Different Style Corn Cob Pens

[Tom Mullane]

It seems that everyone uses the Cigar pen kits to make corn cob pens... including me... well I decided that I had to try something different...
I had 2 Berea Perfect Fit Convertable kits left in my supply and decided to see how they would look...
These were made from my supply of 40 yr old corn cobs.. you can't get any drier... and I don't think that a newly dried cob would have worked as well..
These were a PITA to do, first finding the right size cobs.. I needed cobs that were not only thin enough to show off the kernel structure, but also had thin pith areas...
These dry cobs also turn a lot harder than new ones and seem to dull the tools faster, they seem to be very abrasive... they also tend to blow out a lot easier if you are not careful.
You need to get close to size and then give them a thin coating of water thin CA.. this will lock the fibers together to allow you to finish the cutting... however it also means that you will need scary sharp tools because the CA makes the cob turn like marble... I found that if I sand with 80 grit paper after the CA the tools have something to bite into... otherwise the finish is pretty smooth and tools tend to skate... I use a skew for almost all my penturning..
After I got it to size, I sanded to 320 grit and applied 4 coats of thick CA sanding with 220 and 320 lightly between coats... the final coat was sanded to 600 and then micromeshed to 12000 and then some EEEpolish.. and some friction polish and Renaissance wax... the glisten like glass and are smooth as a baby's bottom...
But still a PITA compared to a Cigar kit cob pen...
Well here they are a Perfect Fit Convertable Pen and Pencil kit from corn cobs

[Stefan Antwarg]

Wow - that's neat. I have never heard or though of that. Very nice.

Stefan

[Tom Mullane]

Stefan, how far are you from Frederick, MD... we have a new woodturning club starting there.. had a good turn out at our first "inspirational" meeting...
The next meeting is Dec 7 at 7PM. Let me know is you want the details..
and thanks for the kind words..

[Stefan Antwarg]

Yeah, I saw your post about that. Frederick is a bit far - about 2 hours.

Stefan

[John Miliunas]

Tom, those are just too cool! :) I've tried a lot of different flavors for pens, including deer antler and corian, but that's truly unique! Nice job. :cool:

[Michael Stafford]

Tom, outstanding! Really unique. I suppose there is quite a bit of CA invested by the time you get through? Do you ever have any problems with the watery CA flowing onto the mandrel?

[Jim Becker]

Stephan, Frederick shouldn't be more than about an hour...right down Rt 15. Unless you're in the boonies! (And it's a wonderful town...I spent a lot of time there on business a few years ago working with the county and school district)

Tom, I really like those pens. The slimer style is more to my taste, too.

[Tom Mullane]

Mike, the corn cob pens take a fair amount of the thick CA to finish... the only thin I use is to lock the fibers when I get real close to the finished size.. and since I am using just a little it does not get onto the mandrel...

[Fred Chan]

Tom, those are cool pens! Are the corncobs your'e using extra skinny or have they shrunk from being dried so long? Is it the whole corncob or just the husk that you use? How long does a corncob need to be dried for before it can be turned? Come to think of it I don't remember ever seeing a dried out corncob. I could dry my own but somehow I don't think I can wait 40 years!:rolleyes: :)

[Stefan Antwarg]

Jim,

Unfortunately, Frederick is pretty far. We have some relatives in Thurmont and it takes quite a while to get there. Hanover is at least an hour from me and Thurmont is another 30-40 minutes. Then Frederick is another 20 minutes away. Or, I could go down to Baltimore and take 70. Either way, a long way. Yes, Fawn Grove is the boonies :) Anyplace that is 20 minutes away or less is close

Stefan

[Tom Mullane]

Fred, these cobs were real skinny, about 1" diameter and over 6" long. The fact that they had dried for so long made them skinny... but you can use new cobs if you dry them in the oven for a while... the biggest problem with new cobs is that the pith is soo soft.. you really want to try to get the pith to dry out more so it is more solid. The drier you can get the cob the better... I usually take new cobs and put them in the oven at the lowest setting. I leave the door open a bit so it does not get too hot and check them after about 2 hours... some cobs take more some a little less. If you are doing Cigar kits a cob about 1.5" usually works nice.. the biggest thing to look for it the size of the pith... you want it to be about the same diameter of the drill bit or maybe just a little bit larger.. if it is too large then you lose the kernel effect of the cob and just get the pith... You can see the difference in the pictures of the two above... the top one had a smaller diameter pith and the kernel effect if more pronounced.. both worked out OK.. but with a smaller pith you actually get an effect that looks like snakeskin.. on larger piths the effect is larger spacing between the kernels... Both look good.
As soon as I get some free time (YEAH RIGHT!!!!!), I am going to collect all the cobs from the old chicken coop and sort through them and offer some for sale to our members... these will be very dry 40 yr old cobs and the ones I have used have make much better pens than the new cobs I have used...
But remember the drier the cobs, the more likely they will blow out if you do not take light cuts with sharp tools... The good part of these really old cobs is that they take less CA to finish than a new cob because of how dry they are..
I am also going to work on a cob technique article complete with photos...
But it is going to take time and right now I am real busy keeping my Christmas craft booth supplied.

[Ken Fitzgerald]

Tom....gorgeous pens...I like the grain..naw that aint' right....I like the kernel ...naw that ain't right.....Tom I like the pens!

[Fred Chan]

Tom, I hate to sound like a dunce but do you remove the kernals before drying in the oven or would it still work if you boiled them up and ate them first?:D

[Tom Mullane]

The cobs I use are from feed corn that is dried on the stalk before harvest... the kernels are taken off before the cob is finally dried by me and turned...
DO NOT use eating corn that has been boiled and eaten.. the cobs will never dry sufficiently and even if you get them try the boiling destroys the cob for turning...

[Chris Padilla]

Dang, those are sooooo cool!

[Keel McDonald]

Tom



Those pens are awsome!!! I have been wanting to try some corn cob pens myself, but am having a hard time finding any cobs. Where do you get the feed corn, and how do you know it's dried before harvest?

Keel McDonald

[Tom Mullane]

Keel,
The cobs I use are from feed corn that is dried on the stalk before harvest... the kernels are taken off before the cob is finally dried by me and turned... or cobs that are in my FIL's old chicken coop and have been in there for about 30+ years and are really bone dry.... the color difference between the two depends on which ones I use. The newer cobs tend to be a lighter color..
Virtually all feed corn is dried on the stalk before harvest (or at least it is here in MD)... you can also buy the corn meant for squirrel feed at the local WalMart and just flick the kernals off them... I would still try to dry them out some more by putting them in the oven at the lowest setting with the door slightly open for about 2-3 hours, checking them about every 1/2 hour... you want the pith to be really dry.. in fact if you cut the cobs just a bit over length that might help a bit.
DO NOT use eating corn that has been boiled and eaten.. the cobs will never dry sufficiently and even if you get them try the boiling destroys the cob for turning...

[Keel McDonald]

Tom,

Thanks for the reply and the info. I'll give it a try.

Keel McDonald