce clean shavings, more like really gritty dust. It gets everywhere! But they are really fun to work with. Just make sure to stabilize the fuzzy bits with CA :wink:

Randy

I have casted some, with good success. I know Amalagan-mutts(hope I spelled that right) casts and sells banksia pods.

 

[Bob Wemm]

Banksia nut.

Hi,

I don't mean to step on anyones toes but the seed holes do not always go right through the cone.

This one is called Banksia Sceptrum and clearly the seed holes only go part the way through.

The cone is 9in long and 3.25in across the seed pod extremities.

FYI.

Bob.

 

[Dan Hintz]

To add to Bob's... if you select smaller pods, the seed holes are likely to reach the core closely enough to be useful for inlay once you drill it for the brass.

 

[Dai Sensei]

Hi,

I don't mean to step on anyones toes but the seed holes do not always go right through the cone.

This one is called Banksia Sceptrum and clearly the seed holes only go part the way through.

The cone is 9in long and 3.25in across the seed pod extremities.

FYI.

Bob.

You are right Bob, they don't go all the way, but it is proportional to the banksia nut's size. On your giant banksia the gap is large, but you don't make a pen out of a whole Banksia grandis seed pod, they are usually made from segments of those pods. With the smaller sized ones I use to make pens out of, the holes go almost all the way to the centre, or at least the gap is small enough such that it is drilled out for the tube.

I cast all sorts of banksia pods but mainly 3 types. I use the WA big ones (Banksia grandis) for pepper grinders (2-4" dia), the swamp banksia (Banksia oblongifolia) for bottle stoppers and handles (1-3" dia) and the coastal banksia (Banksia integrifolia) mainly for pens (0.5-2" dia). The length of the seed pods also vary. There are actually ~30 different species with all sorts of pods.

To cast I sand them round on a disc sander, until they fit into a suitable vertical mold, with some space on the outside. I place some resin in the mold, then push them in slowly twisting as I go (allow to fill the voids), then overfill the mold and use weight to hold them down whilst in the pressure pot. I overfill because you would be surprised how much gets pushed into the little gaps under pressure.

Cheers