Thread: Resin for Banksia Nuts and Burl with lotsa holes/gaps

howdy doody George

the person who has done more of these is neil and i am sure he will reply as well

the banksia nuts i have done in the past i just belted the nuts off the outside with a wooden mallet, they hurt when they come off at speed (don't ask)

i then turn them down as per a normal spindle turning to oversized, then cut to length, drill and glue the tubes in, finish as per a normal pen then using CA and some of the shavings which i crush to a powder with my fingers, fill the holes,

i will let neil answer on the resin filling as i have not as yet tried

MIK

Originally Posted by MBUMIK

the banksia nuts i have done in the past i just belted the nuts off the outside with a wooden mallet, they hurt when they come off at speed (don't ask)

Do tell MIK
David

Since you are from WA, I assume you mean the large banksia. I have cast these for pepper grinders (see here) but not for pens, I have only cast the smaller ones we get over on the estern side of Aus for pens (see here).

I use clear casting poly resin under pressure to force the resin into the holes. I also cast the banksia vertically, to ensure the resin penetrates all the holes, as I have had problems with horizontally casting them with empty/partially filled holes. Vacuum was also useless. You can use conduit as a mold or a specially cast silicon mold (see here).

The WA banksia are very dense so there was no need for stabilization after casting, that I do need to do for the eastern species (more hairy fibris stuff that falls apart), although I do use CA near final shape to ensure it all holds together. Also use a very very sharp skew chisel, I found other chisels tend to drag or chip the resin filled holes out.

If you intend making pen blanks from the large banksia I'd suggest cutting them up into rectangular slices and cast them as a slab, or cut them into blank sizes and cast them vertically. Either way, use pressure to ensure the resin is forced into the voids until the resin is completey set to avoid shrinkage of the resin away from the banksia.

As for stone fleck, not sure what you are referring to. I use Pearlex powders to colour my resin. If you are referring to crushed stone or powder, I have done quite a few but not by casting. I tend to turn or sand the blanks round, then fill the holes gradually with the powders and thin CA, small thicknesses at a time (to ensure the CA penetrates the powdered product). See here for a brass WIP and here for some stone pens.

Hope this helps