# Strangest material you ever made a pen with?



## Herb G

What's the strangest, unique, or exotic material you ever made a pen with?
Me? Nothing special other than some exotic wood like Cocobolo or the like.

I'd be interested in seeing your response.


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## CREID

Micarta (sp)


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## Herb G

CREID said:


> Micarta (sp)


What is Micarta? Nevermind, I googled it.


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## rudya7

Red Lentils, tri-color pasta, and chick peas also look good. I was making up a batch of coffee bean blanks and couldn't help but expanding into other dried stuff that you can find in the grocery store.


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## JohnU

Red pepper seeds, sea sell pieces, porcupine quills, bird feathers, dried flowers, shredded money, fish tank rocks, oatmeal, rice, lentils, breakfast cereal,lizard skin, wrapping paper, candy bar wrappers, old blue jeans,nail polish, scorpions, bugs, burlap sack, sand... Off the top of my head.  Lol


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## ed4copies

JohnU said:


> Red pepper seeds, sea sell pieces, porcupine quills, bird feathers, dried flowers, shredded money, fish tank rocks, oatmeal, rice, lentils, breakfast cereal,lizard skin, wrapping paper, candy bar wrappers, old blue jeans, burlap sack, sand... Off the top of my head.  Lol




That's too much for one blank, John!!:biggrin::biggrin:


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## ed4copies

We did every seed and spice in the kitchen one time.  Cast in PR.  

Filled holes with CA,   DON"T put CA on SALT!!!


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## CREID

ed4copies said:


> We did every seed and spice in the kitchen one time.  Cast in PR.
> 
> Filled holes with CA,   DON"T put CA on SALT!!!



There seems to be a story not being told here.:biggrin:


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## firewhatfire

The staples that were removed from my shoulder surgery.


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## JohnU

ed4copies said:


> JohnU said:
> 
> 
> 
> Red pepper seeds, sea sell pieces, porcupine quills, bird feathers, dried flowers, shredded money, fish tank rocks, oatmeal, rice, lentils, breakfast cereal,lizard skin, wrapping paper, candy bar wrappers, old blue jeans, burlap sack, sand... Off the top of my head.  Lol
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> That's too much for one blank, John!!:biggrin::biggrin:
Click to expand...


Let's just say I spent a lot of time in the shop.  Lol


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## JohnU

firewhatfire said:


> The staples that were removed from my shoulder surgery.



Winner!  Lol. (You got me on this one)


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## lwalden

Oosik.


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## Sylvanite

Probably the most unusual material I've used for a pen is gunpowder.

Check out http://www.penturners.org/forum/f43/unusual-things-103147/ for other items people have cast.

Regards,
Eric


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## Curly

Rose thorns for the Difficult to Write with contest or maybe the handsaw blades for another forum a few years back.


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## JD Combs Sr

I dressed a slimline in black rubber air hose once.  The black keys from an old upright piano another time.


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## Edgar

Duct tape


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## Robert Taylor

Poison Ivy


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## TomW

...Dont...ask...Curtis...(Mesquiteman)...I'm just say'in...


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## J_B

Mine was Himalayan Salt. Ed is right...CA on Salt is noa woik. BTW the salt was not cast. Made from a bar of pick himalayan stuff obtained at a craft show. Took me 40 forevers to get it done.


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## GoodTurns

Legos, acupuncture needles, removed braces...


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## Herb G

I saw a guy at a woodworking show who turned a pen from an African Porcupine quill. It was about as big as your middle finger, and as long as a paper towel roll. He made a quill (no pun intended) pen from it.
He glued an ostrich feather to the end of it.

It was really impressive. Not my cup of tea, but still impressive.


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## jcm71

Pizzle.


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## SkookumPens

Cat tails
Craig Chatterton
Puyallup, WA


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## darrin1200

In great Canadian tradition, a hockey puck.


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## Gary Beasley

Leather, glitter and glitter nailpolish.


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## mg_dreyer

Bacon bits


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## Chasper

Dyed rice, birdseed, leather belt, cat food, fish skin, fish scales, flamingo feathers, camel bone, horse hair, alpaca wool.  I've heard pens have been made from some kind of dried leafy material that is only legal to possess for recreational purposes in some western states, but of course I've never done that.


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## Crayman

I have done credit cards, hockey pucks, soda caps, and colored pencils. I have some denim in a mold right now.


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## GoodTurns

forgot about the oosik.... that one's pretty odd


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## jttheclockman

Wood:biggrin:


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## greasythumb

I made a few from hay


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## Herb G

Gary Beasley said:


> Leather, glitter and glitter nailpolish.



Would that have been stripper glitter? :biggrin:


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## Ted Sachs

Lots of thread.


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## Cwalker935

Starfish, shells, sharks teeth and sand.  Beatle wings.

Attempted to do one out of popcorn kernels, didn't work so well.


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## Crayman

I have done popcorn, it is very difficult, but people love them, I keep small pieces near by to glue back in when a piece pops out.


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## jimmyz

I guess the heat from turning causes the kernel to pop?


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## Skie_M

jimmyz said:


> I guess the heat from turning causes the kernel to pop?



You're related to an Orville Redenbocker?


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## Skie_M

Oh ... I forgot to stay on topic!!


The strangest material I've ever made into a pen, eh? .....


Well, I've got a list of things to say about related subjects here.

Most types of crystal that are related to quartz .... are harder than glass and tend to SHATTER rather than grind down.  The dust is extremely bad for eyes, mucus membranes, nose, mouth, and lungs.

That having been said, it didn't stop me from ATTEMPTING to inlay crushed amethyst into a purpleheart pen.

It tore out of the CA and got lost in my shop/living room area ... shattered into tiny bits ... and generally wasn't worth the effort I tried to put into it.  Now that I have some diamond grit plates in grits between 150 and 3000, I may attempt something like this again, but I'll need a polishing compound used for actual jewelrymaking, like cesium oxide or something, for the final polish (goes up to 50,000 grit or something like that... and they charge around 50 bucks a ounce!)

Other materials I've tried and failed with .... crushed Tigereye (wanted to make that into a pen for the bash ... it just ripped off the brass barrel or shattered, much like amethyst except more fragile).

Malachite - the dust from this is poisonous, it has ribbons of lighter and darker material running through it that will tend to act as cleavage lines so the whole thing splits right along them ... ect.  Sanding it down can work ... just have to be VERY patient and take great care with how much pressure you put on it with the mandrel.  I give great respect to the one that put that malachite pen in the bash ... that material is fragile to work and difficult to work with!

I haven't had the time to try the lapis lazuli for making a full size pen blank ... don't have a large enough piece, anyways, but I have pieces large enough to do segmenting work with.  The problem with this, however, is the dust.  Just like malachite, lapis is a copper oxide, and is poisonous.


I tried once, with a piece of amber, to make a pen.  Word of warning ... amber is considered a semi-precious material ... it's called "fossilized tree sap" ... but it's definitely not stone or crystal material.  In fact, if you hold it in your hands long enough, it gets soft ... to the point where you can easily deform it with finger pressure!


Some of the more difficult material I have been working with lately has also been a great challenge.  Crushed abalone shells cast in Alumalite.  Definitely need to bake it, with this Amazing Clear Cast resin, to harden the acrylic, and a carbide tipped tool is certainly a plus ... the dust from this is harsh, but the results when it's finished can be stunning!


My next side project, however, involves taking washi (rice paper) and inking it with mokke (wood) designs, and then creating a pen using such a design wrapped around the body and sealed with CA ....

Or possibly taking the same and creating some laminated projects of it with many layers of rice paper and epoxy or alumalite resin ... similar to making micarta.  I have several hundred sheets of the rice paper, so the ingredients aren't hard. (yet)


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## Gary Beasley

Herb G said:


> Gary Beasley said:
> 
> 
> 
> Leather, glitter and glitter nailpolish.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Would that have been stripper glitter? :biggrin:
Click to expand...


If the stripper bought the glitter at Michaels, probably so! I don't think I can cut the same curvature on the glitter pens as what the stripper exhibits though.


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## Skie_M

Sure you can ... it's just a little harder to grip, though ... especially with a woman watching you with hawk-like intensity.


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## THarvey

An actual pheasant head for he ugly pen contest in 2010 Birthday Bash.  Won 1st place for most disgusting pen. 

You can find it by searching "Phlustered Pheasant"


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## leehljp

Robert Taylor said:


> Poison Ivy



I didn't get to finish my poison ivy pen!    BTW. the doc didn't wait to ask me what was wrong either. I got to go to the head of the class so to speak, without uttering a word!

Beyond that: Tree Fungus!


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## 1080Wayne

jimmyz said:


> I guess the heat from turning causes the kernel to pop?



Don`t think a customer could be sure  it`s popcorn unless it was pre-popped . A very difficult turn , with lots of thin CA required , and spare popcorn to fill in holes as the poster mentioned . Suspect stabilizing the popped corn before casting it would help a lot , but have not tried it .


