Pearls

[dpstudios]

I've been talking to a potential client the last couple of days and he wants a pen for his wife made of pearls. My idea is to crush the pearls and cast them in resin (LD).
My question to the group is this; Has anyone tried this and if so, what were the results?
Any and all responses will be appreciated concerning possible problems and concerns.
This could be an expensive experiment and am looking forward to trying it as I will get enough pearls out of this to do a couple of blanks for myself .
Thanx.

Dan
Sinistre Pens

 

[JohnU]

Back in 09 I made a few Mother of Pearl pen blanks with small pieces. http://www.penturners.org/forum/f13/mother-pearl-elegant-sierra-48012/
I'm guessing it would be very similar to what your planning. It was very time consuming gluing up the blank but it cast just fine. I did several that year with great results and reception.

The only thing I would be concerned with is crushing the pearls and not having pieces big enough to glue down. It would very wasteful to mix the pearl pieces in resin and pour. You would turn most of them away. They will go farther if you glue them down and clear cast. Just make sure to let the medium CA degas for a few days before casting, and use pressure or you will have air trapped on the surface. Good luck and looking forward to seeing what you come up with.

 

[dpstudios]

John, Thanks for your response. That is one beautiful pen you made. Just a couple of questions though.
1: What color did you paint your tube? I'm thinking of an off white or maybe bone or maybe coating it in white PearlEx first.
2: When are you going to have more of the black or fire opal blanks? they are absolutely mind blowingly pretty. I want some. hehe
Again Thanx

Dan
Sinistre Pens

 

[JohnU]

Thanks Dan, I spray painted the tube white and then used a pearl shimmering nail polish and painted over the white. After a day of drying between each paint I used medium ca and attached the pieces. Then let them degas a couple days and cast.

Thanks for the kind words about the opal blanks. Those darker colors seem to sell quickly. I just got my new supplies in and hope to make more this coming week. I'll try to have some to Exoticblanks by the first of next month.

 

[dpstudios]

Thanks for the info John. The buyer is giving me enough pearls, both black and white, where I'm going to give a couple of ideas I have a try. One of them will definitely be yours.

Dan
Sinistre Pens

 

[JohnU]

Looking forward to seeing what you come up with!