How to make pen blanks with various materials?

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RoyalTeaDee

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Joined
Jul 21, 2023
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Durham, NC
I'm interested in making my own blanks and have recently found information on how to make them using labels. I was curious if anyone had tips, tricks ideas on how to make blanks using other materials such as fabric, leather, etc.
 
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If you're wrapping a tube, it's all pretty much the same. Just make sure you have enough room over the material for resin or CA to the bushings. Also, some porous materials may need to be sealed before casting to protect from discoloration or air pockets. I think blank making is pretty much an endless rabbit hole. Welcome to the madness!
 
Hello. I do not see a name in your signature but still like to welcome you to the best pen turning site on the web. You can find any answer to any question you have here and also the members are glad to help. I suggest first that you take some time and tour our site and get use to some of the features and areas where many answers lie. The library is the primary source of information. You will find that in the blue banner on top of each page under resources. there are articles in there that you can download and explain how to do what you ask.

Yor question is just too broad to be able to be answered in a few sentences and writing a book gets boring. But if you can think of it I will say there is a good chance it has been cast into a pen blank for sure. John just whet your appetite and teased you abit but much more to his answer. another great feature up at the top is the Search button. Just type in referring words to what you want and it will post many links to threads that discuss what you asked. Other than that if you have specific questions then it would be easier to help you. again welcome to the site.
 
Just to get a list started: seeds of all types, leather, cloth of many kinds, wood chips, sawdust, metal dust and chips of all kinds, rocks/minerals (yes, rocks drilled and turned with diamond tools) Cast material - acrylic, epoxy, other, leaves, bark, pine cones, corn cob, cork, bone, horn, ivory, mammoth tusk, hair, feathers, solid metals of all kinds including titanium, and of course steel, aluminum, brass, copper, silver, poisonous woods including poison ivy, poison oak, skins such as snake skin, fish skin, etc., - and as mentioned, this is just the list to get started.

NOW to your specific question - pick the item of interest and do a search on this forum. If you are like me, I have to re-word a question two of three times and still do not get the "find" that fits what I need, then I post a question for the specific material and often get a good number of responses. Lots of helpful responders here, but it does help to narrow the field in the question, or the answers will be all over the place.
 
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Just about any material can be casted and turned. Play with different mediums and find one that works for you, there are very few "wrong" answers to materials. Use the wealth of knowledge in this forum on how to cast and grow from there. Find mediums that work for you and get the results you desire and take it from there.

The biggest thing to note when casting: the material must be dry or casting errors/issues/failures will occur.
 
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