Overlooked pen blanks

[whatwoodido]

I just wanted to encourage people not to overlook some prime sources of pen blank material. Sometimes the scraps from other turning or other wood working projects can become beautiful pens.
Drew

 

[Kurt Aebi]

Also, Don't Forget the Firewood Pile!

 

[Bev Polmanteer]

Funny you should mention the left-overs from bowl turning. Just last week I visited a local area turner that only does bowls and larger vessels. He gave me 6 big pieces of various woods, mesquite, cedar, eucalyptus, and cottonwood. I should be able to get at least 4 pens out of each. FREE is my kind of wood!

 

[Old Griz]

Not only left overs from larger turning projects...
I live in Western Md farm country... aside from there being more cows than people around here, we have some nice apple and peach orchards... they trim the trees every year and I make the rounds and get some nice large branches that have been made into pens as well as some beautiful turned boxes..
You can do the same in the city if you watch for the town or utility tree trimmers, they normally just chip up those branches..

 

[wayneis]

Drew, Every pen we do is one of a kind so it should not be any harder to price one over the other. IMHO. The way I look at it, there is not one pen that I make that I can duplicate exactly, be it wood, acrylic or whatever.

Wayne

 

[William Young]

Drew;
Buying scraps from turners of bigger projects sound like an excellent idea. Too bad I dont know of any turners around where I live.

Over the weekend I am going to be cutting down a couple very old cherry trees. They are mostly dead except for a couple branches that still produce leaves and a few cherries every year. About 3 feet up on one trunk is a large swelling and I dont know if it is a knot or a burl. It could prove interesting. Most of those trees will be firewood but I am wondering if anyone here has turned cherry wood or if it is even worth considering as a pen blank source.
W.Y.

 

[its_virgil]

Cherry is some of the nicest wood I have turned. You should keep as much of it as you have room to store. Some larger turning blanks and pepper mill blanks and pen blanks could be some reall nice trading ammo. How lucky you are. No cherry trees in Tex, at least not in N Texas. I get mine from a friend who makes cabinets. He calls me each time he does cherry cabinets to come get the scraps for pens.

Do a good turn daily!

Don

Originally posted by William Young
<br />Drew;
Buying scraps from turners of bigger projects sound like an excellent idea. Too bad I dont know of any turners around where I live.

Over the weekend I am going to be cutting down a couple very old cherry trees. They are mostly dead except for a couple branches that still produce leaves and a few cherries every year. About 3 feet up on one trunk is a large swelling and I dont know if it is a knot or a burl. It could prove interesting. Most of those trees will be firewood but I am wondering if anyone here has turned cherry wood or if it is even worth considering as a pen blank source.
W.Y.

 

[William Young]

Well I went an cut down those two cherry trees that I mentioned earlier in this topic. They were just a small distance down the road in a field on crown land. What a dissapointment. [:0] They were too dead [xx(]
Way beyond even being spalted. Just a half a trailer full of firewood. They were right full of ants and rotted wood.[] [:0]

There are thousands of cherry orchards in this area though so I will watch for when they are pruning them and get some green limbs and dry them as per normal methods.
W.Y.

 

[tipusnr]

Going with another pen turner next week to see a cabinet maker to make a deal for his scrap. The guy I spoke with thought I was "nuts" to do anything with the cast offs. Too bad he wasn't the boss - I probably could have got them for free. Actually, I still hope to!

 

[ilikewood]

I thought I would add a link to this same topic we had a while back just for the chuckle [] I found it rather entertaining how some people get their scrap wood!

http://www.penturners.org/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=299

Hope this brings back a few memories!

 

[Bev Polmanteer]

The best part of it is that most of it is FREE!

 

[William Young]

Talk about us scrounging leftovers from people that make bigger stuff than pens,... ... .. .
I have a guy that is asking me for my pen making leftovers. You know that little piece left over from the extra length we always have as a pen blank ? He is into a leather working and also an earing making hobby. I meet him with the coffee crowd at A & W every morning and show them my pens and sell a few to them. Then this guy asks about my leftovers of exotic woods. I am going to give him a bag full of them. Can only use so many for centre bands an laminations etc.
W.Y.

 

[Guest]

Gotya beat.
My my first attempt was a"qualified success"
The first time I turned apiece of blood wood I was enrapt with the shavings on the table under my lathe.
After I relized I did not do bodily injury to myself I got a gallon food saver bag and scooped up the sawdaw"dust".

