Bowling pins?

[Jason Slutsky]

Has anyone turned anything using an old bowling pin as a blank?

I read that most pins are made of laminated hard maple. I have a chance to get a bunch of free pins from an alley that's closing nearby.

I imaging you could chop the ends and then just turn away the vinyl coating.

Any thoughts?

[Paul Andrews]

Back in high shop class we used to turn them into lamps, but that was a long time ago.

[Hank Walczak]

Jason - The wood is laminated maple or sure looks like it. I drilled a hole for a clock insert finished it and gave it to a bowling nut I know. BTW, getting the plastic off it is a real trip. Long plastic curls that want to whip you unmercifully.You have to keep stopping the lathe to break off the plastic curls. Thought of using a lamp auger and making a lamp out of one but never did... Have fun!!!

Hank

[Dan Gill]

When I was using pins for targets (Pin Shooting is a BUNCH of fun!), we used to just peel the plastic coating away after they'd been pretty well shot up and use them for firewood. You may be able to just score the plastic and peel it off. That will keep you from whipping yourself raw with it on the lathe.

The ones we had were laminated maple.

[Jim Stoppleworth]

Try and score the plastic covering to cut down on the whipping action of the curls as mentioned in previous posts.
In addtion to lamps and other things they can be turned into wonderful mallets.
They are laminated hard maple with voids in a couple of places to get the weight down to around 3# 4 ounces, Some are heavier the heaviest being 3# 10 oz. There are heavier ones, but they were the ones we kept on the roof soaking in water all winter for the spring tournaments.

Jim

[Don Wood]

Yep, I have turned some pens from bowling pins for my grandson and his friend and the owner of the bowling alley. I just cut the pin on my table saw and make pen blanks of normal size. The wood has been maple and some curly maple. The turned out nice