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## 1080Wayne

leehljp said:


> Robert Taylor said:
> 
> 
> 
> Poison Ivy
> 
> 
> 
> 
> I didn't get to finish my poison ivy pen!    BTW. the doc didn't wait to ask me what was wrong either. I got to go to the head of the class so to speak, without uttering a word!
> 
> Beyond that: Tree Fungus!
Click to expand...


Any idea which fungus you used Hank ? I have done tinder fungus , which has a very fine grained structure . Rough Turnable without CA with care , but CA required once thickness gets down to about 3/16 inch  , then abandon turning and switch to sandpaper at 1/8 inch . That was in my pre-stabilization days . Should be easier stabilized .


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## carlmorrell

leehljp said:


> Robert Taylor said:
> 
> 
> 
> Poison Ivy
> 
> 
> 
> 
> I didn't get to finish my poison ivy pen!    BTW. the doc didn't wait to ask me what was wrong either. I got to go to the head of the class so to speak, without uttering a word!
> 
> Beyond that: Tree Fungus!
Click to expand...


I have one I made out of poison ivy vine.  Friends thought I was insane!


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## leehljp

1080Wayne said:


> leehljp said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Robert Taylor said:
> 
> 
> 
> Poison Ivy
> 
> 
> 
> 
> I didn't get to finish my poison ivy pen!    BTW. the doc didn't wait to ask me what was wrong either. I got to go to the head of the class so to speak, without uttering a word!
> 
> Beyond that: Tree Fungus!
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> 
> Any idea which fungus you used Hank ? I have done tinder fungus , which has a very fine grained structure . Rough Turnable without CA with care , but CA required once thickness gets down to about 3/16 inch  , then abandon turning and switch to sandpaper at 1/8 inch . That was in my pre-stabilization days . Should be easier stabilized .
Click to expand...


I'll take a picture of it and post it.

This is a fungus growth off of an old oak tree that was hollow and fell over in a storm several years ago. The small brown portion is about half the length of a pen blank. In the sun, it is very iridescent, but when CA or other finish is put on it to stabilize-solidify it or finish it, it turns dark brown and just looks ordinary at that point.

The big fungus is about 12 x 9 by about 7 high and weights about a pound at the most. If I remember correctly, if I don't cut it in the right direction or plane, it doesn't look right or appealing - just bland.


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## Skie_M

Interesting ... the chatoyance in the surface of many woods is attributed to the oils still present in the wood fibers.  This is another reason I like to add a little minwax stain'n'seal or some BLO right before the CA finish.  Perhaps you could try that combo on the fungus and see what it gets you?


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## chartle

To color some glue to highlight a herringbone blank I've used really fine coffee, cinnamon and paprika. I decided craft paint was easier.


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## Neil

Snippets, from Rug Hookers Wool


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## leehljp

Skie_M said:


> Interesting ... the chatoyance in the surface of many woods is attributed to the oils still present in the wood fibers.  This is another reason I like to add a little minwax stain'n'seal or some BLO right before the CA finish.  Perhaps you could try that combo on the fungus and see what it gets you?



The fungus is not wood in the sense of being "wood". BLO, wax, water, oil, wet stuff etc, darkens it. When cut a certain way, it is like bands or leaves. These glimmer in light, but because it is fungus and so light weight, it absorbs wetness which stops the glimmer.


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## Pens By Scott

soap stone...


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## LOIBLB

Antique African spear shaft. In early 90's  bought the spear from a collection in England. It was damaged in shipment and had 2 ft. of it broken off.


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## wouldentu2?

Rubber Ducky record album.


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## dpstudios

Auto body filler aka Bondo


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## Anglesachse

Killer Whale Tooth


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## rd_ab_penman

BC Bud.


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## Jaydort

I just did a starfish I cast


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## Mikeyt

I have turned bed bugs. They where cast in pr. 


Sent from my iPhone using Penturners.org mobile app


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## Woodchipper

leehljp said:


> The fungus is not wood in the sense of being "wood". BLO, wax, water, oil, wet stuff etc, darkens it. When cut a certain way, it is like bands or leaves. These glimmer in light, but because it is fungus and so light weight, it absorbs wetness which stops the glimmer.


Fungi are non-vascular plants as opposed to trees, shrubs that get water and nutrients through their trunks, etc.


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## Swagopenturner

Soft Foam Rubber, with lots of CA glue!


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## Jaydort

Here’s my starfish pen


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## John Eldeen

Dried bull kelp (sea weed ) colected on the beach on a weekend trip.


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## Jaydort

I did 2 McDonalds hash brown pens same blank 1 has a chrome tube the other has a black tube


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## Benpen

Jute Rug from my living room


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