My attempt at Paua

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Steve Busey

Steve Busey

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Joined
Jul 9, 2008
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Marietta, GA.
Been trying to brew my own Paua blank - tube on the left shows first try using strips - very brittle & hard to work with. Pen shows the new "wrap" method - not perfect, but much more promising. I like the deeper color of the wrapped one, too. It's just a rush picture, but I'm feeling good about this one...

paua.jpg
 
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Steve, I see more success than attempt here. Back in 2006 I bought a FP & RB set in Paua and wanted to duplicate it... with a difference. I had already been casting, but didn't really want to do the strips in resin thing. So I bought a few shells and ground some into pieces from 1 to 3 mm and cast them suspended in black resin. THAT was an attempt. A dismal failure as well. Why? Because the stuff was so hard, I couldn't turn it on a wood lathe. There was no abundance of carbide tipped tools back then (still don't have one), and that might have helped. But that is how we learn. And my hat goes off to you and everyone else that has made pens showing this beautiful material!
 
Would you mind sharing where you got the strips and wrap from? I've been wanting to use the stuff for awhile but I've never found a good source yet
 
Thanks everyone. Of course, I'm not the first to try that material here - if you want to buy a paua blank, check with Roy (Oklahoman) - he supplies blanks made by a couple of IAP members (Ken & Roger).

If you want to try your own, there are plenty of sources on the web for the shell - just google "flexible paua shell" or "paua shell veneer". I bought mine a long time ago and would have to look up the vendor. It's been sitting on my bench for ages, looking just a bit too intimidating... :eek:

For the material (strips or wrap), I cut mine with my laser - still trying to find the exact dimension to minimize seams. Been gluing it on the tubes with CA, which is awkward & messy. Might look at the material with the adhesive backing if I ever reorder, or maybe use a spray adhesive.
 
reddwil said:
Ditto on the how to sharing Steve. That would make a great Demo at our next meeting!!!
Click to expand...

Well, I pretty much outlined the process in a post this morning. The rest is just the ugly details (gluing the blank to your fingers or benchtop... :redface::mad::confused: ). The cutting with the laser, and casting in Silmar are academic and can't really be covered in a demo. The big trick is securing the paua to the tube neatly. Still working on that. :rolleyes:

I will toss this thought out there - I used a metallic (nickel?) tube on the wrap, so the seam would not be as noticable. The "strips blank" above was actually glued to a painted (black) brass tube (which caused some consternation as the glue tried to dissolve it). Because, otherwise the brass color leaked thru the thin veneer and caused the shell to take on a brass hue - not appealing.
 
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