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Pen blank thickness

Ray7756

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Can you guys and gals please tell me the minimum thickness for a slimline blank, as I have a teak sunlounger that is going to be pen blanks but the spars ar only 14.5 mm thick, if that is to thin its no probs as i will use the spars for laminate pens, or even have them made into pen boxes, the main frame , legs etc are much thicker so im still looking at loads of tteak blanks :winking:
Cheers in advance
Ray
 

Ray7756

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Hi Bill thanks for that, i will get it cut up and brought inside and see what I end up with thickness wise, but I will get the use out of them, might even try a blank that is laminated as straight and cross grain and see what happens plus throw in a few different woods to maybe get a scroll effect, just got to pick up my lathe, later this month, after i move house, then build a workshop, 2 to 3 weeks after i move, so not a lot to do before i get started :praying: i will get there
Cheers
Ray
 

silver

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I have a teak sunlounger that is going to be pen blanks but the spars ar only 14.5 mm thick,
Ray

14.5mm thick, crikey never mind slimlines you would get Sierras, Epsilions, Deltas and many other kits out of that as well. I would even be tempted with the mistrals as well.
 

Bucks

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I also drill 12mm square corian blanks for slimlines with no issues, I do drill them on the lathe though rather than a drill press.
 

Ray7756

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14.5mm thick, crikey never mind slimlines you would get Sierras, Epsilions, Deltas and many other kits out of that as well. I would even be tempted with the mistrals as well.

:banana: Happy days just got to get myself sorted with house move etc, but you need to remember i am a complete beginner, so will practice on pine ( old kitchen table ) to get the turning to a decent level before i go near the teak
Cheers
Ray
 

Penpal

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I drill 1/2 inch corian on my drill press. Not any room for failure. I would only cut some at first and try them. Teak can be brilliant or not at all,I once had 1/2 a ton in blocks no one seemed interested for free.

Peter.
 

silver

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:banana: Happy days just got to get myself sorted with house move etc, but you need to remember i am a complete beginner, so will practice on pine ( old kitchen table ) to get the turning to a decent level before i go near the teak
Cheers
Ray
If its table and chairs you will have enough to do hundreds of pens Ray so dig in and use the mahogany, pine isn't as easy as you may think.
 

Ray7756

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If its table and chairs you will have enough to do hundreds of pens Ray so dig in and use the mahogany, pine isn't as easy as you may think.
Its a table that seats 8 and a double sunbed we have the chairs but the mrs wants to keep them so got loads of teak, i know pine is a bitch to turn so if i can get it right on that then i will be happy to go on the teak, have decided to go with a melamine finish on wood, lots of experimenting to do and looking forward to the challenge:wink:
Cheers
Ray
 

Lons

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Id agree with the others Ray and go straight on to the teak if you have loads, before long you'll be much more selective and go for the unusual colours, grain and effect so you'll be left with loads of the stuff anyway.

When I first started I had quite a bit of oak flooring offcuts so went a bit mad and cut up loads, much of which was plain, still makes nice pens but I wouldn't do that again. You should cut up only some of it as you might find a use for larger bits anyway, you can always cut smaller, a bit difficult to make it bigger. :ciggrin:

Some teak can be oily so make sure it's really clean before applying a finish.
 

Bammer

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When I started all you could get were slimlines and 12mm blanks. No fancy drill bits or mandrels either.

Don't fret and get on with it ... what you got to lose ?
 

Skin-Job

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When I started out, I was worried about turning expensive wood, but just went for it.
Personally, I think Teak is easier to turn that Pine.

Nothing ventured....
 
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