Taking WW casting to a new level

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Dai Sensei

Dai Sensei

Member
Joined
Jan 14, 2009
Messages
482
Location
Gold Coast Queensland Australia
Ok not for pens, nor really Worthless Wood, actually burl caps sliced up with the cut faces placed outwards and the natural edge cast into Pearlex coloured poly resins for pepper grinder blanks. They take 0.8-1.2 ltr of resin and most of a small burl cap, so the ratio of timber to resin will vary, and weigh 2.4-2.6kgs. I've sanded the casts roughly to 65mm square by 350mm long, then coated them with Gelcoat poly to bring out the colour and seal them.

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From left to right:
  • Red Coolabah with blue
  • Brown Mallee with yellow
  • Brown mallee with purple
  • Red Mallee with pink
  • Brown Mallee with white
  • Red Coolabah with maroon
  • Jarrah with red
I couldn't resist turning one, so here is a Tas Myrtle burl with a mix of blood red dyed resin and Red-russett (maroon) Pearlex resin
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. Not for the faint hearted or inexperienced, you need very sharp drills and chisels, with a carefull approach to avoid chipping/tearing the resin. It is finished with a few coats of Gelcoat Poly to help seal and hold it, then buffed with Hutt wax, and has a Crushgrind ceramic mill.

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1_WW_Grinder2.JPG
1_WW_Grinder3.JPG


Cheers

.
 
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Neil, these make exceptional product to me the most exciting you have made. I have never seen a more striking Peppermill ever. To put it with the other worthless tabbing etc it is in the very same class deserving an honourable mention.

All that plotting and planning has given you a better feeling for casting, the way you turned, assembled , finished and finally presented. Here in Australia we do not have the same access to all things so I salute you as I do all work of this calibre.

Top job mate.

Kind regards Peter.
 
Those are stunning! I like how the line of different coloured sapwood defines the wood and resin boundary!!

Can I ask whats gelcoat poly? And us it waterproof?

Phil
 
Thanks for the comments

Elizabethsdrinkard said:
Okay, how much for the purple one?
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The blanks are worth AU$75, finished Pepper Grinder like this one AU$150, but postage to USA is terrible from Australia. For just one blank, 2.4-2.6kgs, it would be almost $50 in postage for seamail :eek:

philbaldwin said:
Can I ask whats gelcoat poly? And us it waterproof?
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Gelcoat is a polyurethane clear paint in a gel form to avoid dripping. Waterproof to a point like most paints.
 
Neil, Those are absolutely beautiful. Having the natural edge in contact with the resin is tantamount to having an accent between the wood and resin! Gorgeous! Thank you for showing. Regards, Doc
 
Great looking blanks and nice shape on the mill, too.

I think you're underpricing your pepper mills if you only asked AUD150 for the finished product, however :)

-Barry
 
Fantastic.That must be some sweaty palmed turning,as you mention the chipping issues of PR.Have you thought of using a Urethane resin as it has a slight rubbery quality but requires a finish for high shine.You don't get the chipping like with PR.Beautiful work keep it up,Victor
 
Those are awesome. my dad makes tons of peppermills and we have tons of blanks, these are by far the coolest pmill blank i have seen
 
U-Turn said:
WOW - dynamite!
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My thoughts exactly! I am so envious of the folks that can turn more than just pens and stoppers. I want to turn pepper mills so badly I can taste it. I lack the Forstner bits and I'm more of the learn by watching and doing type of guy. I tried learning with just a tutorial, but to no avail. Anybody want to come to Atlanta and show me how it's done? :smile-big:
 
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