How-to: Peel a Bowling pin...

So a buddy of mine is an avid bowler. He even has a part time job doing maintenance at a local alley... He brought me a dozen pins the other day and I'm not exactly sure what to do with them, but I'm a wood turner and I loves me some free wood!!!

Upon my first close examination of these, I realized they are coated in plastic. Very thick and SHARP plastic...

The first thing I did was try to "turn the coating off with my lathe. no way that is happening... do not attempt this.. The plastic is too soft and flexible.. The tools dig right into it and stall the machine (if your lucky)....
I did however find a way to get it done... Note also: this will potentially scratch and gouge the wood. so be careful...

take time for safety: you are working with sharp tools and sharp plastic along with hammers. wear your proper safety equipment and do not attempt this without  safety glasses at the very least. also keep in mind the sharp point of your chisel. do not point it toward you or anybody else.

Step 1: Gather your tools...

Tools I used are as follows
Skew chisel
hammer
screwdriver (not pictured)
pliers
vice
safety glasses
gloves

Comments

[mdlmusic]

For those of you who wanted a bowling pin project...

I do a one-man-German-band act and one of the songs I perform is "Grab Yer Balls We're Going Bowling." I needed a novelty prop for the act so I bought a beat up bowling pin from the local alley for $2, used a large drill bit to hollow out a piece of the bottom, drilled a few smaller holes at an angle into the larger hole, then inserted the small end of a kazoo into the large hole.

Voila! A bowling pin kazoo!

[Ghost Tracker]

I have an idea! I was forced to peel bowling pins myself before I joined-up with this merry band of imagineers. I'm not a wood turner but more a carver. The minute I first viewed all the plastic shucked-off a naked rock maple bowling pin I clearly saw an interesting piece of folk art. I started by flattening two of its sides. Then added a 1/4" thick piece of oval shaped lexan mounted in a slot. Oversized hardware, a pair of taxidermy eyes, carved scales, green luminescent paint & two of the BIGGEST treble hooks ever made complete a cool 18" long scale replica of a Rapala fishing lure. It now hangs on the patio wall at my little sister's lake house. It starts a LOT of conversation & makes for a WHOPPER of a Fish Story. My Bro-in-law LOVES it!

[Retanotech]

I would like to see an instruct-able of that.

[Retanotech]

I have 2 cases of bowling pins i need some projects to make with my students.

[BLUEBLOBS2]

Very interesting...
-BLUEBLOBS2

[vistal]

Couldnt you use a soldering iron to melt the pvc? then just lightly sand the wood to remove scorch marks?

[shantinath1000]

with just a little lathe work you could make some fantastic indian clubs for exercise!

[CementTruck]

Hey, check this one out. You already have the general shape, you would just need to hollow out the insides to make wooden teardrop/pendant lights.

http://www.instructables.com/id/Lumitourni-lamp-Sculptural-and-dangerous-wood-t/

I wouldn't cut the holes on the sides, instead I would drill holes in the bowling pin that would make pinhole patterns of light on the wall. i.e the Big and Little Dipper et al. Very 1960's kitsch.

[CementTruck]

You can make carving mallets or funky duck decoys (cut neck at 45 deg angle and re glue at opposing angle).

[SlickSqueegie]

awesome idea with the duck.... and I already have it back on the lathe to become a mallet. :))

[CementTruck]

I've been looking for a defunct Bowling Alley to see if I could liberate some of the old wood lanes. Those would make great counter tops/table tops after a good sanding. Does your buddy have a bead on any old lanes? From the looks of things I'm about an hour away from you.

[mrmath]

Maybe it's the bowl in the background of the final picture, but I thought it kind of looked like a giant pestle.

[xrobevansx]

you could make some killer salt and pepper grinders!

[caitlinsdad]

Could you try to blast it with a heat gun to soften up the plastic to cut easier, not sure what specific material that layer is. At least you've got a bunch of wood mallets to use with chisels for sculpting or carving.