# Turning Snakeskin Blanks



## Kaspar (Aug 3, 2006)

Just curious.

Do you like the pens they make?  

How many have you done or tried to do?

How many have you blown?

I've got a way of doing them that requires very little chisel application and sometimes none at all.


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## ed4copies (Aug 3, 2006)

Yes, the pens are great
a dozen
none
always interested in new ideas!


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## Kaspar (Aug 3, 2006)

I blew up one, and that those prices, one was enough.  I tried sawing off the corners with a cornering jig, but cornering jigs do not use the center line of the pen tube as their reference point.  If the blank is irregularly shaped (and past a certain point, even the squarest blank is irregularly shaped) this removes stock, but not evenly.

I built a jig.  It's crude at the moment but I have two refinements that I'll incorporate when I build the new one.  I suppose it could be called a cornering jig, except that this jig uses a mandrel shaft and the bushings for whatever kit your doing to make the centerline of the pen tube the reference point for the corner cutting.  My bandsaw has a laser guide and using this jig I can get pretty close to the bushings, "straighten out" the blank and remove enough material that I only have to use sand paper to take it down the rest of the way.   If I make enough cuts, I can even use the band saw to round it out quite well before squaring the ends and putting it on the lathe.   

The sanding is also part of the story.  For rapid removal of the remaining stock, I use a 36 grit floor sanding paper, then 50 and 80 grit "Gator" paper, in succession.  From there I go to 120 grit, yada, yada, yada ...  Very rarely do I even have to put a chisel to it. Usually, it's only needed to round out whatever slight eccentricities might be left from the cornering process before sanding it down.


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## OKLAHOMAN (Aug 3, 2006)

1-YES
2-2
3-0 on the lathe
4th question not asked :how many pr pores have you ruined answer: ALL BUT 2 the 2 that I turned
so now tell us inquiring minds want to know


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## gerryr (Aug 3, 2006)

Whether I like them depends on the quality of the skin and the quality of the casting, both can be quite variable.  If both are good, I like them.  I've only made 6 or 7, almost ruined on because the PR was really brittle, took a long time to repair it.


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## OKLAHOMAN (Aug 3, 2006)

Ok now how about a photo of the jig? And I guess your not poring your own from your post stating the cost of the blank


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## Kaspar (Aug 3, 2006)

There are two problems with the jig that I intend to address with the above mentioned refinements.  

One, I need a way to close vary the distance the two ends of the jig, so that I can clamp down on the bushing of pen tubes of varying lengths.  Thats seems easy enough.

Two, I need a way to pin the balnk while cutting, because the blanks is stting on a mandrel shaft and thus spin freely when the blade tries to cut into it. I'm still pondering that one a bit.  

I've thought about using this jig on everything, but I'd bet for many of you half the fun is getting a bunch of shavings all over the place?


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## ed4copies (Aug 3, 2006)

I know this sounds terrible and snobby and all those other things, but turn WOOD until you are comfortable with your tools, THEN progress to plastics.

OR, call yourself a sander, not a turner!!

If YOU are happy with the result, no one else needs to know HOW you got there.  But, if you learn to SHARPEN  and use a skew, a whole new world of possibilities will open unto you.  

MEANWHILE, IF YOU ARE HAVING FUN-DO IT YOUR WAY, I'M NOT IN YOUR SHOP, I WILL NEVER KNOW (or care)!!!!!!!!!!


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## Kaspar (Aug 3, 2006)

> _Originally posted by OKLAHOMAN_
> <br />Ok now how about a photo of the jig? And I guess your not poring your own from your post stating the cost of the blank



No, I am not making my own.

I'll do a diagram of the jig's current incarnation.  Give me a little time.


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## Kaspar (Aug 3, 2006)

> _Originally posted by ed4copies_
> <br />I know this sounds terrible and snobby and all those other things, but turn WOOD until you are comfortable with your tools, THEN progress to plastics.
> 
> OR, call yourself a sander, not a turner!!
> ...



Check the pics.  I do just fine with plastics.  []

Even those annoyingly tricky micapearls from Hut.  But the snakes are the most brittle I've ever seen, even though the tools have always been sharp.  But I'm the sort to always look for a quicker way to do something.


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## ed4copies (Aug 3, 2006)

Quote from topic 16518, writer Kaspar:
"Love those snake blanks. so easy to do (if you know what you're doing.)"

