Double cast euc burl,,,,,,,

[stevers]

Hi All,
I posted this here so all of you casters could see it.
I took a piece of my worthless euc burl and cast it in green tinted PR. I used Curtis' method. To be perfectly honest, the double cast part was done out of necessity. I will explain how this came about.
When I was turning the tenon for the center band, I went too far. I considered making it w/out the CB, I considered putting on a CB from something else. Then it hit me, now is my chance to double cast a pen. I left the blanks on the lathe and turned them to the euro bushings. Then I mounted 7mm bushings in place of the euros. I took the barrels about 20 thou bellow where the euro bushings would have been. A light sanding to remove any major marks. Removed them from the lathe and plugged the ends of the barrels with corks, glued on the little wood squares and cast them "again" in clear PR. I only needed a few thou added to the barrels, so I made them as small as I could. When they set, I pulled the corks and mounted the on the lathe and turned them down to the "euro" bushings. Then I finished them and turned the tenon and this is how they came out. This is no finish, just PR. This is, without a doubt, the "best" looking worthless wood pen I have turned yet. It's hard to tell from the pictures, but the depth is incredible. The finish is like glass. None of the little voids or spots like I got in the first couple of WW pens. This is the method I will use from now on for any material that is temperamental or notorious for having voids or dull spots.
Thanks for looking and give me your comments,

 

[holmqer]

I have been a bit curious why folks did not do this for some of the difficult woods. I had been tempted to try it myself someday so see how it would work out. It looks like it works great!

 

[Firefyter-emt]

Nice job Steve.. Did you have any problems trying to turn the same profile?? On thin kits this is my one worry that any curves may be knocked down too far and you will blow thru. Sure, you could patch it with CA, but that not the point of doing it. I am curious just how nice a cigar would look if you turned the wood "just so you have enough on the tube" and then cast the wood and turned it more like a snakeskin blank than a PR finish. I wonder how some burls would look with the "magnify effect" from this method.

 

[stevers]

Lee,
I basically turned it BtoB, then put whatever profile I wanted on it. Like the label pens, it doesn't matter if it's a little thicker in one part then another. You cant tell when it's turned and finished. I just made sure not to go through the PR. Not that theres any way to tell. I was careful not to go too far. That's good term for it too, Magnify Affect.
By the way, I got some of that stuff you wanted in a box. I just cant remember what the postage is. Look at my other topic in Casual Convers.

 

[karlkuehn]

Wow, that's a great looking pen, Steve. I can tell the finish is amazing. That should save a little dough on CA, too, not to mention time! Once again, I think I'll be following in your footsteps. I have a few pens that have become a nightmare and just ended up in a drawer. I'm excited about pulling them out again, as there are many hours in that drawer.

I've got a gallon of resin on the way from Mr. Fiberglass, and some tint and styrene as well. Is that what you used on this pen?

 

[stevers]

Karl,
I used a green powder from Coastal Scents(I believe Majestic Green Mica Powder) and a liquid pearl for sparkle in the first cast. That was the "Worthless Wood" casting. Then after it was turned slightly bellow the bushings, I used clear PR. This process produced the best finish yet on a wood pen. The depth is astonishing.
I use Mr. F resin too. I don't know one from the other, because this is the only one I have used, but it works for me.

 

[rtrimyer]

Hey,

I bet that this would work great on Ebony, everyone says that it cracks, could it be possible that the PR would cure before the dreaded "CRACK"??? Just a thought. Cool pen by the way.

Thank you

 

[bitshird]

I need to try somethng, I've tried 2 Euros and a cigar in Cross cut zebra, as soon as I get hear sanding even being careful with my cuting the wood blows up, tosses chunks out, they still are glued.
Maybe using epoxy might work but I've been using Gorilla or Sumo polyglue, wetting the inside the wood swells so quick, it's dificult to get the tubes in.
I've done a few slimlines and a couple of cigars out of zebra cut with the grain with good luck, I've got a 7.5 CFM vacuum pump, and a cheap compressor so I guess I'm ordering a paint pot from Harbor Freight,actually I could probably use mu Med. size vacuum bell jar, (provided the wife didn't catch me) Couldn't pressurize it though.
It seems to me from previous experience making RTV molds for Jewelry, that the compression would seem a bit unnecessary, by drilling a say 7 mm hole in the center, of the piece, then placing it in a pot and restrained,so it cant float up that what ever air cells that wern't purged from say a 20 minute vacuum cycle at 29 IN. HG not filled from the outside should have soaked up enough through the center hole to give a reasonable fill rate on the open celluar structure in the wood when the vacuum is released the resin has got to find a place to go, and them tiny little holes with a 3 atmosphere vacuum seem like they would welcome some tihing to fill them up.
I have to order some casting resin to try it, with the 7 millimeter hole you should be able to redrill the hole with minimal problems, I guess you could use a 10 mm hole if that's what the kit took.
Is Mr Fiberglass pretty good or should I go with the alumalite<sp>
I do like the Idea of adding pearl and coloring agents, there are quite a few Red Oak and Whit Oak stumps I was going to get pulled up this winter, also some Palona unfortunatly the rings are 3/8ths and over, pretty old trees but it's still a pretty wood, no telling what the roots look like also how long is the working time on these resins and can you slow it down by adding a bit less catalyst and keeping the temperature down,
Sorry if there are any spelling errors, a major part of my registry is screwed up I lost Word, Outlook and the spell check in Outlook express is nonfunctioning,, So I done the best what I could for an old hillbilly boy
Ken