Black Palm and Inlace Challenge.

[Jjartwood]

I am sometimes asked how I did something,and,I often think that the most fun is to figure it out and have it work( the actual penmaking part is usually the same function on different levels) So to find a simple and reliable process to make this material work for me was big. To this point turning Black Palm without having it blow up was a victory.
Here's the fun part.
I would like to know how YOU would do it, I will enlist the help of Jeff (hopefully). I will send him the build process that I used and I will put up
one of the new coffee mugs to the person that closest matches what I did
but the REAL interesting part will be to see how many different ways there is to do something.

Anybody want to play?

 

[ed4copies]

Well, Mark, I'd love to play!!

The process seems straightforward to me.

I would drill and tube the blanks with the black palm.

Turn to about an eighth inch above the bushings.

Then, the question is, how did you get rid of the "soft brown wood". I can think of several methods, i.e. you could use a dremel tool with any one of several diamond tips (available at Harbor Freight). I believe this would be the easiest method.
You COULD have burned out the wood with a soldering gun, with any one of a number of tips that are made for pyrography.
Or you could use a razor knife (I would avoid this, past experience tells me I will cut myself and have to spend half the day at the emergency room), but OTHERS have used these knives without the ER experience.

Once the wood is removed, simply cast the blank in a resin saver type mold, with the inlace you prefer. Best results would come from Alumilite (no shrinkage)
Alternatively, you could mix your colors with a two part epoxy and apply just to the places you want the inlace effect.

Turn to size and mount hardware---probably want to have a CA finish, it will also help everything adhere properly.

Until you run this thread past Mike Broberg, you shouldn't offer a prize, but I am not looking to be "rewarded", just enjoy seeing the "Eagle spirit" reborn!!!

Thanks!!!
Ed

Dawn objects, saying I took several guesses. If, in this information, I MISSED the method you use, we now have SEVERAL ways that others can attempt!!
PS I am not responsible for ER trips!!!! IF you use sharp objects, you MAY get cut!!


Edit again!!
Again Dawn chimes in, this could be too broad, so the BLUE section is my guess of how YOU did it!

 

[plantman]

:doctor::doctor: Mark; Having to be a wood M.D. at times, I would go with Ed on the turning up to 1/8 " of finished size. I would differ by using a small wire brush running at a slower speed in my Dremmel to remove the soft wood, or use a dental probe for this process. Next I would use the filler of choice and apply to the holes left by the wire brush or probe. Than apply CA to the filler, and after all low areas are filled, coat the blank with thin CA to stableize the entire blank. Sand smooth and even, getting rid of any shiny areas, then build up the number of CA coats you desire, or recast the blank. Return, resand, and polish. I know from seeing your threads that you will have a much better way than my old school method !! But than again, that's why this old dog is on this site, to learn new tricks. Can't wait to see how you did it. Thank you for shareing with the rest of us !! Jim S

 

[1080Wayne]

Ed didn`t list quite all of the possible methods . Two more come to mind , neither of which may work .

1) Turn oversize by about the thickness of one black fiber or whatever you call them , dip in a strong acid bath for a length of time to be determined by many experiments , neutralize the acid , add glitter and colour to the etched portions , Alumilite cast .
This presupposes that the fibers will be etched at a slower rate than the softwood (it may of course be the other way around , or the same rate) , and that it will be at a faster rate than the brass tube will degrade .

2) Turn as for 1) , sandblast away the exposed softwood , pick out as much imbedded sand as you can , then treat as for 1) . The difficulty of course is the embedded sand , but carbide tools will handle that . This would be my best guess as to how you did it , because it would explain the remnant softwood areas that I see , which would have been covered by the fibers during sandblasting .

 

[Jjartwood]

Hi Kids,
This is the reason I think this sort of thing is helpful,The focus was on the inlace in the Palm but the solution was in the blank prep.
1. It seems that most times when I turned black palm I would end up with a blow out and in checking it there would be some sort of adhesion failure so my focus started with addressing this problem.
The solution: I read Mr Deans book when I started out and recalled that he recommended cooling cocobolo pen blanks to slow the cure rate of CA.
so.... I drilled the blanks and put both blanks and CA in the freezer.
I put the CA on the INSIDE of the blank and because it was so cold the cure rate was slowed enough to allow the CA to better penetrate into the wood.
NO accelerator was used I just let it soak and cure being sure that the entire inside of the blank was covered.
2 Tubing the blank:getting back to the blow out solution and the need for bullet proof
adhesion I used epoxy and put it IN THE BLANK using a coffee straw, this way I could be sure to get complete coverage(it's easier to clean the tube than put the blank back together).
3 Turning :This was pretty straight forward,when the blank began to feel "stringy" I
used some 100 grit to get the surface even and applied a coat of CA.
(did this two times on each blank) Than turned the blanks to finish dimension .
4 The tuff part: Having been one of the few times that I've turned this stuff without
incident I really wanted to stop right there but I did all of this because I wanted to
try the last step.
I took the blanks to the bench grinder with the wire brush wheel on it and hit both blanks letting the wire wheel take them down to the brass in some places but the material
held on and I filled the valleys with inlace .
While all concentrated on the inlace (the flash) the solution was in the bonding
And the question was how do you get the light wood out and keep the black wood on.
This is why I wanted to do this,because it helps us think past the result and more to the process.
Mark

 

[1080Wayne]

Thanks Mark . Had never thought of increasing CA penetration by freezing . I have noticed that keeping the surface of a punky portion of a blank flooded with thin CA as it is absorbed also delays cure , probably because no moist air is drawn into the blank .

I trust you used full face shield protection when using the wire brush wheel . Things can go flying very fast .