I guess I now know what you are doing!!


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## Kaspar (Aug 3, 2006)

I've done many with chisels.  I just don't like how long it takes.  []


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## ed4copies (Aug 3, 2006)

Didn't see your last entry, so let's back up a step.

If you turn micapearl, you're right-it's tricky.  So, maybe your initial question should have revealed the source of your snake blanks.  We have poured our own PR for some time and I HAVE turned some godawful brittle stuff.  BUT, it was NOT fun.  See lots of entries months ago.

MAYBE, you just need a new supplier (and NO, I Don't sell ours!! this is NOT a plug).  

Sorry if I offended, your recent pens ARE outstanding, but the conversation there and here seem extremely inconsistent.


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## Kaspar (Aug 3, 2006)

Arizona Silhouette is where I get them from.  If there are better out there, I'd love to know of it.

The white micapearls are the most difficult.  The others are usually a bit more forgiving.  

BTW, I have no problem with purist arguments.  Where there is craft, there are purists.  But for me, even venturing into plastics was "radical" at the time. It isn't now.


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## its_virgil (Aug 3, 2006)

i]Originally posted by Kaspar[/i]
<br />Just curious.

Do you like the pens they make?<b>Well, let's see...Hummmm...I love'em! When they skin is nice. I have a box full of duds...never turned.</b>

How many have you done or tried to do?<b>Maybe about 35 or so.</b>

How many have you blown?<b>none, so far. I've been lucky...knock off the corners with a gouge then move to the skew....love the skew. On wood, I use the skew from start to finish.</b>

I've got a way of doing them that requires very little chisel application and sometimes none at all.<b>I hope you have a good dust collector....sure stirrs it up.</b>

<b>Having fun is the name of the game. 

Do a good turn daily!
Don</b>


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## ed4copies (Aug 3, 2006)

I have not turned the ones Bill is selling, but you MAY want to contact him to see if you got a DUD stuff happens to even the best suppliers (which most seem to think applies to AS).  I would not give up on turning them due to ONE failure, if I had the skills exhibited in the work you posted.

AGAIN, HAVE FUN  -  I AM NOT HERE TO JUDGE ANYONE  --  THIS IS A SUGGESTION, ONLY!!!


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## Kaspar (Aug 3, 2006)

Btw, Ed your stuff is very nice.  I've dons some of Kallenshaan's flag pen inlay sets.  I've heard back from a few people that they are disappointed in the yellow of the white stripes, or in the case of the Texas flag pen the star and the white field.  

I've had to start offering to use white inlay powder if the customer wants the white parts really white.   

Speaking of flags, I've always had a soft spot for the French battle flag: a white cross on a white field.


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## Kaspar (Aug 3, 2006)

> _Originally posted by ed4copies_
> <br />I have not turned the ones Bill is selling, but you MAY want to contact him to see if you got a DUD stuff happens to even the best suppliers (which most seem to think applies to AS).  I would not give up on turning them due to ONE failure, if I had the skills exhibited in the work you posted.
> 
> AGAIN, HAVE FUN  -  I AM NOT HERE TO JUDGE ANYONE  --  THIS IS A SUGGESTION, ONLY!!!



There's nothing wrong with them.  As I said, really, I am suggesting a faster if less "pure" way to do them.  And I have taken no offense whatsoever.


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## ed4copies (Aug 3, 2006)

> _Originally posted by Kaspar_
> <br />Arizona Silhouette is where I get them from.  If there are better out there, I'd love to know of it.
> 
> The white micapearls are the most difficult.  The others are usually a bit more forgiving.
> ...



Cheer up "At the time" I ventured into plastic, it was 1997-there were no resources like this-everybody had to learn pretty much on their own.  AND, WOODTURNERS DIDN'T use scrapers, that WAS sissy stuff. (We've come a long way, baby!!!)


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## gerryr (Aug 3, 2006)

My limited experience with the snakeskin blanks from BB is that they are extremely brittle, one was much more so than the other.  Glimmerz 'n More blanks are a breeze to turn, but their skins are no where near the quality that BB's supplier uses or the ones that Don uses.  The answer is to get high quality skins and make your own.


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## lwalden (Aug 3, 2006)

Kaspar, if you're really interested, I have some of the custom blanks for the french battle flags in snow white holly......





