Help Cutting Slab for Blanks

[eliasbboy]

I have an order for Jr. Gent II's using this slab. It's about 6 feet long. I'm going to stabilize the blanks after cutting.

Having no experience with cutting my own blanks, is their a proper way to do this? Any help/suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

 

[The Penguin]

how thick is the slab?

If you have the whole thing to play with - make a few blanks...some with the grain running along the blank, some 90º cross cut, some 45º cross cut. See what makes the best looking blank.

then stabilize what you think looks best.

 

[Akula]

Different ways depending on how many blanks your wanting to get. You can mark it out to get the most or usually what I do is mark out the best sections for the best blank(s).

 

[eliasbboy]

The customer wants to buy as many as the wood will allow. The slab is a little over an inch thick. I was going to cut off the ends that are damaged/cracked and then possibly cut at an angle from there, making them as thin as possible.

I supposed I can make a clear acryilic template for the size I need and mark off what looks best, but that would leave waste.

For the customer, the wood itself is what's special, not the grain or appearance of the wood, if that makes sense. They just want to have as many pens as they can from this particular piece.

 

[Edgar]

If your only concern is to maximize the number of pen blanks, I would simply make some card stock or paper templates. Make them only as long as you need for the kit you are going to use plus a little for trimming. Make several templates in 1, 2, 3 and 4 blank widths (more if the slab is wide enough) including kerf width allowance.

Then lay those templates on the slab and position them to get the maximum number of blanks from the good parts of the wood. Then mark the outlines of the templates and cut those chunks out of the slab, then slice the chunks into their individual blanks.

I would also save all the waste pieces from the edges, split ends, etc and possibly use them for worthless wood castings for a few additional blanks.

I hope you have a bandsaw for doing this.

 

[eliasbboy]

Yessir! I have a fresh blade on the bandsaw and I'm only waiting to figure out the layout. Thanks you very much for your ideas.

If your only concern is to maximize the number of pen blanks, I would simply make some card stock or paper templates. Make them only as long as you need for the kit you are going to use plus a little for trimming. Make several templates in 1, 2, 3 and 4 blank widths (more if the slab is wide enough) including kerf width allowance.

Then lay those templates on the slab and position them to get the maximum number of blanks from the good parts of the wood. Then mark the outlines of the templates and cut those chunks out of the slab, then slice the chunks into their individual blanks.

I would also save all the waste pieces from the edges, split ends, etc and possibly use them for worthless wood castings for a few additional blanks.

I hope you have a bandsaw for doing this.

 

[low_48]

I crosscut to the length I want first. Well actually I look at the best color and figure, then crosscut. It's a lot easier to get the max cuts from the irregular shape when you have 6" lengths instead of the full length. This piece isn't that tough, not nearly as tough as throwing a burl up on the saw!

 

[SteveG]

The "standard" width for blanks is ¾" X ¾". Since you are selecting the size, you can change that...up or down. For example, a straight profile slimline from an easy-to-drill material, could be made from a blank barely ½" X ½". That sizing would yield more pens from a given plank. But if you go for it, then find that a large number blow out during drilling, then very thin blanks would be the poor choice. You specify Jr. Gent II, which can be turned from blanks slightly less than ¾", and the blank length can be only what is needed, somewhat less than 5". So if you are going to squeeze out more blanks by downsizing, test and be sure it works before cutting up the entire board!