Little different handle material for me

[Meridian Blades]

Something a little different in the way of handle material. Some cholla cactus skeletons that are cast in black and purple resin. Mind these are fresh from the "mold" (some tinfoil) hahahaha.......... so only a little rough sanding. Might be ice cream scoop handles......I dunno yet.

Should sand up real nice tho. Larry

 

[Rudy Joly]

Larry,
Whats the cross section like on those things ? I've seen choya being used for handles since the 80's but never checked one out up close.

Rudy

 

[Drew Riley]

Nice. Looking forward to seeing what you come up with!

 

[Meridian Blades]

Larry,
Whats the cross section like on those things ? I've seen choya being used for handles since the 80's but never checked one out up close.

Rudy

Hey Rudy,
It depends on the skeleton. On this last order I got half hollow and half smaller diameter semi solid core. The hollow ones you can fill with a dowel or whatever to save resin. These are pretty fat so Im leaning towards scoop handles with a collar. The outer walls are about 3/8ths on the hollow ones. The thinner ones could easily be used for blades I think tho. The texture is kinda stringy, but it acts like wood and will take dye. - Larry

 

[Meridian Blades]

Nice. Looking forward to seeing what you come up with!

Andrew,
This is my first time fooling around with these, and casting anything really. Sort of fun but the resin is spendy. The purple one is dyed epoxy. Thanks for lookin..Larry

 

[Tom Militano]

Where do you but that?

 

[Rudy Joly]

This is the only place I've seen it.

http://shop.arizonaironwood.com/Cholla-Cactus_c154.htm

Rudy

 

[Meridian Blades]

Where do you but that?

Tom / Rudy
I have a few friends in AZ that I buy ironwood from and the cholla / prickly pear skeletons. Prickly pear will be fun. Those I will be building a mold for in a 1 x 2 x 5 block and pour a translucent resin for those. That way you can see further into the block versus the solid colored resin.

Larry

 

[Patrice Lemée]

That looks great Larry, can't wait to see finished. Doest it need to be sealed?

PS: Typo in your website link

 

[Meridian Blades]

That looks great Larry, can't wait to see finished. Doest it need to be sealed?

PS: Typo in your website link

HAHAHA.......whats a Meridian baldy? Thanks for pointing that out. Honestly, just foolin around so who knows what I will end up with these cactus chunks. Larry

 

[Meridian Blades]

I think I turned this one down too far. Little bit of orange wood dye....

I dunno what do you guys think?

 

[Drew Riley]

I like it a lot! Looks like flames....

 

[Fred Rowe]

They are beauties. How are they to work. Soft Hard or what?

 

[Meridian Blades]

Hey Fred,
The skeleton is kind of hard and brittle, and the casting material is hard (alumilite). I need a little practice with the casting to keep from getting so many air pockets. I need lots of practice on a lot of things.......HAHAHA.

L