Crushed Pearl Type Blanks

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EricRN

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May 16, 2019
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Hi all, Apologies if this has been covered before, and I just wasn't looking in the right place. I wanted to know if folks had ideas on how to make crushed pearl-type blanks. I was thinking of buying some crushed mother of pearl that is used for inlay material, but that seems expensive to turn into a pen blank. One blank looks like it could take $10-15 worth of pearl, and so I figure there's got to be a better way since I see them sell for $3-6.

I was also curious if there's any magic to making multi-colored blanks like this:
221818
. I assume folks pour some acrylic or resin chunks of varying color, and then cast it all in a binder resin. Any tips on how to get the small chunks to be of random size and shape?
 
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The rods you are showing were commercially made, years ago. Sold by WoodCraft.
They are no longer made. Judging from the smell and the way they melt, I think they had a high
percentage of rubber in the mix.

They were made by Mazzuchelli (sp) in Italy, who now makes eye glass frames. Never hurts to
experiment, but I know many penmaker-casters have tried to get close to these patterns. I do NOT
know of anyone being successful.

Good luck in YOUR efforts!!!
 
EricRN said:
Hi all, Apologies if this has been covered before, and I just wasn't looking in the right place. I wanted to know if folks had ideas on how to make crushed pearl-type blanks. I was thinking of buying some crushed mother of pearl that is used for inlay material, but that seems expensive to turn into a pen blank. One blank looks like it could take $10-15 worth of pearl, and so I figure there's got to be a better way since I see them sell for $3-6.

I was also curious if there's any magic to making multi-colored blanks like this: View attachment 221818. I assume folks pour some acrylic or resin chunks of varying color, and then cast it all in a binder resin. Any tips on how to get the small chunks to be of random size and shape?
Click to expand...
Unfortunately these blanks were made using an extrusion process rather than pouring (as the cellulose acetate is more of a play-doh like solid than a liquid), so pattern variations were possible that can't be achieved with modern liquid resins. Here's a cool video showing the process:

As far as combining chunks of resin in a binder or matrix of another resin, it could be something worth experimenting with.
 
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