rsmith
Member
I thought this might be an interesting experiment in thinking "outside the box". This MAY be a complete failure
, but figured it's worth throwing out there. My thoughts were, what are some "alternative" materials you have used with some success, that are not normally thrown around in the standard repertoire of "turning" materials.
The goal: To get some ideas flowing in order to give people a "starting point" in which to go from when thinking of new ideas and concepts. This is the same idea I use when trying to teach someone to play jazz or blues Look at whats been done, then expand on that and make something your own. There are so many different, unique, and beautiful materials used in everyday items that we see, and sometimes it's hard to even THINK about what they would look like after punishment on the lathe:biggrin: For example, I have been messing around with stone (only easy stuff I knew would work, alabaster and soapstone) recently, and have had some "interesting" successes. Not a terribly uncommon medium for turning, but new for me at least. I turned some Alt. Ivory last night, and that gave me the idea to hit up some antique stores today to try and find some old carvings or something with real ivory to cut up. I failed, but at least the idea was there, and while I was there I kept my eye out for anything else I could possibly get on the lathe to at least try... There are so many types of materials, ebonite, bowling balls, corian, antler, bone, shell casings, certain metals, celluloid...the list goes on and on.
What I am NOT hoping to accomplish: I am not looking to have a list of materials that are unique and for everyone to start making everything on the list. For example, if someone were to suggest a material, lets say "uranium" (oh, so stupid in so many ways...just go with me here, it's a hypothetical) I would hope that I wouldn't see a hundred "uranium" pens posted the following week. With that said, it's always fun to see what new things turn out like, so of course people (myself included) will experiment with new ideas. If someone has a truly unique idea, and they would like to keep it unique, by all means, keep it to yourself. Also, please, please, please, keep safety in mind...if you don't know if you have the proper tools and/or the ability to work with certain materials, DON'T!!! I have NO business working with any metal harder than aluminum, so I simply don't do steel...
My hope is to use some of the ENDLESS creativity of people here to give each other (myself included) some already proven "building block" ideas to start from and I think we would all be surprised at some of the beauty we can find in "alternative" materials that you may have never even considered. I mean, who would have ever thought back in the 30's and 40's that grandma's kitchen knife with the bakelite handle would make such a beautiful pen?
Just a thought...and again, if this is a failure I apologize in advance:crying::beat-up:
, but figured it's worth throwing out there. My thoughts were, what are some "alternative" materials you have used with some success, that are not normally thrown around in the standard repertoire of "turning" materials.The goal: To get some ideas flowing in order to give people a "starting point" in which to go from when thinking of new ideas and concepts. This is the same idea I use when trying to teach someone to play jazz or blues
Look at whats been done, then expand on that and make something your own. There are so many different, unique, and beautiful materials used in everyday items that we see, and sometimes it's hard to even THINK about what they would look like after punishment on the lathe:biggrin: For example, I have been messing around with stone (only easy stuff I knew would work, alabaster and soapstone) recently, and have had some "interesting" successes. Not a terribly uncommon medium for turning, but new for me at least. I turned some Alt. Ivory last night, and that gave me the idea to hit up some antique stores today to try and find some old carvings or something with real ivory to cut up. I failed, but at least the idea was there, and while I was there I kept my eye out for anything else I could possibly get on the lathe to at least try... There are so many types of materials, ebonite, bowling balls, corian, antler, bone, shell casings, certain metals, celluloid...the list goes on and on.What I am NOT hoping to accomplish: I am not looking to have a list of materials that are unique and for everyone to start making everything on the list. For example, if someone were to suggest a material, lets say "uranium" (oh, so stupid in so many ways...just go with me here, it's a hypothetical
) I would hope that I wouldn't see a hundred "uranium" pens posted the following week. With that said, it's always fun to see what new things turn out like, so of course people (myself included) will experiment with new ideas. If someone has a truly unique idea, and they would like to keep it unique, by all means, keep it to yourself. Also, please, please, please, keep safety in mind...if you don't know if you have the proper tools and/or the ability to work with certain materials, DON'T!!! I have NO business working with any metal harder than aluminum, so I simply don't do steel...My hope is to use some of the ENDLESS creativity of people here to give each other (myself included) some already proven "building block" ideas to start from and I think we would all be surprised at some of the beauty we can find in "alternative" materials that you may have never even considered. I mean, who would have ever thought back in the 30's and 40's that grandma's kitchen knife with the bakelite handle would make such a beautiful pen?
Just a thought...and again, if this is a failure I apologize in advance:crying::beat-up: