Conk Pens?

[stoneman]

Has anyone here tried making pens of a "conk" fungi growth that forms on the side of a tree? This picture shows the kind of growth I'm talking about (as part of the stand). I have several smaller ones that seem hard on the outside, though light in weight. Has anybody here ever tried it?

 

[RussFairfield]

With enough CA glue, you can make a pen out of anything. The posted pictures have included corn cobs, various vegetables, Oat Meal, corn flakes, horse manure, and hair. Some look pretty good. Some look like crap. A fungus seems tame by comparison.

 

[THarvey]

Part of the fun of having these creative ideas is trying them out.

Give it a turn and let us know how is works. You might find a new source for pen blanks. Possibly income if you wish to sell some. [8D]

Like Russ said, it seems tame compared to some of the pens posted here. The "cat litter box" pen blank is the wildest I remember.

 

[Paul Downes]

A word of caution!!! Some mushrooms have toxins in them and could cause you considerable harm if you breath the dust when turning. Of course every woodturner should have a good dust collection and filtration system in place.

 

[redfishsc]

Originally posted by RussFairfield

With enough CA glue, you can make a pen out of anything....horse manure......Some look like crap.

Well what do you expect from a pen made from, well, crap?



If you were to make a pen from this, I'd suggest you dry the heck out of it first and then maybe pressure-cast it in resin, and maybe some manure[)]

 

[1080Wayne]

Steve Have made a pen from one of those off of an aspen poplar . Very soft , but turnable with sharp tools . If you have a blowout , easy to invisibly mend it . Use CA liberally . I did chicken out and use 80 grit when I got to within a 1/32 inch of the final profile . Has a very nice chocolate brown colour , with a fine grain structure . Wayne

 

[Darley]

I did turn 1 of those mushy but mine sucks the CA like a sponge and it turn really dark, I didn't like it so it went in the bin, if you want try use sharp skew and light cut ( you know the storry )