Pine Cone Trial Pen

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Trux

Member
Joined
Sep 24, 2010
Messages
90
Location
New Mexico
Tried my hand with some pine cones- very unforgiving as you can see with the blowout- but I'm still happy with the final outcome.
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great first try David. I wouldn't complain about getting a great pen out of learning a new technique. I have a whole bucket of cones I have colected of time with the thought of making pens.

Erik
 
I quit having blowout when I started coating the blanks from the inside with thin CA prior to gluing the tube in. You might need a quick ream with the drill bit after to get it to fit. Then soak the outside after you get it on the lathe, stopping every so often to resoak the cone as you take away the thickness. So far it makes it pretty easy to handle. Also a pen mill just don't work to square the end, just tears it. Sanding it down is best.
 
Gary Beasley said:
I quit having blowout when I started coating the blanks from the inside with thin CA prior to gluing the tube in. You might need a quick ream with the drill bit after to get it to fit. Then soak the outside after you get it on the lathe, stopping every so often to resoak the cone as you take away the thickness. So far it makes it pretty easy to handle. Also a pen mill just don't work to square the end, just tears it. Sanding it down is best.
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Sound advise....it's pretty much what I do to 'em!


What kind of cone was it?



Scott (not bad at all) B
 
Thanks for the advice- I'll put the CA to the next ones and see how that goes- the filler was some white sand I had so I didn't put any color in it and the cones are from an afgan pine- lots of them around here.
 
I took some pine cone on top of bullets to a guy today. He could not understand why I charged ten dollars more for the pine cone than I did for the Cocobolo, Walnut and Hickory pens.
I'll bet you know why, don't you?
 
Yeah, nice work. I've turned a couple pine cones myself, and one thing I have found to be helpful is to use the belt sander to get rid of a lot of the excess material. Reduces the amount of handling needed on the lathe, and saves some CA. Might be able to help reduce the risk of blowouts by way of less turning time and less gouge/skew working.
 
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