A couple this weekend - venturing into segmented blanks

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rfas

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Pen #1 - my first serpentine pen. Made from curly maple and some random hardwood (not exactly sure what) that came in a veneer variety pack.

Pen #2 made from a cross-cross blank purchased from Exotic Blanks.

Currently working on chaos blanks that I'm making from cutting board scraps. Hope to have something turned by this time next week if all goes well. Also still tinkering with my Celtic knots but have a little more tweaking to my process before I post another one.

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Very nicely done! My preference is the wavy, meandering glue up. The random, unpredictable veneer lines draw the eye in to see more. On the laminated stack, the wood and finish gives it a glowing appearance.
For my taste, a slimmer pen body is more attractive and follows the flow of the components.
 
Theses are really cool. I'm a big fan of the serpentine pens. Like Charlie W said, they are unpredictable. I've made quite a few using denim, card stock, and colorful T-shirts that were too small (shrunk in the clothes dryer).
 
Well done for both. These are very nice for segmenting techniques; you have a great start for more complicated designs if desired. I agree with Charlie for just a slight weight loss, not much... 🤣
 
Tim R said:
Theses are really cool. I'm a big fan of the serpentine pens. Like Charlie W said, they are unpredictable. I've made quite a few using denim, card stock, and colorful T-shirts that were too small (shrunk in the clothes dryer).
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Ooh interesting. I've never thought of using fabric as the veneer. I might have to give that a try! I bought a variety pack of various exotic wood veneers 1/45" thick. I should be able to have some fun with that, but fabric certainly sounds like something different.
 
rfas said:
Ooh interesting. I've never thought of using fabric as the veneer. I might have to give that a try! I bought a variety pack of various exotic wood veneers 1/45" thick. I should be able to have some fun with that, but fabric certainly sounds like something different.
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These are a few that I've done (admittedly poor photography). The first is using several different colors of card stock. The next two are blue denim, and the walnut is with white denim. Depending how you lay out the serpentine and how you cut the profile, you get the wider view of the denim, as opposed to the pure serpentine. I got the idea from RJBWoodTurner on YouTube. The T-shirt pens I did were okay at best because the material was a bit thin. The card stock pen was a pain. I blew out three before this one held together.
 

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Tim R said:
These are a few that I've done (admittedly poor photography). The first is using several different colors of card stock. The next two are blue denim, and the walnut is with white denim. Depending how you lay out the serpentine and how you cut the profile, you get the wider view of the denim, as opposed to the pure serpentine. I got the idea from RJBWoodTurner on YouTube. The T-shirt pens I did were okay at best because the material was a bit thin. The card stock pen was a pain. I blew out three before this one held together.
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Those are cool! Yeah, I'm sure the card stock was a pain. I wonder if you could use something like an old credit card. That might be interesting to try. Thanks for sharing!
 
rfas said:
Those are cool! Yeah, I'm sure the card stock was a pain. I wonder if you could use something like an old credit card. That might be interesting to try. Thanks for sharing!
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I've seen videos of that, but the card was only used on a diagonal.
 
rfas said:
I wonder if you could use something like an old credit card.
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Credit cards & gift cards can definitely be used, if you want a white stripe (I've used them for perpendicular and diagonal stripes - all my serpentines have used veneer). This was cards in ebony (I think it was either an old insurance card or a Tower Records gift card - my notes aren't that detailed) :
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I eventually broke down and got a pack of these blank PVC ID cards, though (be cautious - I've seen reports that cards from some suppliers are layered and tend to pull apart - although I've seen some people say the same about credit cards), after deciding that the printed layer was just damn too much work to scrub off for a clean white stripe, but not thick enough to give any deliberate-looking color.
 
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