Bark on for casting

[bob pfohler]

I have a great piece of spalted maple so I’m trying to use every piece.
I was going to cast a small piece of it in resin. The bark is still solidly attached on I was thinking about leaving it on.

[bob pfohler]

I’ve never left the bark on in a casting, wasn’t sure if it would crumble or cause integrity problems when turned.

[Steven Cooper2]

I have a great piece of spalted maple so I’m trying to use every piece.
I was going to cast a small piece of it in resin. The bark is still solidly attached on I was thinking about leaving it on.

Keith Lackner gave a nice talk on casting for turning at our local woodworkers club last week and he emphasized removing all of the bark as during seasonal movement the resin will be adhered to three bark but not necessarily the wood underneath and it may fall apart.

[Richard Coers]

Moisture level at casting time and air entrapment would be the two things I worry about. Both will depend on what resin you intend to use.

[bob pfohler]

Keith Lackner gave a nice talk on casting for turning at our local woodworkers club last week and he emphasized removing all of the bark as during seasonal movement the resin will be adhered to three bark but not necessarily the wood underneath and it may fall apart.

Great point, glad I asked. Thanks, I wish we had a turning club.
Maybe I’ll start one. Maybe I’ll start another thread on starting a group.

[John K Jordan]

Great point, glad I asked. Thanks, I wish we had a turning club.
Maybe I’ll start one. Maybe I’ll start another thread on starting a group.

AAW lists a chapter club in Heinsburg, VT, looks like about 1:52 from you if you avoid tolls and ferry. Or 1:30 otherwise. I’m a member of two clubs here in TN and some of us carpool and drive a little further than that to one every month. (The other is 45min to an hour for me depending on traffic.). Both clubs are very active.

I suspect the biggest thing about starting a club is finding the meeting space and a lathe. A member in one club here donates use of his shop and lathe every month - he has things on mobile bases and moves them to make room. The other club meets in a Woodcraft classroom.

JKJ

[bob pfohler]

AAW lists a chapter club in Heinsburg, VT, looks like about 1:52 from you if you avoid tolls and ferry. Or 1:30 otherwise. I’m a member of two clubs here in TN and some of us carpool and drive a little further than that to one every month. (The other is 45min to an hour for me depending on traffic.). Both clubs are very active.

I suspect the biggest thing about starting a club is finding the meeting space and a lathe. A member in one club here donates use of his shop and lathe every month - he has things on mobile bases and moves them to make room. The other club meets in a Woodcraft classroom.

JKJ

Thanks but 3 hrs round trip drive time and $25 for a ferry is a little more than I want to travel.
If I start a chapter here maybe we can use my shop, It’ll give me an excuse to buy a bigger lathe.
Besides, my shop is connected to my mancave which has a golf simulator and an adult beverage center!

[Richard Dooling]

FWIW,
If you decide to start a chapter the AAW site has lots of helpful resources including info on insurance, best practices, job descriptions and more. Here's a link but you'll probably need to sign in to get the full list of articles.
https://www.woodturner.org/

From the top menu:
CHAPTERS > START A CHAPTER

[bob pfohler]

FWIW,
If you decide to start a chapter the AAW site has lots of helpful resources including info on insurance, best practices, job descriptions and more. Here's a link but you'll probably need to sign in to get the full list of articles.
https://www.woodturner.org/

From the top menu:
CHAPTERS > START A CHAPTER

Thanks, I’ll create an account and do some research

[Peter Blair]

Yesterday I cast some pen blanks and left a little bark on the Yellow Cedar burl. I'll let you know what happens. I did stabilize the YCB before I cast it.

[Steven Cooper2]

Yesterday I cast some pen blanks and left a little bark on the Yellow Cedar burl. I'll let you know what happens. I did stabilize the YCB before I cast it.

Good luck, this was one of the things that was mentioned as a possible way to improve bark adhesion as the stabilizing resin will penetrate the piece and adhere the bark to the base wood. The concern is essentially that a high viscosity resin (most casting resins) won't penetrate and bond inside of the object.

[Peter Blair]

So how do I sign up for the new Chapter?

[bob pfohler]

So how do I sign up for the new Chapter?

Your in but you have to bring some Laurentide eh.

[Dave Fritz]

Wonder if stabilized bark would be safer? Don’t think I’d try unstablized bark.