Pen turning question

[Sean Troy]

Hello all, is there anything special that needs to be done to dryed corn cobs before they can be turned to pen blanks? Thanks for any info. Sean

[Jeff Nicol]

Sean, If the cobs are bought from a supplier I think they have been stabilized and are ready to turn. If they are of your own concoction then they need to be stabilized. I did some a while ago and used thin Ca as I during the turning process. It seemed to work O.K. but was time consuming. The best way would be to use a acrylic resin thinned down a bit the color you want and create a vacuum tank to put them in to draw the resin into all the pores and solidify the cob. Once they dry should be ready to turn. You will find that not all the cob will be solid as it is hard to get the resin to get into every nook and cranny, but even the ones you buy from a pen blank supplier will have voids in them. The holes are easy to fill with some CA glue when you are at the finishing stage.

Hope this helps!

Jeff

[Bernie Weishapl]

They would have to be stabilized in order to turn. Had a friend of mine who soaked a cob in CA glue. He got it turned but he said it wasn't worth the effort to do another one. Expensive and time consuming. He buys the stablized ones now.

[Chris Rae]

I've stabilized them in a mix of poly and mineral spirits, you can also use minwax wood hardener. With the poly mix I put them under a vacuum for awhile using a cheap vac pump I got from Harbor Freight and my air compressor. It worked okay, but you do still need to use some CA as you turn, just like with the ones you buy.
Chris

[Sean Troy]

Thanks all for the info. I think I'll just order some for my girls instead of trying to make them.

[Jim Kountz]

Now ya see there, you do learn something new everyday. I would have never thought of turning a corn cob!! Im going to google this to see some pics, sounds interesting!!