Stabilized Silk Metamorphosis

[Bob in SF]

Silk kites flew beautifully over SF Bay and beach this past weekend - inspired me to get some swatches of 8mm Habotai silk; stabilized them in Cactus Juice (5 min. at -29.5 inches Hg vacuum chamber until bubbling stopped); laid them out on parchment paper; rolled up the silk-in-parchment; baked in the toaster over at 200 degrees x 1 hour; cast with Douglas and Sturgess clear casting resin in clear PVC tubes at 50psi; turned them; sanded to 12,000 grit (no polish); glad for the metamorphosis, and glad that Cactus Juice stabilized the (sericin and fibroin) protein of silk because I understand that the main function of the Juice is to stabilize wood fiber. Here are my first 2 pens - opens up some nice avenues for further exploration - stay tuned.

Warm regards, to all - Bob

 

[MesquiteMan]

Cool idea, Bob! I really like it!

 

[Bob in SF]

Sincere thanks, Curtis!

I have some fun variations in the pipeline - exciting things to come.

 

[More4dan]

Those are as slick as ... Well, SILK. Absolutely gorgeous!! Are you thinking of making some for sale???

Danny

 

[Bob in SF]

Those are as slick as ... Well, SILK. Absolutely gorgeous!! Are you thinking of making some for sale???

Danny

Thanks, Danny!

I don't know whether I'll be selling blanks - but always glad to show the process.

Going to "next level" this weekend - silk painting:

Jacquard green label dyes
Stretched Habotai silk
Painted with brushes, sponges, and shop towels
Salted with coarse salt for texture
Dried in the sun, salt brushed off
Rolled and bundled in parchment and steamed for 2 hours on top of a tamale steamer platform
Washed 5 times by hand in Syntrapol detergent to get out the excess dye
Dried in the sun
Ready to cut into strips, Cactus Juice stabilize, resin cast, and turn into pens

Stay tuned, and happy Sunday to all.

- Bob

 

[liljohn1368]

Those look really nice Bob. You are making me want a vacuum chamber really bad. :biggrin:

 

[Bob in SF]

Thanks, JP!

My vacuum chamber has extended my creative reach - and paid for itself very quickly.

Go for it.