I recently got some cones from a longneedle pine, native to the southeast us unlike the loblollys you usually see. Very big cones. I de tabbed then down to the core, smoothed them on the belt sander and several were large enough for making large body pens. This is one I just finished.
That is really cool. Nice job on the pen. When I have used corn cobs for pens I had to soak the cob with thin ca glue to harden it. Did you have to do anything similar to pine cone or was it hard enough to turn as is?
That is really cool. Nice job on the pen. When I have used corn cobs for pens I had to soak the cob with thin ca glue to harden it. Did you have to do anything similar to pine cone or was it hard enough to turn as is?
Great looking pen. A friend of mine just returned from Calif. and brought me a few cones to work with.These things are huge compared to the ones found here in GA.I'm glad to see what they will look like.
Donny
A bit of advise, keep the pen mill away from it. The teeth catch and shatter the cone blanks. This is best squared on the belt sander. I also used the belt sander to even out the blanks before drilling on the lathe. Wedging a slip of sandpaper in the chuck at strategic points helps to center the blank on the bit.
We had some HUGE pine cones on our front yard a few weeks back. Unfortunately, they were either thrown out or run over by yours truly on the riding lawn mower. Oops! I think there might still be a few out there. I'll never look at a pine cone the same way ever again. :blink:
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