> _Originally posted by Kaspar_
> <br />Btw, Ed your stuff is very nice.  I've dons some of Kallenshaan's flag pen inlay sets.  I've heard back from a few people that they are disappointed in the yellow of the white stripes, or in the case of the Texas flag pen the star and the white field.
> 
> I've had to start offering to use white inlay powder if the customer wants the white parts really white.
> ...


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## Kaspar (Aug 3, 2006)

> _Originally posted by lwalden_
> <br />Kaspar, if you're really interested, I have some of the custom blanks for the french battle flags in snow white holly......



I've got a goodly batch of those myself.  Came with some nice Oliepods I bought a while back.  



> _Originally posted by gerryr_
> <br />My limited experience with the snakeskin blanks from BB is that they are extremely brittle, one was much more so than the other.  Glimmerz 'n More blanks are a breeze to turn, but their skins are no where near the quality that BB's supplier uses or the ones that Don uses.  The answer is to get high quality skins and make your own.



That option is not really open to me at this time, so I'll stick with the jig and use BB's.  Which reminds me there two more I just did and I need to scan them.


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## arjudy (Aug 3, 2006)

Do the French actually have a "battle flag"?[][][][][]


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## myname1960 (Aug 4, 2006)

> _Originally posted by arjudy_
> <br />Do the French actually have a "battle flag"?[][][][][]



Yes they do and its still in the original wrapping [}]


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## Kaspar (Aug 4, 2006)

I enjoy a good round of Frog Bashing as much as the next man, but really one should not take that too seriously.  In the first France is next to Germany and being next to the Germans was not recipe for a distinguished string of unbroken successes in war.  And Second, the French are the ones who blew up a Greenpeace boat that tried to interfere with their nuclear testing in the South Pacific, and had no problem going into Ghana without a UN resolution.

Nevertheless, they are not our freinds, and never really have been.  Lately they are amusing.  But only because we allow ourselves to look so silly pretending that they are our friends.

Anyway, I don't remember how the French came up in a discussion of snake bla ... oh, wait, never mind.


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## its_virgil (Aug 6, 2006)

This Tex flag kit? 
http://www.kallenshaanwoods.com/servlet/Detail?no=32

I had some input on this kit and we tried holly, which was the whitest wood we could find. It had problems with collecting the blue and red dust and the holly looked ... well let's say, not good. The decision was made to stay with curly maple since the blue and red were curly maple. I think it is a great kit, but non Texans should pay attention to the star. It is easy to glue the blue portion with the star inlay so it is upside down. It's a great inlay kit as are all of Ken's inlay kits.
Do a good turn daily!
Don   aka its_Virgil



> _Originally posted by Kaspar_
> <br /> I've done some of Kallenshaan's flag pen inlay sets.  I've heard back from a few people that they are disappointed in the yellow of the Texas flag pen the star and the white field.


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## Kaspar (Aug 6, 2006)

> _Originally posted by its_virgil_
> <br />This Tex flag kit?
> http://www.kallenshaanwoods.com/servlet/Detail?no=32
> 
> ...



I checked the positioning on that like fiive times, and still got it wrong.  Just goes to show you have to be careful to see what's really there and not what you want to see.  

I can see how the red and blue could mess up the Holly.  Did you try using soapy water and a sponge to clear it off?  Some Holly has sufficient grain to make it worth trying, I think.  And I think that ivory would be okay too, though quite in contrast to the very cool figuring of the maple.  I at least want to be able to offer something to customers who just think the plain maple is too yellow, and then "be it on their heads" as long as I get paid.


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## its_virgil (Aug 6, 2006)

I'm sure Ken will do you a Tex Flag kit using whatever material you specify (and maybe supply to him) as long as he can cut it with the laser...

We did not try (I don't think) the soapy water. We wanted stabilized wood and the curly maple turned out the best choice in staying will all wood. 

I'd like to see the pen done in another material if you have one made. Be sure to keep us informed. 

Do a good turn daily!
Don


> _Originally posted by Kaspar_
> <br />
> 
> 
> ...


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## Kaspar (Aug 6, 2006)

My customer wants to go with the piece of Holly I have.  It's got some grain, and cut right it should not be to jarring against the strong curly maple figuring.  

Time to talk to Ken.


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