Rattlesnake/PR/spalted pecan

[its_virgil]

Take a look at rattlesnake skin embedded in polyester resin with a spalted pecan bottom. This was inspired by the blanks made by The Baldwin Bros and sold (at one time??) by Ryan at woodturningz. A good friend and fellow penturner Jay Pickens introduced me to PR. It is fun, give it a try.



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[Scott]

Hey Don,

That is a great looking pen! I like using the wood for half of it, and the color of the Pecan seems to go nicely with the rattlesnake. Very Nice!

Scott.

 

[RussFairfield]

How do you disguise the joint in the skin?? Or, is the photo always of the "good" side??

 

[txbob]

Don,
That's an outstanding pen! Nice simple lines supporting the snake skin. I'm glad there's no center band, as that would have detracted from the smooth lines.
Bob S.

 

[Studio-N]

I was also wondering about the seam, but I have another technical questions.
Once the tube is emersed in the PR, do you end up redrilling the inside of the brass tube to get the resin out, or is the tube plugged in some fashion. Great pen. I see lots of possibilites with PR.
-Nick

 

[its_virgil]

Originally posted by RussFairfield
<br />How do you disguise the joint in the skin?? Or, is the photo always of the "good" side??


Russ,
I just glue the skin and overlap one edge over the other at the seam. It tends to blend end very nicely. I did take the picture of the non-seam side which has the nicer skin pattern. Attached is a photo of the seam side. See what you think.
Do a good turn daily!
Don



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[its_virgil]

Nick,
I use cork stoppers to plug the ends of the tubes to keep out the PR and use the corks to help suspend the tubes away from the bottom surface of the mold. I sketch my mold set-up, scan it in and post it later today. If you are a member of yahoo penturners there is an excellent article on casting PR resin in the files area in the 1A Reference folder. It was written by Jay Pickens and is a excellent resource.

I addressed the seam in a previous post in reply to Russ's post.
Do a good turn daily!
Don

Originally posted by Studio-N
<br />I was also wondering about the seam, but I have another technical questions.
Once the tube is emersed in the PR, do you end up redrilling the inside of the brass tube to get the resin out, or is the tube plugged in some fashion. Great pen. I see lots of possibilites with PR.
-Nick

 

[its_virgil]

Scott,
thanks for the nice ink. Article in the computer and started for the gavel/pen. Maybe some day soon.
Do a good turn daily!
Don

 

[its_virgil]

Bob,
Thanks and glad you like the pen. I have two more blanks cast and maybe will do some turning with them this afternoon. Thinking about snake skin and antler if the color of the antler is nice looking with the skin.
Do a good turn dalily!`
Don

 

[melogic]

Don,
Very nice. This is what I call great Craftsmanship. I can't wait to see some more pens like this. My wife and daughter say nice job also.

 

[its_virgil]

Thanks Mark and family. I appreciate the encouraging words. I have two more skins cast and will turn one of them tonight maybe. Check back.
Do a good turn daily!
Don

 

[daledut]

Don,
You have a winner there. I always liked the ones that Jay did too.

You have been busy. Did I mention that I love the gavel pens also.

I feel like I am being left in the dust. I had a daughter get married last Saturday, and my wife had foot surgery this past Thursday so I have not been in the shop in a while.

Add to that the fact that my sales have dried up completely and I am running out of excuses to make pens.

 

[its_virgil]

Dale,
Thanks and glad you like the snakeskin pens. I think they are rather neat. The gavel pens are lots of work, well just the handle part and getting the pen to work and fit properly. I find it difficult to drill the holes and keep everything turning concentric around them. I thought it would be rather straightforward, but ...

Congratulations on the marriage of your daughter and I hope your wife is on the mend quickly and successfully. Maybe sales will pick up. I have been a little sluggish in the sales dept. as of late. Still making pens from the gym floor but not selling much of anythng else.
Do a good turn daily!
Don

 

[daledut]

Don,
I did get in the shop today for about a half hour and I was thinking of you the whole time.
You inspired me to practice with a skew. I cut some 2x4 scrap and strated making splinters.
I used a skew almost exclusively in high school. Then it took me 25 years before I had the means and space to get a lathe again. I grabbed a skew right off the bat and just about ripped my arm of with a catch in the first few seconds. I guess it aint like riding a bike []
Well I can do tapers and roll beads from right to left. When I try going from left to right, I might as well be holding the skew with my feet [:I]. I cannot get the hang of doing a cove without catching on the uphill side.
Anyway, I intend to keep practicing and maybe even grinding that darn top point off my skew[] Just thought you would like to know that you challenged me to master this sucker.

 

[its_virgil]

Good for you Dale! I still get catches and just today I ruined a blank with a catch and it ripped the blank into 3 or 4 pieces. Seems that they happen to me when I get a little careless and am not paying attention to what I'm doing. The skew can be such a versitile tool. Planning cuts, sheer cuts, scraping, parting, facing off...and cuts down on the need to sand. Or at least, you can start at a higher grit. Keep practicing....I'm no expert but I do like using the skew. I'm partial to the oval skew. Don't like the flat ones. Practice cutting with the top long point. It can do some really neat things. But, satch those catches!
do a good turn daily!
Don