Wood and clay not always great

[CSue]

I did some more experimenting over the weekend with drilling holes in various woods and putting the polymer clay in and baking them. I found out something very important. Not all woods react the same!

I used some English Sycamore, Walnut, more Maple and a Cocobolo.

All seemed well coming out of the oven except the Cocobolo. The wood had expanded and pushed the clay up and out of the wood about 1/8th of an inch. The wood had "sweated" and was covered with beads of very hard, dried sap(??) No matter how gently I used the tools turning this one, the baked polymer clay broke out of two holes. There is enough clay remaining in the drilled holes as it was turned down so that I'm going to try to "save it" by filling the gap with CA. The wood, turned, looks okay. I'll keep it awhile to see if there are any other results down the road.

I'll post some pictures of the blanks tomorrow. I was just looking for some feedback on what may have happened with the cocobolo and PC.

 

[jasontg99]

My guess would be the oils as cocobolo is a vey oily wood. I am by no means an expert, so take my guess with a grain of salt.

 

[rjwolfe3]

Yep that would be the oils. I have had that happen when sanding or drilling to fast.

 

[Rojo22]

I have had that happen when sanding too fast.

Maybe 120,000 rpms while sanding is a little much.....LOL....


It is the oils coming out from the heat.

 

[rjwolfe3]

Maybe 120,000 rpms while sanding is a little much.....LOL....

It was only 100,000 rpms, I had to turn it down because of the vibrations.

 

[workinforwood]

Yep..if you bake it the oils will come up but you will never bake it enough to get all the oil out. I don't know if they still do, but they certainly used to use Lignum Vitae as drive shaft bearings in submarines due to the hardness of the material and the natural oils in the wood meant that it was self lubricating all the time. This is also why although not impossible, it is not easy to apply a CA finish to these types of wood, and if you do apply a successful CA finish, the finish could fail down the road, especially if the pen is left in a hot spot like a car in the summer. The oil will lift the finish off the pen.

100,000 rpm would sure be impressive to see, but maybe not from inside the same building. Capt G came over to my place the other day and gave me a crash course on my metal lathe. He showed me how to make it run at 2800 rpm. I'm not sure how fast the fastest speed on the Jet mini is, and it certainly could be faster on the mini, but the metal lathe spinning at 2800 rpm with that huge chuck on it is pretty damn scary. The speed is instantaneous too, like you flip the switch and boom she's running full tilt with a loud whirring sound and generating actual wind. I don't think I'll stick my hand near that with a piece of sandpaper!

 

[nava1uni]

Be careful putting wood in the oven as it can ignite or explode. DAMHIKT. Actually once mine began to smoke and smolder and set off the fire alarm.

 

[CSue]

Be careful putting wood in the oven as it can ignite or explode. DAMHIKT. Actually once mine began to smoke and smolder and set off the fire alarm.

Its a low temperature (275F) and I have a "good nose" so I can smell when things start smoking or burning. I don't "time" cookies. I "smell" when they're done.

There was no unusual odor. I was really suprised when I saw those beady little drops all over the outside of the wood. So, do you think there is enough oils in the wood that I wouldn't have to worry about it craking?

 

[TellicoTurning]

Be careful putting wood in the oven as it can ignite or explode. DAMHIKT. Actually once mine began to smoke and smolder and set off the fire alarm.

It will do that in a microwave too... and smells worse than microwave popcorn... DAMHIKT

 

[Rick_G]

It will do that in a microwave too... and smells worse than microwave popcorn... DAMHIKT

I did that "once" and immediately got a very strong hint I should buy a cheap microwave for the shop and not use the kitchen one any more.:biggrin:

 

[CSue]

I did that "once" and immediately got a very strong hint I should buy a cheap microwave for the shop and not use the kitchen one any more.:biggrin:

Yeah! I'll bet! LOL

 

[workinforwood]

Its a low temperature (275F) and I have a "good nose" so I can smell when things start smoking or burning. I don't "time" cookies. I "smell" when they're done.

There was no unusual odor. I was really suprised when I saw those beady little drops all over the outside of the wood. So, do you think there is enough oils in the wood that I wouldn't have to worry about it craking?

Sounds great..I like chocolate chip and/or raisin oatmeal and I like my cookies to be a bit soft. I will be watching for them in the mail Cathy!:biggrin:

 

[rjwolfe3]

I will be watching for them in the mail

Unless I get too them first!

 

[skiprat]

I've got a wood/sculpey brew in the little oven at the moments. I hope it works.

Only been attempting this for less than 5 mins and I've learnt a couple of things....

If you think your hands are nice and clean, then this stuff will prove you wrong!!! If I ever need surgery, then I'll make sure the doc checks his hands by kneading some of the white clay first:biggrin:

I think I need a little thermometer as I have no way of knowing how hot it is in there. Just guessing now.

 

[CSue]

Okay, here is my update with pictures. This was an experiment for me. But as seen with Skiprat's post today, with a little more talent and tools, some great things can come of this.

First few pictures are of the wood/PC mix just out of the oven. You can see the oils in the cocobolo beaded up and discolored some of the white polymer clay.

Final 2 pictures show the finished blanks - they are for Sierra Pens. It was primarily an "Experiment" to check reactions of wood/clay tubed and baked. The chipped out pieces look fine leveled off with CA and then finished. I use Hut PPP and Myland's Finish.