I mixed it with some of that clear palsic resin stuff and am going to make some pens out of the shavings off the lathe.( or what ever you call it.)

+Qualified sucess"=
I poured most of the mix into forms that were too big and got a lot of air bubbles.I did get some in some tubes.

 

[woodspinner]

If you want the shavings finer just run them in a kitchen blender. They will need to run several minutes to be fine. This is how I make some of my crack fill for larger items.

Good turning and be safe
Bill in Casa Grande, AZ.

 

[Efletche]

In finding scraps, I have been lucky. We have a local wood seller that lets me go through his dumpsters. Many pieces are 1x1x36". I also find partial boards they throw away because of knots and crotch figure they cannot use. They also make stair runners and I have found a few pieces of teak from that. Some of the pallets this stuff comes in is Brazilian Cherry and most of it is 1 inch thich and 10 plus feet long; with the braces being close to 3 inches thick. Because of my dumpster diving, I have plenty of Santos Mahogany, Brazialian Cherry, Walnut, Australian Cypress, and a few other woods too. I am thinking of posting some of these for trade or sale in the near future.

 

[ryannmphs]

Well, I've got another source for ya. I just got some Australian Cyprus, Brazilian Cherry, Mohagany, Purple Heart and much more from my dad. My dad works part time for a flooring company and they were getting rid of some of their display items. The wood is around 5/8" to 3/4" thick.
So, check with local flooring suppliers for when they get rid of their display pieces you might get some nice wood.

Ryan

 

[fhinde]

Originally posted by woodspinner
<br />If you want the shavings finer just run them in a kitchen blender. They will need to run several minutes to be fine. This is how I make some of my crack fill for larger items.

I hope a certain lady on the yahoo group does not see this post!!

 

[woodpens]

Have you ever tried this with Corian? [] Maybe she won't read this. Kids, do not try this at home! [}]

 

[Rick Prevett]

Ever since I started visiting the Yahoo site, I've heard of the 'blender' story, but have never taken the time to hunt down the specifics. Would someone please give me a synopsis of this urban legend?
thanks
rick

 

[PatLawson]

Bill H. wrote:
If you want the shavings finer just run them in a kitchen blender...&lt;
Fred H. wrote:
&gt;I hope a certain lady on the yahoo group does not see this post!!&lt;
Jim L. wrote:
&gt;Maybe she won't read this...&lt;

In your dreams Fred and Jim! Lol. I see it ALL. []

Rick wrote:
&gt;Ever since I started visiting the Yahoo site, I've heard of the 'blender' story,...Would someone please give me a synopsis of this urban legend?&lt;

Rick,
Let me put it this way, it's just one of those dumb things that some over-eager, new turners, (like I was 6 years ago) try when they are starting out. You know - "it seemed like a good idea at the time". But after you try it you wonder how in the world you could have ever considered doing something so dumb! [:I] AND, if you are really naive and share your dumb adventure with a group - well they NEVER let you live it down and as you said, it becomes a kind of urban legend that takes on a life of it's own!

I will just say this: I wouldn't recommend putting corian chips in a kitchen blender to make them finer. Perhaps Corian "shavings", not even sure about that, but definitely NOT little Corian chips! (Unless you're just desperately looking for a way to make your regular blender blade into a serrated one. Not to mention the artistic sandblasted/pitted look you can achieve on the glass blender jar)...[]

Pat Lawson

Laguna Beach, CA USA
http://welcome.to/pens
Penmakers Guild album
http://tinyurl.com/5dtvm

 

[DCBluesman]

Welcome Pat and thanks for the laugh...particularly at the "boys'" expense!

 

[woodpens]

Oh, Pat, you are everywhere! [8D] I'm glad you stepped in to tell the story. I sure wasn't going to do it. I hope you had a wonderful Christmas. Diane bought me a big box of BB blanks. What a great wife! []

 

[RussFairfield]

Pat,
I must be missing something here. A full sized kitchen blender may be overkill, but those little electric spice and coffee grinders work wonders for making filler material from wood shavings. The one I use looks like a miniature food processor, but a real coffee grinder works better. Sift the ground wood through a fine mesh strainer. I have never tried it with Corian, but I have run turquoise chips through it.

Have you tried coffee grounds??
Fill with fresh coffee grounds straight from the can. Flood it with thin CA-glue and you have a repair that looks like bark. No need for an accelerator because the coffee does that for you. Vary the grind for a different texture.

