G
Guest
Guest
But they are still corn cobs
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smoky10
Member
Beautiful corn cobs[
].
].C_Ludwigsen
Member
These look very nice. I especially like the Designer one on the left. It reminds my of snakewood.
Them cobs do make sweet pens... very nice...
jwoodwright
Member
I'd love to turn some corn cob. Anything special in preparing blanks?
melogic
Member
I like these a lot. They are very nice.
rjenkins
Member
Put some butter 'n salt on 'em... I'll take 'em.
Nice.
Nice.
John, a lot of it depends on the age of the cob and how dry it is... the stuff I am using is about 40 yrs old... we found a load of it in the old chicken coop on my FIL's farm...
The big thing is to try to drill the hole straight through the pith section of the cob.. this means you might not be able to set it up in a drilling vise the way you would a square wood blank.. think of it like a log with the pith that does not run dead true through the center...
Secondly, take light cuts until you get all the fuzzies off... you don't want to chip out the cob.. the material will chip out real quick if you get heavy handed..
Third.. when you get real close to the finished size, it is time to stabilize the cob with some CA.. DO NOT DROWN THE COB IN CA... it will turn into a piece of marble.. LOL.. you are better off doing a couple of small coatings of CA than one big one..
At this point the cutting will become harder and your tools need to be scary sharp.. I use a skew for all my pen turning and hone it frequently when doing cobs.. you can also use a good sharp scraper to get to final dimensions..
IF your final cuts are good you can start sanding with 220-320 grit.. when you get to final dimension a light coat of CA and then sand to 600 grit... a little EEE Polish and the finish of your choice...
If you want to dye the cob, do it before the CA treatments.. unless you like trying to get dye to penetrate marble.. LOL
Good luck and have fun... I am sorting out some not so good cobs to make keychains out of ... figure they will be good sellers here in Western Maryland farm country..
The big thing is to try to drill the hole straight through the pith section of the cob.. this means you might not be able to set it up in a drilling vise the way you would a square wood blank.. think of it like a log with the pith that does not run dead true through the center...
Secondly, take light cuts until you get all the fuzzies off... you don't want to chip out the cob.. the material will chip out real quick if you get heavy handed..
Third.. when you get real close to the finished size, it is time to stabilize the cob with some CA.. DO NOT DROWN THE COB IN CA... it will turn into a piece of marble.. LOL.. you are better off doing a couple of small coatings of CA than one big one..
At this point the cutting will become harder and your tools need to be scary sharp.. I use a skew for all my pen turning and hone it frequently when doing cobs.. you can also use a good sharp scraper to get to final dimensions..
IF your final cuts are good you can start sanding with 220-320 grit.. when you get to final dimension a light coat of CA and then sand to 600 grit... a little EEE Polish and the finish of your choice...
If you want to dye the cob, do it before the CA treatments.. unless you like trying to get dye to penetrate marble.. LOL
Good luck and have fun... I am sorting out some not so good cobs to make keychains out of ... figure they will be good sellers here in Western Maryland farm country..
jwoodwright
Member
Tom, thank you. That is some process. Well worth it, looking at your pens.
G
Guest
Guest
I have dyed after wet sanding with blo as in the red one above,I have dyed after CA. It takes a little blending with an alcahol wipes.
There is more than one way to skin a cat but my cobs aren't 40 years old.
The ones above are finished whith CA.
There is more than one way to skin a cat but my cobs aren't 40 years old.
The ones above are finished whith CA.
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