Making snakeskin blank/pen blanks

[Oakbear]

Hi all,

I've seen those snakeskin pen blanks which cost a ruddy fortune, but wondered about how to make them myself.
I have snakes at home, so shed skin turns up in large amounts every few weeks, which usually goes on the compost heap.

So i need some kind of resin right? And a method of forming the skin in a tube shape.... (I'm thinking that there may be a reason why these cost a bit...)

Any ideas or suggestions for a kit to use or method to do this?

Cheers!

 

[Stravides]

Think you have to put the snake in the freezer to make it rigid to fit across the bed of yer lathe...

Ok so its not but I could not resist.

 

[Haldane]

There is some info at this website

http://www.penmakersguild.com/articles/snakeskin.pdf

Hope it helps
Dave

 

[Oakbear]

I think getting them to sit still may be a challange.....

Anywayz, that link is brilliant thankyou! :lol:

 

[greggy]

hiya ryan, you cannot use the shed skins. what you do is kill the snake first, then cure the skin after it has been skinned.when you have done that
you wrap it around the tubes and cut to fit. then glue it to tube. bung the tube ends. and place in clear acrylic. once set turn as a normal acrylic blank. easy peasy. :lol: :lol: :lol:

 

[Oakbear]

Cheers for that, but i'm not planning on killing any of pets just yet!

I might have a go with the shed skin. The colour isn't as vivid and it's thinner, but if i catch it when it's still wet i reckon it's usable.
I'll post when i've had an experiment....

 

[hog&bodge]

Will be interested to see how you get on Oakbear..

 

[stevebuk]

Try painting the tube also Ryan before sticking the skin to it. Will it rattle.. :lol: