A little trick for Pine Cone pen blanks

[Doug B]

There are a few of you guys who will be making Pine Cone pens soon, so I thought it might be a good time to re-visit something I posted a while back.

This method works well for my Rattle Snake pen blanks and also for Pine Cone pens. In both cases I am trying to remove as much material as possible from the blank using the Band Saw so that there is less that has to be turned off.

Anyway, hopefully someone might benefit from trying something similar. The discussion was mainly about turning antler but there was also some discussion about turning Inlace pen blanks. Here is a direct link to that post:

worldofwood.proboards.com/index.cgi?action=display&board=woodturning&thread=893&page=1#8710

[maverick31]

thanks doug, I do have a question though. When you use you jig do just knock the corners off or does that jig pivot and cut a circle

[Doug B]

You can do it either way Mav. Because it is on the miter gauge you can move it forward as you turn the blank.

I usually cut the 4 corners off first, then make as many more cuts as needed until the blank is either round or nearly round. I think with the right blade and tension you could do it all at once but it always takes me a few cuts. But, even just cutting the 4 corners off is a big help on those difficult to turn plastic and Trustone blanks and it saves lots of time and CA on the Pine Cones.

[maverick31]

ok cool, that what I thought. my bandsaw is a real old craftsman and the blade travels about as much as a pack of wolves. I may try to fine tune my saw then build a jig similar to yours when I get going again.

[maverick31]

I think I am going to order a new skew too, the one I have is a turd. Have you tried a rounded skew on these cone or just a straight one?

[Doug B]

I hear you about the band saw Mav...my first one was a total POS and I hated using it. The 14" Ridgid was a nice step up for me but still needed lots of TLC to get it working well. I still want to upgrade one more time.

I'm still trying to master my first skew...A cheap Harbor Freight one that is not rounded. I often wonder though what I could be missing out on - I would like to try a new skew one of these days too.

[maverick31]

I think I will go with one similar to this set but not sure which brand yet. www.pennstateind.com/store/LXRSET.html.

I will let you know if the rounded/oval skew is easier to tame or not. I will admit i find my self trying to use the skew more and more when making pens

[boodrow]

Doug thanks for reposting the thread. If I have some 1/4 dowl rod I mite make one this eve.

As far as a skew I have a sorby oval. Its all I ever used so I cant help with the other question. Sometime I think a flast skew would be better as not to twist on the tool rest and on the other hand givin a little twist now in then helps.
Boodrow

[boodrow]

Doug after lookin at the pic one more time fore I head to the shop a thought hit me.
If u went over several inches and drilled another hole , inserted a dowel of anysize , then made a round dummy piece to slide over the dowel , lets say 1" or even larger on the outside diameter of it , for ease of use to turn, then took a couple large rubber bands , wrapped um around the pen bushings. Do u think a man could turn the dummy block that inturn would turn the block at the blade by hand. Or would there be too much resistance at the blade and the rubber bands just slip? Just a thought. U could also glue sandpaper to the dummy block and the pen bushings to help keep it from slippin?
Boodrow

[maverick31]

boodrow, if you get this jig built today, please post. I was thinking I want to build an adjustable jig too, just not to sure how to do it. I would like to cut down antler, cones and other blanks also.

[Doug B]

That is a heck of an idea Boodrow...kinda like a duplicator on a lathe works. It may not have enough pressure to keep the rubber bands from slipping but it is certainly worth trying.

After thinking about it some more...the bushings are going to slip inside the tube unless there is some pressure on them like the tailstock does when you are turning. Maybe the thing to figure out is how to utilize an old mandrel, but it would probably have to be shortened or it might not fit under the blade guard. But then a band on the mandrel nut would automatically tighten as you turn the blank and that should keep the bushings from slipping.

Hmm...maybe Timmer can come up with a good way to fabricate something like that.

[boodrow]

Well it was one of them days , went to the shop and everthang I touched turned to chit. First I couldnt find any 1/4 dowel rod , put it on my list to pic up at lowes , second had a cone stopper to turn , somehow I got it off center so bad it want make a stopper , but goin to pick up some 5/16 dowel at lowes , epoxy it where I have drilled and tapped the 3/8 hole and make a pull outta it. Started turnin a black and white ebony , forgot to true it up on the miter saw.

Doug I agree that the bushing mite slip in the tubes , makes me think of what us ole mechanics call pienin , take an old bushing , hit it the area that will go into the tube with a sharp center punch. The punch will raise the area where u hit it therefore it mite create a tite fite in the tube. Dont know if that would work , but I have bushing to spare. But if there is enough sideways tension on the bushings they mite not slip , its somethin to ponder on , and if anyone else has some input , it would be great to hear.
Boodrow

[Doug B]

Yeah, dimpling the bushing might work Boodrow. But you can't do that for any of the 7MM kits like slims and Saturns.

I bet we can get something figured out before this is all over.

Sorry to hear you had one of those days in the shop. Hopefully tomorrow will be better.

Centering the pine cones is something I need to try to figure out a method for too. Right now I do it all by eye, and that is real hit and miss...especially with my eyes.

[boodrow]

Doug after sleepin on it , one prob with pienin the bushing is u could crack the wood ?? I havent given up on it yet. Plan on a Lowes trip this morn ifin its not stormin.

Doug I know what u mean by centerin the cones . The way Ive been attempting to do it is , after Ive cut the end that will be epoxied to the wood I make a mark with a pen or what ever. I then take a nail punch and make an indentation in it. When I apply the epoxy I then take the nail punch and find the indentation and use the nail punch as a guide to center the wood on the cone.
Boodrow

[Doug B]

Let me see if I am understanding this correctly. You pre-drill the wood with a hole big enough for the nail punch to go through to line up with the indention in the cone? Then you drill the same spot in the wood after the glue cures?

That sounds real reasonable. I'm gonna give that a try. I've just been gluing the wood onto the cone, not being to worried about where it ends up, then once the epoxy has cured, I just try to eyeball where to drill that will put the hole in the center of the cone. I never thought about having a pre-drilled pilot hole in the wood and matching that to the center of the cone, but that makes a lot of sense.

[boodrow]

Doug thats pretty much it , I do go ahead and drill the lamaniated wood to 5/16 prior to the epoxy glue , doin that I feel also will help the drill bit stay straight whilst drillin out the cone after the epoxy has cured.
And as I said earlier , I find the center of the cone with the punch and center the laminated piece to the punch.
On the pulls I do the same , sept the small hole ive allready drill in the laminated piece and the center punch mark dont really need to be centered , its kinda a tite fit, then again once the epoxy has cured I drill the hole deeper into the cone , this also drills out the dried epoxy.
Boodrow

[Doug B]

I'll give that a try next time I do one Boodrow. Thanks for the tip!

[boodrow]

Doug I went to Lowes today , got some 1/4 , 5/16&3/8 oak dowel rod. The 7mm bushing does ride nice on the 1/4 dowel , but the pen bushings that have a smaller collar on the inside of um will not fit over the dowel. Had my thankin hat on most of the afternoon and will try to get some 3/16 tomorrow and see how it fits. If nothin else I will turn a shaft for the bushings to fit.
Boodrow

[boodrow]

Correction , the 7MM tube rides nice on the dowel. But not on the bushing
Boodrow

[Doug B]

I thought I used a 1/4" dowel, but it could have been a 3/16" dowel, but it works great with the bushings.

Sorry if I told you wrong Boodrow...I know I used a dowel that fit snugly in the bushings. That will be important to make it work well.