Pine cone day today init?

[Grump]

I managed to grab 30 mins of me time today to spin the pine cone that has been on the mandrel since the day it arrived.
Filled with its own dust and more bother than it's worth, I like to look at other peoples but I don't think it's a thing I will get involved in.
Thanks for the cones Peter it was interesting doing this one, thanks for the kits too, this is one of them, crap ain't they?

 

[edlea]

Nice one Grump...26th of April could become National Pine Cone Pen Day .mark it in your diaries

 

[Lons]

Nice bit of turng Grump....but....only 30 mins? Took me twice as long as that

 

[Jim]

It is a damn good effort Brian, knowing the difficulty in turning these little beauties .. :wink:

 

[Buckeye]

I managed to grab 30 mins of me time today to spin the pine cone that has been on the mandrel since the day it arrived.
Filled with its own dust and more bother than it's worth, I like to look at other peoples but I don't think it's a thing I will get involved in.
Thanks for the cones Peter it was interesting doing this one, thanks for the kits too, this is one of them, crap ain't they?

It's a cracker Brian even though you have underturned at the centre

I told you the kits were crap, you should have used a really expensive kit with the pine cones, remember 26th April is National Pine Cone Pen Day

Peter

 

[Neil Lawton]

Must be true!
I went on a garden tour today and picked up some cones 5 to 6" long!
These are never going to open, and feel a bit spongy, but will see if they are any use tomorrow.

 

[Buckeye]

That's the size I will be out looking for tomorrow, let us know how you get on with them.

Peter

 

[chas_41_uk]

Another nice pine cone pen

 

[Grump]

It's a cracker Brian even though you have underturned at the centre

Actually it's an ill fitting belt I'll change that tomorrow when I get some light again.
The center bands on them kits are tiny and this one don't fit proper either it was turned down to the bushes, honest guv it was.

 

[Jimjam66]

Are the white veins just in the photo, or are they features of the cone? Really pretty, however hard to do!

 

[Grump]

Not hard Dave if you have a good cone and that is luck of the draw I think, of the four I had the third one blew out big time.
As much ca as you put in, if there is nothing for it to stick to it cant stick init?
The white is its own dust, I put an A4 piece of paper on the ways to collect the dust/ shavings and save any ca dripping on to metal init.
I just used that to fill the voids as I turned I think most of it is hardened ca anyway probably explaining the colour of it.

 

[Buckeye]

Not hard Dave if you have a good cone and that is luck of the draw I think, .

I checked your cones and you had top notch, 1st class, A rated cones:wink:

I do think a problem that might occur with the cone blanks is that when you drill them some of the inside can come loose or come out completely and even though I flood the cones with CA through the drilled hole the CA doesn't fill any large gaps so I wonder if it would be better to put epoxy in first to fill any gaps before putting the tube in. I personally can't be bothered with epoxy so will keep using CA until I have finished the batch I have to do then I hope I never see another pine cone on my lathe again at least that's how I feel at the moment

Peter

 

[Jim]

I checked your cones and you had top notch, 1st class, A rated cones:wink:

I do think a problem that might occur with the cone blanks is that when you drill them some of the inside can come loose or come out completely and even though I flood the cones with CA through the drilled hole the CA doesn't fill any large gaps so I wonder if it would be better to put epoxy in first to fill any gaps before putting the tube in. I personally can't be bothered with epoxy so will keep using CA until I have finished the batch I have to do then I hope I never see another pine cone on my lathe again at least that's how I feel at the moment

Peter

I sensed a bit of favouritism with the distribution of the cones "Ed" ...

Seriously Peter, you may be right with your theory actually, i knew it was nothing to do with how i was turning the cones ..

Anyway, I will be having another go this afternoon after we take home the grandkids ..

Thanks for the innovation with these cones Peter, it certainly has set off a time bomb lol ..

 

[Grump]

Do I detect a raised voice in your tone Peter?
Don't get me wrong when I say "luck of the draw" I meant the cones themselves, if you set them in any medium you will still have a piece with no cone and be turning the medium init?
It is quite possible that my drilling took a piece of cone out and I flooded my drill holes with ca in the event of this and let it set before inserting the tubes with yet more ca.
It is as much an experiment for me as it is for all of us and I reckon 3 out 4 ain't bad.
I was expecting 0 out of 4 to be honest.
Your method has produced some great results and some wonderful pens, it has given me some enjoyment and I thank you for it.

 

[Buckeye]

I sensed a bit of favouritism with the distribution of the cones "Ed" ...

Seriously Peter, you may be right with your theory actually, i knew it was nothing to do with how i was turning the cones ..

Anyway, I will be having another go this afternoon after we take home the grandkids ..

Thanks for the innovation with these cones Peter, it certainly has set off a time bomb lol ..

I first noticed the problem of bits missing from the inside when I lost a piece and could see the brass tube. I put some CA on the tube and it disappeared instantly so I kept putting more on and it took lots of CA. The way my brain is wired it took me a few weeks to think about it and then a few more weeks to contemplate what I had thought about and after a few more weeks I came up with a plan, but I forgot about the plan and just continued as before. When I remembered the plan I drilled out a cone and looked closely at the inside and sure enough there were some quite large holes in the sides of the core. I kept flooding with CA until it wouldn't take any more and re-drilled. I couldn't be bothered to do that with each one so just kept doing it the original way and so far I haven't had any more chip outs. The more I turn them the easier it gets, but I am getting fed up of them, 1 or 2 a month would okay.

I'm sorry if you and ED got the B grade cones, but I thought I had better give Brian the best ones as he I didn't want him to moan about poor quality cones:blowx:

Peter

 

[Buckeye]

Do I detect a raised voice in your tone Peter?
Don't get me wrong when I say "luck of the draw" I meant the cones themselves, if you set them in any medium you will still have a piece with no cone and be turning the medium init?
It is quite possible that my drilling took a piece of cone out and I flooded my drill holes with ca in the event of this and let it set before inserting the tubes with yet more ca.
It is as much an experiment for me as it is for all of us and I reckon 3 out 4 ain't bad.
I was expecting 0 out of 4 to be honest.
Your method has produced some great results and some wonderful pens, it has given me some enjoyment and I thank you for it.

Brian, there is no raised voice here, believe me, like you say it is an experiment for all of us. I think it should be compulsory for everyone to turn a pine cone, why should we be the only one's to suffer.

I'm sorry if you think I was having a go, I wasn't, but perhaps I should have made it more obvious, sorry

Peter

 

[Jim]

I'm sorry if you and ED got the B grade cones, but I thought I had better give Brian the best ones as he I didn't want him to moan about poor quality cones

As if!!

 

[Grump]

You did warn me that they take a lot of care and a technique I did my best with with them and lost one hey ho that's how it goes.
Don't beat yourself up about it mate it's my problem init?
I am a wood butcher init?
My next job is 500 sets of saucepan handles I don't expect to get every one a success, I expect to have the failures as I do them.
One thing I have learned very well over the years is don't cry over a blank blowing out, stick another one on and spin it.
Its only a problem when it's the last one init? Then its beer time which i also thank you for I have one now ready for Sunday lunch.

 

[Terry]

I reckon that Charly did that cone for you Brian as turning it would be a little bit beyond your capabilities !!!!

 

[paulm]

Hey, thats not bad Brian, they look very hard to make and I'm sure that No1 is always going to be the hardest... Bring on the next one.