Wasting blank material

[Skeels]

So the more I've been turning, the more I try and get a piece of wood or casting that's pretty close to the final product. I normally cut my puente wood and cast alumilite myself instead of purchasing blanks. Not only can it get costly but I'm reality, when u buy a 3/4 square 5-6" long for a slimline... Ur cuttin off near 2" and wasting a lot of material turning it down to about 3/8"... Se with the alumilite casts. I started doing 3/4 square by 5.5" for my cigar pens. I recently started getting closer and closer to the diameter of the pens I've been turning. For instance rather than casting square, I cast in PVC pipe. Rather than cuttin 3/4 square by whatever length, I cut per pen and as close to the wd size as possible.... Why waste it right? Just wondering what some of you guys do to get every bit of material out of... Well your material.

 

[jttheclockman]

That is an individual thing. There are some people here that save the small cutoffs and either do a segmented blank latter or even chop up the pieces and cast into something new and different. Some people like myself never make slimline pens so do not need that thin of material. 3/4" blanks X 5" is the norm when buying or when making to sell. There are kits out there that this will not work and need at least 7/8" material. Being that close to exactness you have to be careful when drilling.

My thoughts are this. I am not going to waste time storing little bits of cutoffs. Space is precious. I am not going to worry about casting a little extra when when I sell the pen. I include a decent price to cover this. If I had to worry about all the wasted wood I create when I do scroll sawingI would go nuts. I did when I first started scrolling save all the cut offs and small pieces. I had 3 barrels of this stuff and could not give it away. Even people with fireplaces did not want it. So I stopped saving and worrying about that.

As far as casting in pvc that is a good way to save some material which can get costly. not a caster of colored blanks. Way to many out there to waste time and effort on that part of casting. I could not think of any combination of colors that has not been done before. I will buy those blanks if needed. Now if clear casting is your thing then that is a different story because the creative world is wide open there.

So do as you see fit and enjoy the hobby. Just do not get caught up in the idea that you need to save every scrap or ounce of material. Spend that time creating.

 

[Skeels]

So do as you see fit and enjoy the hobby. Just do not get caught up in the idea that you need to save every scrap or ounce of material. Spend that time creating.

I was more so wondering how many people actually do it. I don't get too picky with saving on wood. I do cut it down close to the size I need, not so much to save material or money... But turning time lol. I mainly turn oak cause I think it's a nice wood. Seeing I get it for free, whenever I want (which the wife hates me for lol) I don't worry about waste. I do save as much as I can when I cast though. I did hear one guy taking his left overs (before curing) and pouring it in a "community" pot and makin bottle stoppers from that. So I did start that if I had left overs. Seein I'm tryin to make a little money with these pens (and I'm poor as dirt) I wanna get EVERY bit of resin out of those bottles as I can lol.

 

[jttheclockman]

Nothing wrong with that at all. Saving the environment also so that helps. Have fun.

 

[Marmotjr]

I love saving the scraps! Especially with pen turning, you realize every little chunk is big enough to do something.

Recently finished turning a segmented Rollester pen. The segmented blank I had was about 1/8" short for the tube. But luckily I had my box of cut offs sitting around. A nice piece, about 3/4" cube, of highly figured olive wood was found in there, and provided a beautiful contrast to the darker 'bricks' of the blank, as i became the end caps of the blank.

While cutting/casting your blanks closer to the appropriate size to begin with does help conserve material, there's nothing wrong with saving your drops. I do love being able to grab a few hunks and glue something together to make a unique pen blank.

 

[Skeels]

I love saving the scraps! Especially with pen turning, you realize every little chunk is big enough to do something.

Recently finished turning a segmented Rollester pen. The segmented blank I had was about 1/8" short for the tube. But luckily I had my box of cut offs sitting around. A nice piece, about 3/4" cube, of highly figured olive wood was found in there, and provided a beautiful contrast to the darker 'bricks' of the blank, as i became the end caps of the blank.

While cutting/casting your blanks closer to the appropriate size to begin with does help conserve material, there's nothing wrong with saving your drops. I do love being able to grab a few hunks and glue something together to make a unique pen blank.

Agreed