Things that make you go "Hmmmmmmm"

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gketell

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Pleasanton, CA, USA.
Ever have one of those moments when you see something you've seen 1000 times before with the new eyes of a "Pen Turner"?



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Any ideas what this is/was?


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If you want to guess, don't scroll down yet!!




































No Peeking!!



























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No, your eyes don't deceive you. That IS a copper scrubber pad from your local grocery store.


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This is officially my second PR cast. :D

GK
 
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do a good turn daily!
Don
Originally posted by gketell
<br />Ever have one of those moments when you see something you've seen 1000 times before with the new eyes of a "Pen Turner"?
 
I assume you painted the tube black, right? I bet this would also look good with a copper pen kit. Excellent pen, and thanks for adding to may already way too long list of things I gotta try[:)]
 
Yes, the tube and hole were painted with black lacquer. I used really sharp tools (especially after I found out it was copper-coated steel scrubber) and turned to within a gnats-butt of final and then used sandpaper with a stiff backer for the last thousandths.

This one has become my son's because there a few flaws: paint smudged, a couple of chips in the blank from a moments inattention right at the end of the turning, under-turned because I was running out of metal. It really needs the Sierra Vista kit.

Dario, if you aren't kidding we can certainly work something out.

GK
 
Love the idea!!! Congrats on being the first to think of it!!!!!Oh yes and beautiful job! Alice
 
Move aside, the cactus and move aside the snake, and enter the scourer!!! Cool idea Greg. It looks really good.[:D]
It seems every time I log on, someone has raised the bar once again.
The Risi Bros better watch out!!!!
How many pots did you have to scrub before you thought of that?[:D]
 
Originally posted by gketell
<br />
Dario, if you aren't kidding we can certainly work something out.

Not kidding. If you are interested on selling or trade, just let me know.

Have you thought of casting it like a snakeskin and wrap it on the tube before casting? Just a thought but not sure if it will work.
 
Looks awesome!! Do you have to coat the finsihed product with CA in case the copper comes through the PR when turning? I was wondering this on cactus blanks too.
 
Gerg,

I hope you don't mind but I shared this idea with the folks at Bubbasville East today. I did let them know where the idea came from. [8D]

I picked up two copper pads and since we were casting today we got a total of about 8 blanks made. I can't wait to see how they turn out.
Thanks for the great idea.
 
Awwwrrrr,, shucks! [:I] Thanks for all the kind words!!

Dave R. Yes, it would look awesome with the copper kit. Two issues: 1) I've heard the copper kits don't last worth beans. 2) I didn't have one. [:D]

Skiprat, actually I have thought about turning our multicolored plastic scrubber into a pen blank before but never thought it would be interesting enough to bother with. But as we were walking down the aisles of our local grocery store I saw a package of two of those copper scrubbers and just froze. My wife looks at what I'm looking at and sighs knowingly and says "yes, that would look good in a pen.". [:D]

Tanner, you *could* coat it with CA to seal it up but what you see is unsealed and the metal is definitely at the surface. If I were doing the Sierra Vista I might try over turning it a hair and then recasting it in PR to seal it. No idea if that would work. I'm trying to find other-than-CA solutions these days because I've started having pretty severe reactions to CA fumes (like my nose closing for days)(and yes, I do use a chemical filter mask ("I am your fahhhther, Luke!")).

Kirk, I'm honored! Make sure they post pictures!!

Dario, I did think of doing like a snake skin and wrapping a single layer around the tube. Three things prevented me: 1) I couldn't think of how to make it stick without lots of CA (see above), 2) I couldn't think of how to line up the seams evenly, 3) I didn't want to muck up the pretty view I had as it was bundled up so I just cut in half and rewrapped the bundle and stuck it into my mold. After it came out of the mold I ran it through the tablesaw to square it up with the center of the wrap in the center of the blank and then I just drilled carefully which resulted in the tube basically being wrapped in the metal anyway.

GK
 
What a great idea for something that nobody would believe could be made so pretty. I guess that in the sunlight it must really "sparkle"?

Great idea, Great job! [:D]
 
Originally posted by gketell
<br />
Dario, I did think of doing like a snake skin and wrapping a single layer around the tube. Three things prevented me: 1) I couldn't think of how to make it stick without lots of CA (see above), 2) I couldn't think of how to line up the seams evenly, 3) I didn't want to muck up the pretty view I had as it was bundled up so I just cut in half and rewrapped the bundle and stuck it into my mold. After it came out of the mold I ran it through the tablesaw to square it up with the center of the wrap in the center of the blank and then I just drilled carefully which resulted in the tube basically being wrapped in the metal anyway.

Greg,

#2 & #3 lining up is a problem and the bundled effect is great. These 2 reasons sold me on doing it the original way. [;)]
 
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