casting worms in blanks

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watch_art

watch_art

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OKay - so I have no interest in making my own blanks. Well, I mean, I do, but I'd rather not get into that part of the hobby. Turning is going to take long enough to learn and get good at. But basically what I'm asking is - is it possible to cast little worms in a clear blank?

What I'm thinking would end up looking something like this...
gallery_41188_3_48705.jpg


And then just for the fun of it...
gallery_41188_3_5455.jpg


You may be asking, What's up with the worms??? Well, back in June my wife's tomato garden was destroyed by these little cut worms, and I've been drawing them ever since. I'm working on filling my third sketchbook.
You can see two of them here...
http://coffeegrinderpress.com/drawingsblog.html
 
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Shouldn't be an issue. You'll most likely want to paint and cure your brass tubes first, then glue the little worm onto the painted tube using something like medium CA which should seal them onto the tube. Once you have them where you want them and the CA has cured I would pour thin CA over that to seal it all in again. From there you could use something like a resin saver for your brass tubes based on the kit. Heat your resin up to prevent bubbles if you don't want to invest in a pressure pot, pour and let it set. Be sure to let the CA gas off for a couple days before casting with PR or Alumilite.

I'm sure others will have a different take on this, but this has worked for me. I just put a Black Widow in some PR, but she was too big to put on a pen...I may use her on a modified cap for an ick factor...

Best wishes, and keep posting your work! I really need to scan my sketch pad ideas and post as well. I thought there should be a place on the IAP where we post design ideas (Ink/paper) sketch designs so others could pull from the ideas.

Great concept...
 
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Love it! I think it could be done, but Im not sure how long they will look good. The reason i say this is because this time last year i found a brown recluse spider and threw it in a cup of resin (thinking i was gonna make a paperweight out of it) and over time the colors of the spider went from brown to orangish color and it appears that all of its insides are gone. Now, im not sure how true this is but i have heard that some sort of organisms will eat these things from the inside out, leaving nothing but a shell to remain, but i have a hard time believing this cuz if that was so, then what happens to the little organisms when they are done eating? anyway, you never know what will happen till you try it! thats part of trial and error! and part of the joy in learning new things IMHO
 
If they are really dry it is possible...problem is ...once they dry they do not look anything like the original worm. Have you thought of maybe using decals?

Eugene
 
Oh no! I'm sorry - I don't mean REAL worms. I mean making little green blobs that look like worms, and then casting all that in clear resin. Maybe make the worms individually then create the clear around them?
 
1. Yes it's possible to get a design like that, but probably not with actual cutworms. I would think that the moisture level would be too high. Polymer Clay come to mind.

2. Tell you wife when she goes to plant her tomatoes to plant them with a couple of toothpicks pressed up next to the stem so that the worm can't get a grip on it and to work some broken egg shells into the soil around the plant, they're very soft bodied and don't like to be cut up. Also if she does lose a plant she should dig around the plant, the worm shouldn't be more than an inch or two away, then she can squish it before it takes any more out.
 
watch_art said:
Oh no! I'm sorry - I don't mean REAL worms. I mean making little green blobs that look like worms, and then casting all that in clear resin. Maybe make the worms individually then create the clear around them?
Click to expand...

Oh...I was thinking something crazy like this!!!

discarded_InsectS.jpg
 
Give a shout out to Jeff Powell (workinforwood). He could definitely create a worm blank for you. I would think you are wanting the worms created from Alumilite, set onto the tubes and resin poured around them. This way you can still see the worms in all their glory. More like how he creates the Autum leaf blanks.
 
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OMG Shawn.....

I have to say that the addiction of pen turning will be good for you. I looked at one of your worm notebooks and you seriously need a much more productive addiction! LOL!

:)
 
If you want it to look just like your drawings, you could scan the drawing, print it on a label and cast that. Then it wold look exactly like your drawing!
 
How about some rubber or silicone fishing worms? You can get them in all kinds of colors and sizes. I was thinking about doing something like that with them but lack the casing skills.....so far:biggrin:

Kevin
 
I think those would be too soft. The thing about making the worms one at a time from resin would mean they'd be easy to turn down with the rest of the blank. But like Jeff told me, it will be VERY time consuming to make this type of blank. He pointed me to the tutorial on his website, and I'll attempt it this summer hopefully.
 
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