A few special casts

[Dai Sensei]

I've been trying casting rice in resin with some success using Jasmin rice. I wanted to try some black rice, so picked up some from my local chinese specialist store, along with some really white rice (not sure of what type, the pack just says rice). I cast the white rice in black resin, and the black rice (that is white in the midle) in white resin. I was very pleased when I turned them as the rice did not absorb any of the resin, giving very good grain definition, unlike the Jasmin rice I tried previously. The best part was that I just used my resin saver moulds, put the tubes in and filled it up with rice, then heated the resin up and poured it in slowly (allowing time to penetrate). No pressure or anything else, the rice didn't float. The pens are a gun metal Sierra, and a satin chrome Sierra.

The next one is one I have been thinking of trying for ages, a pen made from coloured pencil slices. Gawdelpus (John) come around yesterday and he gave the idea for the jig to cut the slices, and then helped me as I went through the painful exercise of sticking the little pieces on the tube one by one. I then cast them in a suitable length of PVC tube with black resin. I had to use a lot of thin CA as I turned to ensure the pencil lead didn't spread into the timber of the pencil. The pen is a click pencil Sierra, as I lost a few of the pencils on the edge and needed a shorter tube

The only thing I would change with the pencils next time is sanding the base of the little pieces to fit the tube dia, some portions of the pencils have been turned away because of the square ends on the round tubes . Curved ends will fix this, but involve far more effort. Otherwise I could just use a EB or another kit that uses more meat :wink:

Cheers

 

[ldb2000]

Those are awesome Neil . I absolutely love the pencil , it came out fantastic .

 

[toolcrazy]

Beautiful batch you have there. Who would of thunk it.

 

[mrburls]

Great looking group of pens Neil.

Keith "mrburls"

 

[neubee]

That was a cool idea; very innovative.

 

[louie]

Nice pens Neil. The color pencil pen would make a great teachers gift.

 

[PaulDoug]

Very unique the pencil one. I like both, and I like your unique ideas.

 

[2cor520]

They all look great, good job!

 

[cinder_ladylocket]

OK, I will order this one and that one...get some blanks made for us!!!!! Tapping her toe....waiting................................... They are striking....I love them!!! Please please please...surely you didn't just put them on there to tease us....your going to be so nice and kind and make us some!!!! Well done!!!

 

[louisbry]

Great ideas, nicely executed!

 

[creativewriting]

I love the rice....where's the risotto?

 

[Dan26]

Awesome idea with the colored pencils!

 

[Penl8the]

Hi Neal,

Absolutely fantastic on the both rice and colour pencil pens. I tried casting white rice (long gain rice) in translucent green dye. The contrast of mine was not very good.

The contrast and definition on your blanks are brilliant!!

And the colour-pencil blank is stunning!!!!

Thanks for showing.

 

[greggas]

great idea with the pencils...very original...I bet it took quite a bit of time

 

[markgum]

excellent work. I hope you share with us the jig you used to cut the pencils.

 

[bobjackson]

Neal
Those are all great. Very creative. Love the black rice. Would you sell a blank or 2??

 

[David Keller]

Very, very nice. I like all of them.

 

[NewLondon88]

Nice! The pencils look great. How did you get the edge definition on
the rice?

 

[Papa mark]

Very very nice, great use of materials, love the pensils.

 

[Lawrence Witter]

Neil,

Great design and execution. I would not change a thing. The loss of material at the edge of the blank in no way reduces the beauty and creativity. Well done!

Larry

 

[broitblat]

Very cool. The pencils create a very unique and appealing design. Also, I like the great definition you got with the rice. The black rice, in particular, really stands out.

-Barry

 

[RAdams]

now that's thinking outside the box! Very nice work!! Makes me wanna go kick around and see what i can find to throw in the molds!!

 

[jbostian]

Great pens! I really like the pencil pen.

Jamie

 

[CSue]

Great ideas! Wonderful execution.

I like the white rice pen best.

 

[Mr Vic]

Loved the colored pencil blank. Could you slice the pencils thinermso you would have still have a good layer of resin/pr whatever medium still covering them once turned to size?

 

[jaeger]

Neil,
You pushed me over the edge, I have to try some casting now. This is one of the coolest ideas in a long time! Great job!!!
Nice pictures as well.

Doug

 

[nava1uni]

I really like these pens, especially the black background on the rice.

 

[Dai Sensei]

Thanks for the kind comments :tongue:

The color pencil pen would make a great teachers gift.

Exactly my thoughts, for my sister who is a primary (the little kids) school teacher

OK, I will order this one and that one...get some blanks made for us!!!!! Tapping her toe....waiting................................... They are striking....I love them!!! Please please please...surely you didn't just put them on there to tease us....your going to be so nice and kind and make us some!!!! Well done!!!

:biggrin::biggrin:

excellent work. I hope you share with us the jig you used to cut the pencils.

Basically a piece of wood with a drill hole down the center slightly larger than the pencil, and a saw cut with the scroll saw at right angles as the cut line. I also put in a cut line parrallel with the drill hole from the top down to the drill hole as a window to see where the pencil is.

Hope this makes sense. I'll take a photo next time a get a chance

..Would you sell a blank or 2??

Like my banksia casts, I can't cast them fast enough, that's why I try to describe the technique so others can try. I'm only doing these for fun, not business of profit. I had a sale of my banksia casts to cover some of my costs on our Ausy forum and the larger ones all sold in 20 minutes Good for me, not so good for the bulk buy I was going to offer this forum :redface:

Nice! The pencils look great. How did you get the edge definition on
the rice?

I too had trouble with edge definition with other rice types I have used. I came across this one by accident. They almost appear like bleached rice, although I'm sure they are not. I got them from my local chinese specialty shop, "Pigeon Brand, Extra Super Quality Pin Kiew Glutinous Rice, Product of Thailand".

Perhaps you can get some over your way. They also had some what looked like little tiny cubes, the size of the width of a grain of rice, hard and also bright white. Not sure what the where as the label was only in Asian, but they were amongst the lentils, should also be good.

I also add a lot of catylist to the PR to ensure it goes off quickly

Loved the colored pencil blank. Could you slice the pencils thinermso you would have still have a good layer of resin/pr whatever medium still covering them once turned to size?

I wish I could, then I could use the resin saver moulds. But these were cut to just over 1/8", any smaller and they started to split.

Cheers

 

[Dai Sensei]

Here's the jig, sorry about the photos, but hopefully it will help explain.

Photo 1 shows the drill hole for the pencil and the cut viewing slot for top

Photo 2 shows the viewing slot running along the jig and cross-cut slit for blade from above. Black mark is the cutting length

Photo 3 shows doing a cut, normally I hold jig with other hand, instead of camera :wink: