Question about Cholla

[bad]

I've been looking at the amazing pens that are made out Cholla and cast in resin. I want to try this myself but I have a couple of questions about the Cholla. I can find several sources of it on ebay but I want to make sure I get the right stuff. On ebay the Cholla varies in size from 3/4" to 2" diameter. Does that make much of a difference or should I only go for the Cholla that is closer to 3/4"? There always seems to be a hole down the centre, do I have to make sure I get a piece with a narrow hole or would any piece work?

By the way, I'm heading out of town tomorrow so I might not be able to acknowledge your replies for a couple of days.

 

[Jmhoff10500]

well, it is definitely easier if you can find one that has the same size hole of your tube but you can get some very interesting looking designs with different sizes of cholla. I personally only order from people here on the forums that have the right sizes...

 

[maxman400]

I have cast some and I find that if you stick to the stuff that is closer the the 3/4 size you will get better results. I cast mine in 3/4" PVC and I make it a little longer (6") so that I can pour up to the top then place it in the pressure pot. Under pressure your resin will compress and will drop as much as a 1/2" leaving you with a 5 1/2" blank. If you have what I call knuckles (lumps where another piece was attached) you can sand them down to fit in the tube, some of these will give you a tier drop shape instead of a diamond. I wedge the cholla in to the tube at the top with a small piece of wood so it wont float. As for buying it I can't help there, I live in the desert and just go out and pick mine up. I picked this up on Monday. :biggrin:

 

[Mark]

My first order of Cholla was two pieces. One for each, a pen and pencil set. One piece was received broken (9 pieces). That was actually a plus. I changed direction and glued the pieces directly to a tube, dipped the whole thing in a light brown dye and then encased it in resin. It came out great. The dye basically covered the ends of the broken pieces. When I turned it down, the white skeleton still showed well and the broken pieces blended away.

The point being, the closer you can get to the tube size, the better. IMHO.

If it is too large, try breaking it down and doing what I did. Good Luck..

 

[bruce119]

I've been looking at the amazing pens that are made out Cholla and cast in resin. I want to try this myself but I have a couple of questions about the Cholla. I can find several sources of it on ebay but I want to make sure I get the right stuff. On ebay the Cholla varies in size from 3/4" to 2" diameter. Does that make much of a difference or should I only go for the Cholla that is closer to 3/4"? There always seems to be a hole down the centre, do I have to make sure I get a piece with a narrow hole or would any piece work?

By the way, I'm heading out of town tomorrow so I might not be able to acknowledge your replies for a couple of days.

I have over 100 pieces of Cholla and am making a tutorial (when I get time) on inlaying. They are 6" long and perfect size for pens. I have figured out at least 6 different ways of filling a Cholla. I was going to put together packages to offer. Something like 5 pieces of Cholla some inlay material like crushed turquoise or red coral perhaps some pigments mica powders and all the support you need. I was going to offer a package for about $20.00 guaranteed to get results. I just got side tracked and didn't gather up all the stuff.

If you need some Cholla drop me a PM and I got some tips on working with it and having success. One good tip is when drilling out your Cholla if the inside hole is too small be sure to tape up the outside really good with masking tape to give it support. Another if the piece you have is too large the center is too big for tube. Just carefully cut it in half most of the time the kerf that cuts out will give the room for it to fit if not just trim the 2 halves to fit. Then to get it to fit even better on your tube take a round file and run it across the 2 halves. Then CA them to your tube use electrical tie wraps to hold them together. That's just 2 or 3 tips I got a ton more with about 15 photos.

Bruce

 

[Ankrom Exotics]

You can use smaller diameter cholla, wrap it tightly in masking tape and fill it with resin to make a solid blank. Be sure the walls of the cholla are thick enough that you won't turn through them on the lathe.

You can also buy large diameter cholla (3" or more sometimes). These often have walls that are thick enough to cut solid blanks from.

Both methods work well but you'll end up with different looks.

We don't have any Cholla 'Bones' listed on our website at the moment but we do have an inventory of both types. Send a PM if you'd like some.

 

[bad]

Thank you to everyone who took the time to reply. I just got back from Toronto and will look into getting some cholla and giving it a try. By the way, there are some excellent tips that I never would have considered on my own. Again, Thank you.