Casting sand

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reddwil

reddwil

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Joined
Feb 28, 2008
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Loganville, Georgia, USA.
Ok so I've cast alot of stuff. But never sand. I have a niece graduating and she wants a pen made from some sand she brought back from Hawaii. She wants the sand on the bottom and an ocean blue for the top(Jr. Gent). My thinking is if i mix the sand in to soon it will settle to the bottom. If I do "soild" sand with resin so its pretty much all sand. How will it finish? I would think the sand would chip out, which I.m sure could be fixed with CA. Anybody have any experience in trying this?

Thanks
Red
 
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I've made a couple sand pens in the past and suggest gluing the sand on the tube then cast. It will turn to cement in a block form and tear up your tools. I wiped medium CA on the tube and sprinkled the sand over it. If you use Ca be sure to heat the sand to remove any moisture so the glue doesn't leave white spots. Good luck!
 
I did this once with finely crushed glass... It's very hard and it'll dull up your tools fast. Try using a sander instead of a barrel trimmer. I'd recommend wearing a full face mask when on the lathe. Even a sharp carbide chisel will have a hard time cutting through it. You'll definitely need a CA finish. I imagine sand wouldn't be too much different than glass. I would first try gluing the sand on the tube and then cast it. If you do a "solid" casting, you'll still want to keep the tube in since you probably won't be able to drill through it.

Hope this helps. This is not something I ever want to do again... Have fun!!:wink:
 
reddwil said:
Ok so I've cast alot of stuff. But never sand. I have a niece graduating and she wants a pen made from some sand she brought back from Hawaii. She wants the sand on the bottom and an ocean blue for the top(Jr. Gent). My thinking is if i mix the sand in to soon it will settle to the bottom. If I do "soild" sand with resin so its pretty much all sand. How will it finish? I would think the sand would chip out, which I.m sure could be fixed with CA. Anybody have any experience in trying this?

Thanks
Red
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Just a thought for the top section.

For the Sierra blank, I used two spray paints. Blue base, white for a speckled effect.


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Sprinkle some of the sand on an appropriately colored piece of sandpaper which has been coated lightly with glue. Then glue the paper to the brass tube, add a bit of glue at the seam and sprinkle more sand there.
 
Thanks guys. Based on your suggestions basically what i did was glue sand about 1.5 inches on a Zen tube and poured clear PR to almost the end of the sand. after that set up some I mixed a couple blues for the ocean effect and poured the rest of the way up the tube. I did a couple, just in case!! We will see how it turns out.

THANKS
 
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