What did you do in your shop today?

Lou Currier said:
@rocky1 do you color your moss before you cast it?
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Already dyed when I buy it Lou... Hobby Lobby in the floral section.

Runs $6-$7 a bag. Bag of single colors has a bunch in it. Mixed bag with the the long stringy stuff and multiple colors is a little short of some, but pick one of each single color and 2-3 bags of the mixed and you're good to go for awhile.
 
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Pictures of the call Stan turned up there really don't do it justice. Yeah it looks good in pictures, but there's a lot of subtleties going on in that call that just don't show in pictures.

The blanks all have an ultra fine black glitter in them, so when you turn them in the light you get little black sparkles popping. When it catches your attention, then you notice it's throughout the depth of the resin and they start jumping out at you more and more. Otherwise it just looks like little black specs till the light catches them. This batch I loaded some dark brown glitter with it as well. Should be more interesting yet.
 
rocky1 said:
Already dyed when I buy it Lou... Hobby Lobby in the floral section.

Runs $6-$7 a bag. Bag of single colors has a bunch in it. Mixed bag with the the long stringy stuff and multiple colors is a little short of some, but pick one of each single color and 2-3 bags of the mixed and you're good to go for awhile.
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Is that moss different than all the stuff hanging off your trees?:headscratch2:
 
Spinartist said:
Well... I do have an 86 year old :old: mostly blind guy come to my studio several days a week!!

The old switch was hard to turn off. We had to very firmly push the off button.
New one is just a quick :punish:and its off!!
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We should always make it as easy as we can on us old guys.:old::texas:
 
Most of it is what is commonly known as deer moss. Grows on the ground. Stringy stuff looks like stuff hanging off the trees, but on steroids. Some peat moss in it, some lichens like you'd find growing on a tree.

Single bagged stuff is all deer moss, dyed a variety of colors.
 
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@Lou Currier - Moss Collection

Haven't seen the two in the left column, I believe we have all the others here in our store. Have the Reindeer Moss in one other color, kind of a greyish/whitish color.

There is actually a WHOLE LOT of goodies that could be easily cast at Hobby Lobby. A lot of goodies in the dried flowers section, also have pine cones, Big ones, medium ones, little bitty ones off fir trees. Sea shells, in assorted sizes. They have an extensive line of little animals one might dissect with the bandsaw and cast in something also. There's just a lot of possibilities there, and I find more every time I walk around the store.
 
"They have an extensive line of little animals one might dissect with the bandsaw" See I told you @rocky1 is a mad scientist for sure.
 
I'm just thinking one of them miniature realistic looking little dinosaurs might look cool cast in a knife handle! They got some nifty looking little critters in there, many of them very lifelike for building landscapes. Whole aisle of that stuff, with more moss back there!!

http://www.hobbylobby.com/search/?q=dinosaurs:relevance&page=1
 
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@ripjack13 - pulled the two chunky blanks out the mold tonight. They look just like the others, rectangular and black, with a hole in the middle. However... the resin that seeped into the seems was transparent with little chunks of coal in it. Held the blanks up to the light, and there is a little transparency along the edges, but it appears the coal remained suspended in the resin like I had hoped, and all is good!

What they'll look like when you turn them to pen dimensions is still up in the air, but it could be interesting!
 
No, I didn't Lou. The powdered stuff won't be a problem, they'll be solid black, not concerned there at all. The resin on that stuff turned black with the finer dust.

The chunky blanks, we left the tube natural with hopes of a few odd spots of gold color popping through for contrast. Pretty sure there is enough chunks in it that it's going to be covered almost solid however. One article we found on it, suggested pouring the blank in that fashion, so we're experimenting with those two. Should have 6 blanks to play with total, which would give Marc enough for 12 pens if he wants to turn that many of them, if one or two don't work, we aren't out a lot. And, I have an excuse to pour more of them!

Stuff really is fun to pour, no fuss, mix it up, pour it, and walk off and leave it on the counter. These two came out black and shiny, and appear flawless, just like the others.
 
kweinert said:
No pictures yet as I need to find a red lighter. I know that for fine model building a blue lighter is the standard but fine models isn't what I do. And with the majority of my military time having been spent in the artillery red is a more suitable color :)
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Blueglass said:
I need to make one. I have everything I need to do it.
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Geez, @Kenbo makes real to life scale models and @Blueglass makes red lighters. Guess I should quit while I'm not too far behind :)
 
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