 

[Darley]

Originally posted by RussFairfield
<br />

Have you tried coffee grounds??
Fill with fresh coffee grounds straight from the can. Flood it with thin CA-glue and you have a repair that looks like bark. No need for an accelerator because the coffee does that for you. Vary the grind for a different texture.

Russ I like the sound of your coffee pen, do you pull my legs or is true [?] and does it come with bikies []

Serge

 

[PatLawson]

Originally posted by DCBluesman
<br />Welcome Pat and thanks for the laugh...particularly at the "boys'" expense!

Thank you for the welcome Lou. I've been a member here for almost a year but I find it difficult time-wise to keep up with being on the Penmakers' Guild Council, being in the Guild group, contributing what I can to the Yahoo Penturners group, and also running my own group, (StoneTurners). So I apologize for being a lurker and not contributing here, but as much as I would love to be everywhere at once, there are often just not enough hours in the day to do it all.

Maybe when my husband retires (semi anyway) in March, I can get him to take over some of the household chores so I can come over and play more! (Fat chance lol, he's more likely to hog the shop than to clean the house, but one can dream!...) []

Pat

Laguna Beach, CA USA
http://welcome.to/pens
Penmakers Guild album
http://tinyurl.com/5dtvm

 

[Rick Prevett]

Pat, thanks for sharing this. Didn't mean to 'out' anybody []
rick

 

[PatLawson]

Originally posted by RussFairfield
<br />Pat,
&gt;I must be missing something here...I have never tried it with Corian, but I have run turquoise chips through it.&lt;

What you're missing Russ is probably our different definitions of what constitutes "chips", lol. I didn't define that, (on purpose - it's embarrasing enough without spelling it out in detail, lol.) My "chips" back then were about 1/16 inch thick and about 1/2 inch square! I don't know what size "chips" might acutally work in a blender or coffee grinder, but I can tell you that those didn't! I suspect that you are talking about something quite a bit smaller.

For my poor ego's sake, please keep in mind that this was 6 or 7 years ago and I was very naive about some things then [:I] - I was trying to mix kitchen knowledge with shop work. I have learned a WHOLE LOT about tools, machinery and materials since then, lol.

Also, I'm quite content these days to spend my money on some beautiful, fine-grind, crushed Turquoise or Malachite from Arizona Silhouette, rather than trying to chop up Corian in my blender or coffee grinder.
Coffee grounds sound quite doable though, I'm up for that!

Pat

 

[its_virgil]

Welcome Pat. On this subjbject of filler material, I must offer what I have found to be a nice product. It is called "embossing powder" and I find it works very nicely. It comes in many colors and there is even one that is a good clone (not a real clone, maybe faux) of turquoise. Look in the local hobby (lobby) store or michaels. I think the scrapbookers use it. Give it a look see and a try. Watch your mail Pat.
Do a good turn daily!

 

[Darley]

Originally posted by PatLawson
<br />
<br />Pat,
For my poor ego's sake, please keep in mind that this was 6 or 7 years ago and I was very naive about some things then [:I] - I was trying to mix kitchen knowledge with shop work. I have learned a WHOLE LOT about tools, machinery and materials since then, lol.


Pat

As everyone Pat, learning from mistakes, but learning from peolpe like you, penturners with years of experience and other Master penturners who are ready to teacher people like me and other on your own time, I do admire your work and follow your comments on Yahoo penturners site, is nice to have you amoung us, welcome Pat.


Serge

 

[Tom McMillan]

Good to see you here Pat!!! Always good to read the contributions you share!!!

 

[penhead]

I am also glad to see you posting here, Pat..!!

I have been a huge admirer of your work since I saw the article in American Woodturner Winter 2003[:I]


JohnPayton

 

[bajacrazy]

Can't tell you how much Corian dust and fine particles that I throw away each week. At least two 55 gal barrels per week. No need to run through the wife's blender after it reaches dust collector. Might work good for small inlays etc. if mixed with clear epoxy or clear Gruber adhesive.[?] Something else I'll have give a turn[8D]

 

[Paul in OKC]

Originally posted by bajacrazy
<br />Can't tell you how much Corian dust and fine particles that I throw away each week. At least two 55 gal barrels per week. No need to run through the wife's blender after it reaches dust collector. Might work good for small inlays etc. if mixed with clear epoxy or clear Gruber adhesive.[?] Something else I'll have give a turn[8D]

Been there do that[]. I have a few baggies of corian, ebony, cocobolo, purple heart, well you get the idea. Great fill stuff. And Pat, it's good to see you here, even if only to remind of the blender story[]