recent hemlock pine cone casts

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MarkD

MarkD

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Jan 24, 2011
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Sayre, PA
I love the interesting shapes and contrasts that hemlock pine cones can present in a pen.
I have been casting lots of hemlock pine cones blanks recently and here are a couple of my favorites. The first is a Le Roi Elegant Royale with
hemlock pine cones cast in a deep blue color. The second is also a Le Roi Elegant Royale but with hemlock pine cones cast in perl white.



 
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How about some info on how you cast your cones. I have tried two or three times with terrible results.
 
The most important part of the pine cone casting process is to have the pine cones totally dry. To do this I bake them in a 180 degree oven for at least 24 hours. Once the cones are dry I place them in a mold. I use Alumilite clear as the resin and mica powders for the color.

What kind of problems did you incur?
 
I'm planning to cast some pine s that I have here. I have a few that have been drying for a couple of months so I'd say that is plenty dry for casting. I like the white pen as the pine cones seem to stand out more but the blue one is also pretty. Great job on those 2 pens.. Fay
 
Thanks for the reply. After casting I find voids in the cones. I use a piece of PVC pipe as a mold and keep it upright under vacuum for about an hour. Do you remove the "leaves" or keep the cone in one piece? I will try the drying idea with my $3.50 toaster oven purchased at Goodwill store.
 
tomtedesco said:
Thanks for the reply. After casting I find voids in the cones. I use a piece of PVC pipe as a mold and keep it upright under vacuum for about an hour. Do you remove the "leaves" or keep the cone in one piece? I will try the drying idea with my $3.50 toaster oven purchased at Goodwill store.
Click to expand...

I do not remove any parts of the cones. I do use horizontal molds. Either an individual blank mold or a 5" x 6" block mold. Are you sure there are voids before turning and not leaves breaking off when turning? Maybe the vertical PVC molds make it more difficult to get resin into all the nooks and crannies?

Every once in awhile, while turning, I have had a leaf breakoff and leave a void that I have to fill with CA. I have begun to stop a few times during the turning process and applying a coat of thin CA to the blank. This helps keep any fragile leaves intact. I have had very few problems since I started using this method.
 
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