The Hyperspace Cactus!

Watch until the end! I did something extra special for the glamor shots!

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I have had this piece of cholla cactus kicking around my shop for literal years, just waiting for the right opportunity to screw it up and disappoint a good chunk of people with a tacky neon idea.

(1) For starters, the whole glow-in-the-dark concept is one I have tried before, but I had never to the extent that I did in this video. The main feature of the cholla cactus has to be its many uniform voids and open, almost lace-like, grain structure. In order to highlight those features, my strategy was to create an inverse effect, which was to fill the voids with layer upon layer of varying colored glow-in-the-dark pigments. In total darkness, the charged pigments impart shape and color to the voids, and the wood becomes invisible. Under UV/blacklight, the effect is slightly muted, though still very striking. However, under normal light the effect is a bit different, since the vibrant neon colors overpower the wood texture and draw the eye in a million directions. If nothing else, this piece was an exercise to explore whether more is more or if, in fact, less is more. In spite of my best efforts to prove the contrary, I am always left with undeniable evidence that more is, in fact, too much, and less, maybe, is just enough.

(2) As for the elephant in the room, the question (or rather accusation) I am usually faced with, let me address the wanton and indiscriminate wastage of epoxy. To the casual observer, it looks like I put a tiny log into a giant bucket of epoxy only to turn down all that epoxy into the shape of that tiny log. However, it's not that simple. My number one rule is that the wood will always take preference over epoxy, and, as there were some fairly tight tolerances with getting the glow pigments to sit as close as possible to the surface of the finished piece, I needed to maintain the exact center of the wood. This meant that I needed to keep the faceplate on the piece and not remove it for the resin casting step. In so doing, the mold needed to hold excess resin so that as shrinking occurred during the curing process there would be a sufficient reservoir of resin to pull from. As you might have noticed, the level of resin dropped nearly the entire length of the waste block, about 1.5 inches, which roughly translates to 3/4 of a liter of epoxy that soaked into the wood. But there was no way to anticipate exactly how much resin would be absorbed, so I decided to play it safe, for the sake of the wood/cactus. I have learned the hard way not to make molds too efficient, since very thirsty wood will pull in more resin than can fit comfortably in a tight mold.

Thanks for watching this video! You are the bedazzled neon colors that fill the ever-widening void of this channel. If you want to support what I do, please check out my website, where I am taking by the horns the bull that is "influencer" status and developing merch like tshirts, hoodies, hats, mugs and more, which will allows you to get something of use in return for your support. If you're hoping to spend more, you can also find a wide selection of my turned pieces. If you'd like to support me on Patreon, let me know because I am seriously considering getting that up and running.

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Big thanks to ‪@TotalBoat‬ for providing the epoxies/resins used in this video. Without their support and amazingly versatile products, pieces like this simply don't happen.

Also thanks to ‪@StarbondAdhesives‬ for supplying the CA glue used in this video:

Starbond Black CA Glue: https://amzn.to/45YZwRe
Starbond Activator: https://amzn.to/3v9r8Ca
Use Discount Code ADAMSEN15 for 15% all Starbond products on their website: https://bit.ly/3hf4oJO

Music:
https://www.epidemicsound.com/referra...

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AMAZON REFERRAL LINKS TO PRODUCTS I USE:

TotalBoat Penetrating Epoxy: https://amzn.to/3zr1MSH
Carter & Son 5/8" Bowl Gouge: https://amzn.to/2G5YV5g
Crown Diamond Parting Tool: https://amzn.to/2NIqsOj
Easy Wood Tools Carbide Cutter: https://amzn.to/3z6E6Db
Easy Wood Tools Carbide Cutter: https://amzn.to/3yH6JVN
Makita Angle Drill for sanding: https://amzn.to/4cYdtRK
3 Inch Sanding Disks: https://amzn.to/3zFhzQz
3 Inch Sanding Drill Attachment: https://amzn.to/4bEgVQn