How to Spalt? or Make blanks from "odd" materials?

[TheHoneymooners]

Hi.. us 'newbies' here!!

Saw someone's picture of their shed/workshop--with a nice stack of wood next to it, I believe to spalt naturally? Forgot to save whose picture it was, so here I am, with questions!

When it comes to spalted/spalting wood-- does it need to be half au-naturelle? meaning.. the bark mostly stripped & cut, almost like for firewood? Or just left out with all its bark?

And how long can a piece be downed (if found in the wood) before its unusable? Figuring it'd get too brittle/dry to be of much use without a lot of stablizing... but I truly haven't a clue! Saw some great uprooted trees today and made me wonder what type burls/grain THAT might yield! LOL

Which, brings me to yet another question. With a wee bit of an art background...AND this seemingly addictive affect this pen-turning seems to have on folks (we haven't even TURNED a pen yet, but keep thinking of all we can do, how we'll make certain ones, yaddayaddayadda lol)-- but it seems to make one THINK of all the possiblities!! But I madea good bit of my own paper back in college-- and I wonder if the pulp from that type papers can be made into pen blanks-- with resin or what? Might make some interesting pens that could even have bits of seeds or flower petals, but without know what holds it together-- not sure if it would stain or discolor the original papers, so that it wasn't pretty anymore?

Any clues out there?

Thanks...Connies' half of TheHoneymooners!

p.s. for those who have asked-- we got some holly wood in this week, & once the rest of the stuff arrives, Mike plans to make a pen out of walnut (which we seem to have an abundance of loL) THEN make one of Holly for the wedding. AND one for his best man...and I'm even hoping for maybe a pink box elder pen for my maid of honor. WHICH, brings yet another question LOL Most seem to dislike slim lines-- or say they are not good sellers-- but are they not the best to keep in a wallet or purse as they are more narrow & would seem to fit in the little loops found in women's pocketbooks?

Whew. thanks again!

 

[TheHoneymooners]

Ok./... I hope this is the place to be! I accidentally posted this request in the 'casual conversation' forum, thinking I was still in this one. Arggghh!! And now, can't figure out how to delete it, as I don't want to waste peoples' time. Glad you guys are such a kind group!

 

[JimGo]

Check out this link on how to spalt your own wood:

http://www.woodcentral.com/russ/russ4.shtml

Connie, you'll also have to keep in mind that most of the people on here are guys. We tend to have bigger hands, and so like the bigger pens. Plus, the bigger pens show off the wood more. However, slimlines are very popular with both women and people in the military (fits well in the flight suit).

I'm not sure about the paper pens, but that could be pretty cool. CA glues tend to discolor some things, so be careful (i.e. test it first) before you move forward too quickly. You might want to try making a "blank" from the paper, gluing the stuff to the outside using a typical yellow (wood) glue, or even a white glue, then casting it in polyester resin.

Hmmm...I think I hit most of the issues...hopefully I've helped!

 

[Doghouse]

I responded to the casual conversation. Check there.

 

[Thumbs]

What kind of paper?

Why did I immediately think of counterfeiting?
And/or smoke wrappers? Must be my nefarious mind!

A lot of paper has some kind of acid content, would this discolor due
to interaction with the brass tube or maybe even interact with the
resin?

 

[JimGo]

Here's a link to the other topic. http://www.penturners.org/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=4756

 

[TheHoneymooners]

Too funny Thumbs!@@ Especially since possibly making them out of shredded currency HAD crossed my mind! LOL But had figured I could practice with paper pulp with some 'goodies' inside-- or perhaps even use pastel papers in case of discoloration--that way they mightnot look 'dirty'?

But I did have to laugh-- as I know that the US Mint USED to sell bags of shredded bucks...but not sure if they still did- -but thought it might make an interesting green/white pen-- probably would turn out looking like marble. And nope... no 'funny' papers to be found at my house. LOL