fatchap Posted June 17, 2020 Report Share Posted June 17, 2020 Question I have possibly for the experts on here who steam shanks for walking sticks. Can you steam to flatten out a coconut shell? My wife has one in her hair dye kit, the inside is varnished or some sort of finish inside and the grain and patterns is amazing. I thought if there is a way to flatten it without it breaking, I know coconut shell is very brittle, I might be able to use it as a laminate on a slingshot or knife handle. Pretty cool eh? That would make a cracking laminate for a project, its just getting it flat. Forgive me if its a stupid ask, but there is probably someone on here knows how to do it. or the very least if it can be done. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Old farrier Posted June 17, 2020 Report Share Posted June 17, 2020 Tried a few times and gave up even soaked it for weeks in water and tried boiling it to no avail this was with new coconut shell have had more success with cows horns best of lock 👍 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnphilip Posted June 17, 2020 Report Share Posted June 17, 2020 Could you just have chose the goldfish in the plastic bag 😀😎 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
old'un Posted June 17, 2020 Report Share Posted June 17, 2020 Forget the idea, even if you were to soften it enough the shape does not lend itself to flattening, think it would still crack or the fibres would tear apart, I have seen flat coconut shell coasters but they were cut into small pieces and glued flat on a piece of wood, then sanded and varnished. If you still want to give it a go the only thing I can think of that would push enough heat and moisture into the shell would be a pressure cooker. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fatchap Posted June 17, 2020 Author Report Share Posted June 17, 2020 Cheers for the replies chaps, I think I will swerve it, Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Walker570 Posted June 17, 2020 Report Share Posted June 17, 2020 Yes, you would need to cut into 3/4 inch squares and glue to a substraight, then carefully sand down flat. Lot of work but may be worth a try and see what result you could get. Of course maybe that pattern is skin deep and would vanish. Pity. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ditchman Posted June 17, 2020 Report Share Posted June 17, 2020 i have an idea if you want to explore it further........... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gordon R Posted June 17, 2020 Report Share Posted June 17, 2020 Intrigued. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnphilip Posted June 17, 2020 Report Share Posted June 17, 2020 48 minutes ago, ditchman said: i have an idea if you want to explore it further........... Are you talking about his lovely bunch of coconut 😀 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ditchman Posted June 17, 2020 Report Share Posted June 17, 2020 what about...sanding your nuts down....inside and out side....then running them thro a bandsaw so you end up with cup shaped cresents.about 1/3" wide...then lay them flat in the order they were cut.......applys resin/glue and squeeze / clamp them together..........then sand flat when dry what say ye...... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
old'un Posted June 17, 2020 Report Share Posted June 17, 2020 I’ll be first….. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
welshwarrior Posted June 17, 2020 Report Share Posted June 17, 2020 1 hour ago, ditchman said: what about...sanding your nuts down....inside and out side....then running them thro a bandsaw so you end up with cup shaped cresents.about 1/3" wide...then lay them flat in the order they were cut.......applys resin/glue and squeeze / clamp them together..........then sand flat when dry what say ye...... That was my thoughts could look stunning maybe be a total failure but then that’s why it’s fun. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
old'un Posted June 17, 2020 Report Share Posted June 17, 2020 18 minutes ago, welshwarrior said: That was my thoughts could look stunning maybe be a total failure but then that’s why it’s fun. So how do you get the cup shaped crescents to lay flat without them braking/cracking? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
welshwarrior Posted June 17, 2020 Report Share Posted June 17, 2020 I was thinking end up wit’s a curved slab that can be squared up on a sander or saw flat then sanded smooth. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnphilip Posted June 17, 2020 Report Share Posted June 17, 2020 2 hours ago, ditchman said: what about...sanding your nuts down....inside and out side....then running them thro a bandsaw so you end up with cup shaped cresents.about 1/3" wide...then lay them flat in the order they were cut.......applys resin/glue and squeeze / clamp them together..........then sand flat when dry what say ye...... I think you have cracked it yes like Daff says could look very effective , simon I dont think you will get 50 pages of replies though 😀 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ditchman Posted June 17, 2020 Report Share Posted June 17, 2020 1 minute ago, johnphilip said: I think you have cracked it yes like Daff says could look very effective , simon I dont think you will get 50 pages of replies though 😀 THANK GOD Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fatchap Posted June 18, 2020 Author Report Share Posted June 18, 2020 Not so sure on the sanding my nuts down part Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnphilip Posted June 18, 2020 Report Share Posted June 18, 2020 2 hours ago, fatchap said: Not so sure on the sanding my nuts down part " he's got a shinny bunch of coconuts " Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.