Let's see, now how do I saw . .. . .

Re: Let's see, now how do I saw . .. . .

John Lucas

>Mountain Man

Here's how I cut tagua nuts. I know they are smaller but I don't why the same technique wouldn't work for a bowling ball.

I glue the tagua nut to an L shaped carrier board. In my case it's just a short 2x4 that I notch. The Tagua nut sets on the bottom and is also glued to the upright portion. This lets me slice off very thin pieces with a lot of control using the band saw.

I think if you just built a larger right angle bracket you could easily slice the ball in half. Then lay it down flat and cut off other sections.

Re: Let's see, now how do I saw . .. . .

Fred in NC

>I would be very careful with that.....

The saw blade can grab plastics very easily, and set the ball spinning... I have heard of a case where the ball hit a guy several times. You don't want it on your foot either ! I read this in the PEN TURNING GROUP !!!

Cutting anything round or spherical in the bandsaw is a potential accident, unless the piece is held very securely.

You need more than a simple sled to cut a bowling ball. The sled used for making the first cut in a log would be more appropriate, with holes cut in the boards to hold the ball securely.

I hope I did not upset anybody with this. I just love my fingers, hands, arms, belly, and feet !

Re: Let's see, now how do I saw . .. . .

Stuart Johnson

>Somebody else might come in with a link but there is a company that posts over on penturners.org that sells the blanks out of material they get from the bowling ball company. I wouldn't want to go near trying to cut up a ball myself.

Stuart

Re: Let's see, now how do I saw . .. . .

John Lucas

>Fred

I'll never get upset when someone is trying to help. Perhaps my glue method wouldn't hold strong enough. Perhaps some lag bolts through the wood into the bowling ball.

You might even make a V trough and screw the ball to the V then make the intial cut with a chainsaw.

Re: Let's see, now how do I saw . .. . .

Fred in NC

>Yes, having at least one flat side makes cutting a log, sphere, tube, etc. much safer.

Bowling ball blanks are expensive, so if you can make some yourself, you are way ahead ! However, most bowling balls yield only one color!

Another point, I understand, because I have not done it myself, that some colored bowling balls are not made from the same material all the way through.... there is a black center. In that case the number of blanks one can get out of a ball is very limited.

There is a way to make acrylic pen blanks with little investment, other than the casting material. Colors can be swirled with very pretty results, and absolutely one of a kind pens.

Best regards,

Fred in NC

Re: Let's see, now how do I saw . .. . .

MountainMan

>Thanks for the info from everyone - hey Fred - tell more about "making acrylic pen blanks with little investment"

I hate giving out the amounts of $$$ they want for an acrylic blank!!

Regards

The One and Only "Mountain Man"

Re: Let's see, now how do I saw . .. . .

Leo Van Der Loo

>MountainMan, 2 boards with a circle cutout, bowlingball in the cutout, and inbetween the boards, clamp or screw boards to a base, and now bandsaw in half, after that it would be easy to cut it in pieces. Have fun and take care Leo Van Der Loo.

Re: Let's see, now how do I saw . .. . .

Richard Allen

>How about parting the ball on the lathe and then slicing off blanks from the halves on the bandsaw.

Does the acrylic go all the way to the center or does the material change part way in?

Good luck

This is the best idea so far !

Fred in NC

>Of course, you cannot part it all the way, or it will fall off the lathe.

By the way, unless you have a bandsaw with a 12" vertical capacity, you will not be able to make the first cut on the bandsaw.

Some balls have a black center, and some don't.

Acrylic blanks

Fred in NC

>You need acrylic casting resin, which is easily obtainable from hobby stores and several web sources.

Best would be to obtain the pen tubes that come in 10" lengths, and cut them in half. This way you will end up with 5" pen blanks that you can trim to size.

The key is the mold. You can make molds from copper pipe and caps. Use the straight ones, not the coils. The 1/2" pipe makes blanks suitable for slimline pens.

You will also need a length of 1/4" allthread rod, and a few nuts to fit. The rod can be cut to about 8" lenghts. Some vaseline. Also, a thick board, such as 2x6 will come in handy.

Cut a piece of copper pipe to 5". Drill 1/4" holes in the caps, making sure they are well centered. Actually, a slightly smaller hole will fit the allthread better, it is a bit undersized.

Drill some 1/4" holes in the board, to hold the rods in a vertical position.

Now put a nut about 1" from the end of the rod, lubricate with some vaseline, and stick it into one of the holes in the board.

Lightly coat the inside surfaces of the caps and pipe with vaseline. Put one of the caps on the tube, and put in on the rod.

The pen tube needs to be clean and roughed up with sandpaper, just the way you would to make a wood pen. The outside needs to be dry and clean, make sure you don't get vaseline on it.

Now drop the pen tube on the rod. You got a mold with the tube in place!

Mix your casting acrylic. For swirls, you can color part of the mix, and swirl it into the clear compound. Then you pour it in the mold, and put the cap on!!

That is all, folks !!!

Glue a dowel into the finger holes.

Pete Lamberty

>This is the first time I have ever heard of someone getting blanks from a bowling ball. I literally just thought of this. Would it help to glue a thick dowel into one of the finger holes? Or if the dowel was pegged into a 3/4" piece of plywood and the ball glued to the peg you would have a flat surface to work with. Then maybe you could run it thru a saw. Hmmm.. Does this give you any ideas?

Hey Fred in NC!!

MountainMan

>Maybe you should take some pix of yours"Steps to Create an Acrylic Pen Blank" - put 'em in a little presentation - to be added to our documentation/report page!! That discription you gave is excellent!! Next time I get down to the "Big City" - I'll go to a hobby shop I know of - did you say there are places on the WEB where you can get the acrylic resin etc?

Thanks to everyone else too!! The question of how to cut up the bowling ball really spurred the imabinations fo several people!! Ha! Great Thread!!

Regards

The One and Only "MountainMan"