Me and my bright ideas!

[Kardav]

Thought I'd had a brainwave today. What about a pen with a Champagne Cork coat on it? I thought it would be great for all you wedding pen/celebration pen makers, so I scrounged some corks, glued 3 together to make a blank, cut it in half to make the two halves of a Slimline kit with a streamline C/B. I don't know if anyone else has tried drilling or turning cork on a lathe but it's a nightmare. I must have use 2 bottles of thin CA and half a bottle of medium C/A just to stabilise the cork, both down the tube holes and on the surface whilst cutting. Even with a sharp skew at a very shallow angle still ripped the cork, so there was a lot of swearing and a lot of sanding. Anyway, I completed this one after about 5 hours faffing about, I don't think I'll be doing another!

 

[Buckeye]

Yes I have done one and like you I won't be doing another, CA is a must that's for sure. It's a bit like the pine cones although they do look spectacular You wouldn't want to do lots of them, which I did do. I have to say it does look quite nice though

Peter

 

[paulm]

I can understand why you wont be doing another but you have made a cracking job of that and is beautiful. They might sell for a lot of money though for a wedding as you suggest.

 

[Woody]

Dave you must be a glutton for punishment but I must say good on you for having a go and it looks good well done

 

[chas_41_uk]

I can understand why you wont be doing another but you have made a cracking job of that

I agree with Paul. You've done a very good job and can understand why you won't be doing any more

 

[Alanp]

looks nice ,,careful it doesn't float away though

 

[stevenw1963]

Does look good but wouldn't it have been better to buy a cork floor tile which is flat and just glued it to the pen!!!

 

[Terry Q]

Wow the things we try. Valiant effort. Might have better luck sanding to finished diameter. Start with 80 or 100.

 

[Vic Perrin]

Superb Effort Well Done You

Vic

 

[TK woodman]

You've done a good job with the cork Dave- It's a nice looking pen - If you did another it might be worth soaking the cork in dilute PVA overnight then letting it dry you would have to put a weight on them of course - it works for me when i do leather pens but i've not tried it with cork?

 

[Terry]

It looks good Dave but it is something I won't be trying !!!!!

 

[PhillH]

Brave man, I like the end result though, looks great.

 

[Jim]

This is a first for me Dave, never seen a pen made with this material my friend .. It does look good for sure .. I hope you don't get asked to make a bundle of them at 5hrs a time ..

 

[Dalboy]

Seeing the cork pen made me realise that I have a cork blank which I planned to make a pen with it turned to a cylinder with a nice smooth finish but the cork I used was a tile I had laminated maybe not a good idea to finish it after your experience.

By the way it turned out great.

 

[johnny5]

Very unusual Dave , I like a man who try's new ideas.

 

[Bill Mooney]

I like the pen, I think it"s come out very well.
I'll have a go when I get time but I'll stabilise the cork first. then keep my fingers crossed.

 

[bassethound]

As the others say, it's a nice pen but can see why you don't want to do another!

 

[Penpal]

There must be a knack to it mate with the countless Rod Handles fishermen use.

The pen turned out deep colour plenty to like mate worth it IMHO.

Peter.

 

[Kardav]

You've done a good job with the cork Dave- It's a nice looking pen - If you did another it might be worth soaking the cork in dilute PVA overnight then letting it dry you would have to put a weight on them of course - it works for me when i do leather pens but i've not tried it with cork?

The problem is, the cork will not soak up liquid, that's why it floats. Hence the use of so much CA, had to keep reapplying it.

 

[wm460]

Great looking pen Dave, I have always had the same problem myself.