Thread: Walnut & Nectarine Pendant Casts

George Watkins posted some stunning cast walnut shell key rings the other day on the IAP site. I have always admired his work and was inspired to give it a go. He used German and Black walnuts however that we don't have in Aus, and the local English walnuts we get here are genetically modified, so have very thin shells and basically no internal walls. I had some peach/nectarine pips in my freezer drying from last season, as you do , so decided to use some of them to fill the void.

I sanded down each end of the walnut so I could remove the nut. I also sanded down each end of some of the larger nectarine pips at each end then removed their seeds exposing the void. Both ended up ~1" deep and the nectarine pipes fitted neatly inside the walnut. I then made some crosses from small sticks and used some CA to glue them flat. I then stacked and glued 4 sets together inside a 50mm PVC tube using the sticks that were long enough to centralise the walnut shell in the PVC (as well as close as I could).

Cast them with some blue Pearlex in PR. I then sliced them up getting 2 slices per walnut. The walnuts are not central to the cast but the pendants will be turned down to 40mm so I hope I can better centralise them by the time I'm finished.

walnut nectarine pendant blanks.jpg