Thread: Question about Banksia nuts

I have never turned any myself but I have seen some really nice items turned with BNs. some nice bowls etc as well as pen blanks. Might give it a go myself one of these days.

Best way is to sand them down to round and cast them under pressure in a vertical mold. I've cast heaps of blanks and turned many into pens, do a search and you'll find plenty of posts under my name.

They are not for beginners as it is too easy to pluck the resin eyes out with blunt tools or agressive turning. Casting them only fills the hollows, it does not penetrate the other parts. They are better stabilised after casting, to help secure the fibres and hold the eyes, but plenty of thin CA whilst turning can do the job.

Good luck with them.

I have done a few without casting. It involives a lot of CA to stabilize, then gluing in the tube. Then turned down towards the correct size, fill all wholes with coffee grinds and CA then turned. FinIshed with CA and they looked great but time consuming.

All the pens I have made are from the smaller coastal banksia's ,up to about 6 inches long and about 2 inches dia , sanded down to fit in around a 1" mould ,some parts are hard as, and some very soft and furry bits ,even when cast still needs CA to keep some parts together, make interesting pens though ,possibly bottle stoppers ,perfume sprays etc.
Cheers ~ John

Originally Posted by Jack.Tar

I have access to about a gazillion of these at work and was just wondering what was the best way to turn them into pens, I am assuming you put them in resin and they are cut thinner around the outside beforehand so that you don't waste resin on something you are going to turn off anyway but anymore tips would be great. I think the pens made out of these look fantastic.

Also do you have to use CA or are they like an acrylic if they are cast in resin?

Thanks in advance.

Hi,
I've made plenty of these, what I do is to run them through the bandsaw cutting the hole thing into 4 quarters. Then run it through again at 20mm wide with the solid part to the fence) so that it finishes up square looking from the end. I made a jig that allows me to cut at 45degrees so that it ends up octagonal (8 sides). This should finish up allowing it to slide inside a 20mm PVC pipe, I cut the pipe about 50mm longer than the blank and tape one end with masking or packing tape (making sure it is well sealed), you will need some sort of support for the pipes. I used 20mm Ply with holes drilled to suit the outside of the pipes (25mm).
Using a release agent inside, fill with casting resin, the extra 50 mm act as a reservoir so that as air is displaced you don't run out quickly. You might need to top up the reservoir. As I don,t have a vacuum or pressure pot I put the support block on my scrollsaw to act as a vibrating plate to shake out the air. You might have the occasional air bubble which is easily filled with CA. If it is a large one find some opal chips to help fill. As it is already round there are no problems with turning to round, drilling is simplified also. I use a carbide tipped tool as it does not require sharpening as often as a skew/gouge. Use a light gentle cutting action, don't use aggressive cuts as you will have big problems. Finish with CA.
Some paint the tubes, but I don't as the sanded tubes look like gold under the clear resin.
Hope this helps.
Kryn

I assume Jack is talking about the common eastern coastal banksia, they are obviously smaller than the SA variety you are talking about, not sure I would be game to try and cut it into 4.

Originally Posted by dai sensei

I assume Jack is talking about the common eastern coastal banksia, they are obviously smaller than the SA variety you are talking about, not sure I would be game to try and cut it into 4.

Correct.

I have also use Banksia similar to Marsh/Swamp banksia, carefully cutting the outer sections off to give a 20mm inner section, if they are short I trim the ends to give me a section about 55mm long and put 2 into the tubes to add the resin to. Have also used Menzies Banksia as well it give a very unusual effect.
To make it safe I made a sled that will take the pods to trim to size required.
Kryn