Thread: Turning black coral. Got a question.

Black coral is actually a plant. It will react in the same way that a very hard wood will.
Jim

That pen is great.

Not half as interesting as the first one I made. however I gave that one to the guy who game me the coral as a thank you.

I'll have to ask him if i can borrow it to take a few photos. i tried as I gave it to him but in low light, focus was right out.

Very nice.

You certainly had a windfall there ! hehe,It may be a bit different to what I used, mine was very hard I had to cut it with a hacksaw.I drilled it with water ,was weird really the shavings came out like seaweed and you could smell the sea I swear lol.I just treated it as an acrilic for sanding and polishing ,a few small defects filled with CA and usual polish and buff.You did a great job on it though,My stuff seemed to have no real features like your sample.Cheers ~ John

Looks great, although I would have used a CA finish to ensure its longevity

Now you watered it, it will sprout another pen! Lovely work, Amos

Originally Posted by Woodenink

Now you watered it, it will sprout another pen! Lovely work, Amos

<snicker>

I heard that Snicker , Charlie! Amos

Nice looking pen !!

Pity it didn't retain the colouring in the first photo.

I question Powderpost's assertion about coral being a plant.Coral is made up from the calcerous secretions of thousands , nay millions, of polyps. I f my memeory serves ma correctly polyps are members of the animal kingdom. I am not aware of any plants that secrete calcium to lay down a supporting skeleton.

Originally Posted by artme

Nice looking pen !!

Pity it didn't retain the colouring in the first photo.

I question Powderpost's assertion about coral being a plant.Coral is made up from the calcerous secretions of thousands , nay millions, of polyps. I f my memeory serves ma correctly polyps are members of the animal kingdom. I am not aware of any plants that secrete calcium to lay down a supporting skeleton.

I agree Artme some of mine had tiny bits of shell embedded, it was deep water coral,came up in a trawler net I think, there are some that grow at shallower levels , I believe it can take hundreds of years to achieve any size. I also believe its dust is pretty toxic ,so masks are a must . On another note ,coming from the ocean may be the discolerations shown were tiny salt crystals, purely a guess however cheers ~ John

Black coral is a tree like coral, but definately a coral, not a plant. The black coral we use to make pens actually comes from the dead sections of coral.

It is a protected species and I have seen heaps in Fiji whilst diving. The locals use it to carve pendants etc. I have seen a large enough dead section for pens, but it was tangled amongst the live plant and I couldn't get it loose. It is extremely strong, I couldn't even break off a section of the ~20mm branch. I have a diamond hacksaw blade I take with me diving these days

No expert on coral but what you have is made up from dead polyps. Maybe soaking it in fresh water for a lengthy period would help to remove impurites, a bit like old Roman coins that you have to soak for long periods and then scrub with a silver brush to remove stains and impurites. As suggested I would certainly be sealing it with CA to lock in the colours. However, may I suggest you contact one of the scientists at your local Department of Fisheries or a marine biologist at a University for advice on the cleaning and sealing.

Geez Neil - the only diving I do is when I slip in the bath tub