Hopefully a Mistake I will only make once...

[KMCloonan]

I saw an earlier post from an IAP member who made a pen using moss he picked up at Walmart. I thought that was pretty cool, so the next time I was at Walmart, I headed for the craft aisle, and sure enough, I saw some dried Spanish Moss. I bought a bag of the moss for about $3 and brought it home. The stuff seemed pretty dry - it crumbled in my hand - So I put some in a vertical casting tube and poured Alumilite clear slow over it and stuck it in the pressure pot overnight. When I got up in the morning, I opened the pressure pot, and was instantly disappointed - mostly in myself - for not taking the extra time to put the moss in a small oven to dry it thoroughly.

The next evening I put some more of the moss in a small foil pan and put it in my toaster oven at 150F for about a half hour. I swear - steam came out of the oven the moss had so much moisture in it.

Pictures below are of the non-dried moss and the dried moss pours. Can you guess which is which? Lesson learned. (I should have known better in the 1st place)

 

[Drewby108]

I don't know. That mistake actually looks kinda cool to me. Gives it a "murky depths" kinda feel.

I'd turn it on a spare tube (unless you're a kitless crafter) just to see how it comes out.

 

[sdindc]

I agree both look kinda cool.

 

[Larryreitz]

Thanks for posting this. I'm going to give it go. BTW I prefer the look of the dried one.
Larry

 

[KenB259]

I actually have some of this stuff in my workshop with intentions of trying exactly what you did. Thanks for posting and letting us know about the moisture. I like you, assumed it was very dry. Now I know.

 

[Woodchipper]

Unique blanks. I lived in Louisiana and found the moss was a haven for bugs.

 

[KMCloonan]

I don't know. That mistake actually looks kinda cool to me. Gives it a "murky depths" kinda feel.

I'd turn it on a spare tube (unless you're a kitless crafter) just to see how it comes out.

For grins, I have some spare 8mm tubing I picked up for the exacto knife project - I will turn both blanks on 8mm tubes, but I do not hold high hopes that the moisture-laden blank will even remotely end up being something I would want to pass along to a friend or customer. I'll post pics for both when I am done.

 

[Drewby108]

For grins, I have some spare 8mm tubing I picked up for the exacto knife project - I will turn both blanks on 8mm tubes, but I do not hold high hopes that the moisture-laden blank will even remotely end up being something I would want to pass along to a friend or customer. I'll post pics for both when I am done.

Sounds good.

 

[Todd in PA]

The microwave is quicker and preserves the color better.

 

[KMCloonan]

The microwave is quicker and preserves the color better.

Thanks Todd. Weren't you the one that originally posted the moss pen? Thanks!

 

[Todd in PA]

Thanks Todd. Weren't you the one that originally posted the moss pen? Thanks!

Yup.

 

[KMCloonan]

For what it's worth, I turned both blanks (one with non-dried moss, and the other with dried moss). The results were unexpected, and overall disappointing. As a refresher, below are the two moss blanks I cast. The one on the left the moss was not pre-dried, the one on the right, the moss was pre-dried before casting.


Here is a close up of both blanks


The blank with the dried moss looked so cool, I had high hopes for the finished blank. Nope.

The blank looked like I had a sticky tube and I rolled it around in grass clippings. So many bald spots. Not salvageable.

On the other hand, the blank made with non-dried moss turned out a bit less embarrassing, but still not great.

There are still enough bald spots that the hobby knife I made will never leave my shop, but it looks a lot better than the pre-dried blank.

I think I need to find a different moss that has less air space between strands/branches/leaves. Or, maybe I stick with segmenting.

 

[Drewby108]

I thought the finished turn on the wet blank would keep some of the milkiness. Both turnings surprised me a bit with the end result.

 

[KMCloonan]

I thought the finished turn on the wet blank would keep some of the milkiness. Both turnings surprised me a bit with the end result.

Me too. I expected the same as you.

 

[howsitwork]

For what it's worth, I turned both blanks (one with non-dried moss, and the other with dried moss). The results were unexpected, and overall disappointing. As a refresher, below are the two moss blanks I cast. The one on the left the moss was not pre-dried, the one on the right, the moss was pre-dried before casting.

View attachment 339680
Here is a close up of both blanks
View attachment 339681 View attachment 339682

The blank with the dried moss looked so cool, I had high hopes for the finished blank. Nope.
View attachment 339683
The blank looked like I had a sticky tube and I rolled it around in grass clippings. So many bald spots. Not salvageable.

On the other hand, the blank made with non-dried moss turned out a bit less embarrassing, but still not great.
View attachment 339685
There are still enough bald spots that the hobby knife I made will never leave my shop, but it looks a lot better than the pre-dried blank.

I think I need to find a different moss that has less air space between strands/branches/leaves. Or, maybe I stick with segmenting.

although I agree the air holes are vexing overall I quite like the look of that