Why stop there?

[Rifleman1776]

After I made the jag tip from maple the left over wood was still in the chuck on my lathe. So, today, I figured "what the hey, I'll make a muzzle guard from it". So I did. Like the jag tip it is made from stabilized maple. Only took a few minutes and gave me some fun time on the lathe. Since I am doing the all natural thing, I made the rod and handle from genuine Delrin, fresh cut from the Delrin tree in my back yard. :wink:

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[hanshi]

I planted a couple of delrin seedlings in our yard recently. In a few years....WOW! :haha:

 

[Semisane]

I wish Delrin would grow down here in S.E. Louisiana. But our climate isn't suitable. I can get pretty good growth with Nylon shrubs, but they don't grow those long straight sections like a good Delrin tree.

 

[hanshi]

Delrin grows well in Va and seems to be a mountain species mostly. I've heard the sap is toxic? :idunno:

 

[DOUBLEDEUCE 1]

The really great thing about the Delrin is the grain is omni-directional, and yet no direction at all. Your Delrin appears to be of the ebonized variety. I have also seen a marble and ivorized varieties.

Good stuff to work with for sure. :thumbsup:
And your work looks great. :hatsoff:

 

[RC]

:hatsoff: pretty cool!..way different,,but still like the tip! like them conversation pieces at the shoots,,,(jus to see who's payin attention!) :haha: ,,keep it up! :wink:

 

[mhb]

The furniture industry still hasn't recovered from the extinction of the Nauga, and the modern synthetic naugahyde is just not the same - neither as beautiful nor as durable.
This should be a lesson for us all...
mhb - Mike

 

[Tumblernotch]

I'm still mourning the loss of the Bakelite bush. Seems it got the blight from the Polyethelene plant. Sure miss all those reddish colors. Every time I see a bag of Boston Baked Beans in the local Dollar General I have memories of Bakelite wood!

 

[gearheart]

Yeah the Nauga leather was finest kind, also the Borg fur. It came in so many cool colors. :haha:

 

[Woodbutcher]

I'll bet each one of you guys could discuss this matter perfectly straight faced, and completly combumphulate a sincere animal rights person. Downright admirable!
Woodbutcher

 

[Semisane]

I'm still mourning the loss of the Bakelite bush.

I agree the loss is a shame KanawhaRanger. But I don't care if I never see another Bakelite bush. In my teen years (a long time ago) I worked summers on a Bakelite plantation. I hated picking those miserable pods, bending over in the hot sun with that basket strapped to my chest and getting my hands stained brown. If you wiped the sweat with your hands you ended up with brown streaks on your face also. It didn't fade for months.

 

[bonron]

:wink: We won't let Delrin grow here in Northern Ohio. It's too good of cover for those pesky Naugas.

 

[ladysmithtrading]

The furniture industry still hasn't recovered from the extinction of the Nauga, and the modern synthetic naugahyde is just not the same - neither as beautiful nor as durable.
This should be a lesson for us all...
mhb - Mike

Not to worry Mike, with the invention of PLEATHER, the problem has been solved!

 

[mhb]

I'm shocked, shocked, that anyone could consider the Nauga 'pesky'. I still choke up when I remember the magnificent herds of wild Nauga grazing peacefully (sniff!). And I suspect that the destruction of much of their habitat, as you describe, was a significant factor in their extinction!
I'm old enough to recall the sad fate of the Patent (remember how the beauty of patent leather caused their fatal exploitation?).
And, mark my words, the Faux is bound to be next! The current craze for the seemingly endless range of faux products will surely doom them, as well.
I must, in honesty, admit that my own forebears are not blameless - my maternal grandfather (born in 1880) told me many times of how he and his associates would go at night to dynamite the roosting trees of the Passenger pigeon, killing entire flocks at once. He said they were delicious...
Oh, the humanity!
mhb - Mike

 

[ApprenticeBuilder]

So,

Just how durable is the wood once it has been thru the process ?

 

[Rifleman1776]

So,

Just how durable is the wood once it has been thru the process ?

Very-very durable. That is one of the main reasons for doing it at all.

 

[ApprenticeBuilder]

Interesting .... :hmm:

 

[Rifleman1776]

Just for the heck of it, I took the left over piece I had been turning out of the chuck and subjected it to a torture test. To reiterate, it is maple that has been stabilized. It started at 3/4" square by 6" long. I turned two small items from it and still had about 3" left which was half square and half cylindrical. I took it outside to my train track anvil and using a 2 lb. ball peen hammer gave it a bunch of really hard whacks. Except for the corners which rounded slightly, there is no evidence of any harm at all. This is really tough stuff. But, of course, seasoned maple alone is very durable.
No pic because there really isn't anything to show. If someone wants a longer discussion about stabilizing wood let me know and I'll put it in the non-ml forum.