Pine Needle Alumilite Pen Blanks - Dunkin' Junk! Live Stream Replay

[@darylkraus3373]

I dont know if the video is no longer available, but I am looking for the casting video. Also wondering if you stabilized the needles prior to casting.

[@marceaton3128]

I have pine needles everywhere and never thought of casting them. Great job.

[@ZacHiggins]

Haha, I do too! It wasn't even my idea LOL Glad that it was submitted on Dunkin Junk. Never would have guessed they would look like that!

[@Hohac]

I love your "First rule of turning club: barf in your pool" (that's what the automatic English subtitles at 2:40 say) :)

[@ZacHiggins]

Ha! I didn't realize it said that. I think the auto subtitle program has a sense of humor =D

[@ArcticFlies56]

Zac, I’ve been turning for quite awhile and you can never have enough light! Especially when you’re turning bowls. Best regards, Richard

[@LaxMan2k]

I love how people think lights on lathes are for old people. I'm 17 and I have 2 work lights and 1 long LED light that is the length of my bench which is mounted on the wall. Let me just say, best investment I have made for turning acrylics. The lights allow you to see any scratches or bumps in the finish on the blank.

[@ZacHiggins]

No doubt!! I have really good vision and tons of overhead lighting in the shop, but nothing beats a good task light to see what's really going on with the workpiece. Those scratches are shifty buggers, you have to catch them in the right light to see them usually... however once you get it assembled and out of the shop they seem to pop out at you regardless of what the lighting situation is!

[@Gotwoodworkshop]

Zac where did you get the drive you have in the head stock? I'm not sure what it would be called, a dead center maybe? I haven't been able to find anything but spur drives.

[@ZacHiggins]

You nailed it, it's a dead center. I picked it up on Amazon: amzn.to/2iFaGBP I also have links to most of the equipment I use on my website as well, I keep adding to that list all the time: nvwoodwerks.com/tools/

[@billtex150]

Love your imagination (and your videos).If you used CA glue to seal the pine needles after micro meshing would it stick to the blank ok.

[@charleswarnol2236]

Zac both of the pens looked really great. We have pine needles that look like that and they would probably work. I have seen some much smaller needles and think they might work also. Do you have a video about the buffing wheel setup or some info? That looks like a neat setup!! Keep up the good work!!👍

[@phillipchristy7792]

Wow you have come along way Zac

[@kerithforeman6301]

Would like to See that Pen Blank with all different colors of BamBoo!! That would be awesome!!

[@Xyienced]

I bet some good air freshening qualities as well!

[@oldmanwoodcraft]

It looks wicked . Did you stabilize the Pine Needle ? or did you just dried them ? thanks for sharing all your knowledge you are a big help to a beginner like i am .

[@ZacHiggins]

Thans Ahron! I didn't stabilize them at all, just dried them out for a couple hours in the oven, then tossed them in. Super easy :D

[@HeathKnuckles_Tasty_Timber]

Those turned out great Zac!

[@ZacHiggins]

Thanks Heath! It was one of those happy surprises when I started cutting into them. Totally wasn't expecting that outcome!

[@HeathKnuckles_Tasty_Timber]

I understand. We enjoy those "happy surprises". You nailed it.

[@CaseyMartin707]

Pretty sweet Zac! I think the green one is my favorite of the two, but both are pretty awesome!

[@ZacHiggins]

Dude, you rocked it with the pine needle suggestion!! Good call! I was totally surprised at how cool they looked. I think next time I'll pack even more needles in the mold, can't wait to try out some more colors too!

[@recycledwoodworks6164]

is there a turning club in nevada? I just started and could use guidance

[@dogwoodtales]

nicely done! what species of pine needles did you use? there's more in there than.rhw common evergreens.

[@ZacHiggins]

Thanks!! I'm not entirely sure what species it was. I just grabbed some from under a tree, but didn't really look at it... actually even if I had looked at it I couldn't really have told you what species it was. I'm terrible at that!

[@stevejackson5062]

Watching you turn these pens brings up my question: what advice do you have for noobs ( I'm 6 months into this activity) to avoid hitting the bushings or do you simply replace bushings from time to time.

[@ZacHiggins]

Hey Steve, I just try to be careful, but I hit them sometimes on accident. It usually doesn't take off a significant amount of metal though, I just keep using them

[@moyperezwoodshop1722]

Those turned out freaking cool Zac

[@ZacHiggins]

Thanks Moy!! Dang, last weekend was a blast. So glad you were able to come out, and thanks for bringing a t-shirt! I'll be proudly wearing it in future vids :D

[@billy19461]

That is really great of you to post where you get everything!

[@scottie1769]

I really like how the blanks turned out Zac. I have pine needles on the way to give it a try. If I get a pen looking as good as yours I will post a pic somewhere and tag ya. Thanks for sharing! Scott

[@ZacHiggins]

I was really happy with how they turned out. All I did was dry them out a short bit and shoved them in the resin. I can't wait to see yours, I'm sure they'll turn out great :D

[@williamkaczmarek3996]

Nice! Those turned out great!

[@TheLurch1955]

Ever thought about casting rose petals in a blank?? Don't know how it would turn out. Might be cool.

[@ZacHiggins]

Yes I have actually, it's on the list but I haven't gotten rose petals yet. Hopefully soon =D

[@robertevans6481]

Looks awesome. Zac...

[@ZacHiggins]

Thanks Robert! Hope to see you tomorrow for the live show :-)

[@lonewolfcry]

are those buffing wheels? I am so new to this i have never seen them. I sane from 100 to 600 then move to the micro mesh to 12000.

[@ZacHiggins]

That's how I used to do it, but I find that I get more consistent results using the buffing wheels. Here's a video on my 6 step sandingnpolishing method: kzbin.info/www/bejne/aZmql2uneMl2l8k

[@claterpult]

Great looking pens. Those blanks look good, I like how you experiment with colours and textures.

[@ZacHiggins]

It's my favorite part of resin casting!! I love experimenting and seeing what crazy things you can make with it :)

[@claterpult]

The options seem unlimited

[@ZacHiggins]

I'm pretty certain that I will never get tired of trying out new things with resin! Just started casting 3D printed objects with resin, that's going to be quite an adventure :D Absolutely unlimited possibilities!!

[@brantmeade668]

first of all love your videos can you make a video of how you made that blank would like to try it

[@ZacHiggins]

Thanks Brant! There was actually nothing to it at all. I just dried the pine needles for about an hour or so in the oven at 225, then for casting I just poured the Alumilite in a PVC pipe and pushed a wad of pine needles down the tube. These were super easy to make, no fussing about with preparation of the pine needles at all. I might shoot a video of making them, I may be able to pull the original footage out of the live stream even. I'll take a look at it and try to put something together if the video footage was good

[@samuelsanchez6180]

Zac, like always great video. You are the master. Are the pine needles stabilized/

[@ZacHiggins]

Thanks Samuel! I appreciate it! No, I didn't go for stabilizing them this time, just dried them out in the oven before casting. They're so small, I don't think there would be much benefit to stabilizing them

[@samuelsanchez6180]

Thank you.

[@cejkwo100]

Those came out great Zac, thanks for showing.

[@ZacHiggins]

Thanks! I'm excited to try out some different colors with them too

[@latherookie]

where do you get Alumilite?

[@ZacHiggins]

I buy it direct from Alumilite, and I recommend doing that for any resin you use to ensure you get fresh resin that hasn't sat on a shelf forever

[@scottie1769]

Great vid Zac. I cast pine needles the other day and will be turning it today. If I like it I will mention you in a tweet with a pic of the pen. I really like the way yours turned out. Thanks for sharing Scott

[@ZacHiggins]

Sweet!! I can't wait to see how they work out

[@AndrewMurphy8383]

what is the name of sand paper u used zac

[@ZacHiggins]

I use Abranet sandpaper, the screen/mesh stuff, and I use 3M polishing paper for wet sanding. I have links to them on the "tools I use" page on my website: nvwoodwerks.com/tools/

[@AndrewMurphy8383]

thanks zac thanks for the link did not know u had a site i am going to book market it and if u look up hardwood creations that my dad and his friend who started custom wood working company face book page he good wood worker to after his dad go by take a look if it changes i will let u know

[@84deeanne]

where do you get the abbanet zaz

[@ZacHiggins]

I buy it from Amazon, got links to it on my "Tools I Use" page on my website: nvwoodwerks.com/tools/

[@baconsoda]

Very good, those look great.

[@ZacHiggins]

Thanks Brendan! I was pleasantly surprised at these ones. Really glad somebody submitted pine needles for Dunkin Junk!! I never would have thought to try it out otherwise

[@KagedCreations08XX]

Those turned out really neat.

[@ZacHiggins]

Thanks Kage! They were super easy to cast, just toss em in! I was happily surprised at how cool they turned out. Looks almost like bamboo or something

[@KagedCreations08XX]

You could probably use bamboo as an improvised mold haha not that I can think of a time when you would need blanks that badly. You'd have to turn the bamboo off to see the blank.

[@84deeanne]

Ha Zac you are the best did you stabilize the needles or no?

[@ZacHiggins]

No, I just dried them out and dunked them, they cast and turn well without it

[@DavidWhite]

Sweeeet Zack

[@ZacHiggins]

Thanks Dave! I was pretty blown away at them, I did a double take the first time I stopped the lathe after rounding the blanks. Definitely didn't expect them to look like that

[@charlesdeshler202]

What lite is that?

[@ZacHiggins]

On the lathe? It's a Super Nova lamp