Sweetgum ball seed pod pen pics?

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jbswearingen

jbswearingen

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"Hi, I'm Brad, and I'm a terminally ill pen turner. When I see things, I think, "Hmmm...That would make a nifty pen!"

"Hi, Brad!"

I was at the park yesterday and saw some sweetgum ball seed pods. I whipped out my phone and googled them to see if I could find pics. None to be seen. Woohoo! Something new! Well, no. I was told later that day that it had been done, but to go ahead anyway.

Have any of you turned them or have pics? I'd like to see what the end product looks like.
 
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sweet gum pods

make sure the pods are good and dry I have made some and drying them in the oven is the best thing that I have seen for pen making.. you can put them in for 45-60 mins. at 125 this works best for me the drill and flatten, glue on tube.
After you get them on the tube and glued keep them cool for about 24 hours then take them out and turn them when cold. If not they seem to come apart.
Good luck.
Randy
 
rpn3235 said:
make sure the pods are good and dry I have made some and drying them in the oven is the best thing that I have seen for pen making.. you can put them in for 45-60 mins. at 125 this works best for me the drill and flatten, glue on tube.
After you get them on the tube and glued keep them cool for about 24 hours then take them out and turn them when cold. If not they seem to come apart.
Good luck.
Randy
Click to expand...



Oh, I meant to turn them in cast resin blanks. I wasn't going to try it with them "loose" on the barrel.
 
one i made recently, inlaid turquoise and gold mica with CA

SDC11967.jpg
 
Here is one of my personal razor handle. Resin was way to chippy and did not turn well.
Not near as nice as the pen above me :O) but it will gives you another cast gumball picture to look at.
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Okay. I'm sold on it. I'll try hardening with CA and then gluing them up and I'll see about casting some up.

Gonna have to wait for my next order of CA though, I bet it eats it right up.
 
Well, I never used them as I don't thing we have those here in South Australia but, the samples shown, have a distinct difference, one has the pods attached to each other while the other has spaces in between the pods.

For casting purposes, both options are perfectly doable, but better made in a single horizontal mold to keep the pods where they should be. I would expect that, with the pods interlocked at each side or separated, the air pressure in a pressure pot, of capacity of 60 to 80 PSI, sufficient to fill all the spaces/holes/crevasses, the more important thing here is to make sure that the resin is far from gelling before pouring, otherwise the resin would harden before would have the chance to fill all spaces.

This is a common mistake in the casting process, where the pouring techniques used are the same for 100% acrylic/resin blanks, wood with holes or pods of many kinds. The time that will take for the resin to travel to all tinny spaces, will depend of the amount of pressure the pot is capable of, the material to be filled, and the viscosity of the resin so using high % of hardener or waiting too long to pour (after mixed with the catalyst).

Cheers
George
 
Thanks for all the comments on my pen! I sold that for $50, the most Ive ever sold that kit for, but I couldnt let it go for less after the 4 hours of work:bulgy-eyes:
 
These are real similar to sweet gum pods. I can't find my sweet gum pics. This is Cook Pine pods. I just stuck them in a single square mold and used alumilite and pressure to cast them.
 

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Zander, I have thought of trying to turn those sweetgum balls and now I'm going to try one but one question, Is the turquoise crushed or powder form? I've never used that before and where do you get it at? Thanks.
Donny
 
Here is one I did about 6 month a go it was my fifth pen. I wish i would have reversed painted the tubes. I really like the look of the jade filled one also but what can you say for my fifth pen it came out ok. I have been thinking about doing another one and using 5 min epoxy with embossing powder but just have not had the time.
 

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Jason--

Now THAT looks cool. I love the "hollow" look of the clear resin. For a fifth pen, it ain't too shabby! Heck, it looks better than many of mine WELL past the fifth one...

Somebody please explain to me what "reverse painting" means.
 
Reverse painting is painting the inside of the hole after it is drilled. I take a can of cheap spray paint and spray it in the hole. But, I've also used model paints and even some of my wifes nail polish to get the right color. I also paint the tubes just in case a bit of paint scratches it will have a back up.
 
Just an FYI, If sweet gum balls become the new trend in pen making. I want To be the sole source supplier. At 10 cents a pound I could be a millionaire by Christmas
 
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