Strange way to get pen blanks..

[NewLondon88]

I stopped into a dollar store and saw a bunch of cutting boards that were pretty cheap. I bought one, brought it home and proceeded to condition it with the mineral oil.

It was made of bamboo, and it liked the oil. The capillaries in the bamboo flare when the light hits the oil .. looks like little tiny fiber optics throughout the board. So I got thinking..

I brought it into the shop and cut it at an angle. It cuts a little ragged, after all it's not wood, but a grass. But it drilled fine. I put it on the mandrel and turned a cigar pen.

It turns well, sands quickly and has a lot of character in it.

I'd post a pic, but it is still sitting on the mandrel soaking up tung oil for a finish. It would probably do just fine with a CA finish, but I want the oil soaked in first. It really makes the pen light up.

anyway, the cutting board was $2.99 and I got about a dozen blanks out of it. An added bonus is that there's two different colors in it. I'll post a pic when it's done.

Oh, don't bother going to the store near me, I went back and bought all of the cutting boards. heh heh heh ..

 

[wdcav1952]

Nice score, Charlie!

 

[DocStram]

Hah! That is a good score. Sounds like one of Dario's moves. I'm looking forward to some pictures.

 

[RMB]

I bought one from target, I think it was 5$, but it's a little one, probably only 8 blanks, couple shorts... haven't gotten to turning it yet though. How does the tung oil work? rub it in, let it cure, then buff it? Show us the pic when it's done!

 

[shull]

Got a bamboo cutting board in the shop just calling my name. You are giving me inspiration and ideas.

 

[JayDevin]

I have a friend who is a CABINET maker specializing in Bamboo,
If you want some bamboo just let me know, You just pay the shipping.
I have a whole lot of it!

 

[1JaredSchmidt]

You have any crosscut bamboo Jay?

 

[erbymcbrayer]

Can not wait to see pictures, great idea, thanks.

 

[Skye]

Sweet. I got a couple of boards from TJ Max, but they weren't as cheap as yours

 

[SamThePenMan]

Can't wait to see the pictures. I've often though of doing that too, buying cheap cutting boards from the dollar store, I just haven't gotten around to it yet. May have to soon though when I see the results.

 

[rjwolfe3]

I went the more expensive route and bought two different ones from walmart. The first was pure bamboo and I got about 30 3/4"x3x4" blanks from it. The second was supposed to be half bamboo and half acacia. Turned out to be about 1/5 bamboo but I am hoping to do some creative drilling and keep both woods on the finished pen. I haven't turned any of it yet but I wish I had known that you can get them cheaper at other places.

 

[JayDevin]

all kinds Jared

 

[NewLondon88]

Well .. I was going to post photos today, but I can't find how to do it on here.
Every forum seems to be different..

The fiery lines I was looking at looked a bit duller today, and I was curious about the
cappilary action. Tried hitting it with some TransTint dyes to see what would happen.

It colors the surface nicely, but comes right off. So that's out for now.

I put it under vacuum, and it's soaking up tung/turps right now. I'll check it in
the morning and see how it is doing. I picked up one of those kitchen gadgets
by Black & Decker on sale for $10. It has a few canisters and a vacuum pump.
So I threw in the tung/turps, put in a few blanks and sucked the air out of it.
I'm not sure if the vacuum pulls in the oil, or it letting the vacuum GO is pulling in
the oil.

But when you suck out the air, you watch all these tiny little bubbles rising
up out of the wood..

OK, someone tell me how to put the pics in a post..

(found it, but just tiny photos..) and couldn't close the window.

 

[NewLondon88]

and another one.

You can't really see the light catching the capillaries in the photos, but in one of them
you can see a little bit of it. Looks like pores.

 

[Snorton20]

I went to a local Bloom store formally known as Food Lion and they had bamboo cutting boards there as well. I picked up two of them about a month ago and made a few slim lines out of them. I will have to make some angle cut ones and see how they come out. Great find, I found mine at 4.00 a piece.

 

[NewLondon88]

$3 .. $4 .. $5 .. it's all good!

They charge that much just for ONE bamboo blank..

(besides, this is more fun)