Process of producing cactus jewelry

The process comprises cutting suitable lengths of wood from the trunk and stems of dead plants of the Chola Cactus which have bark surrounding the lengths and pith in the hollows thereof. The bark and pith are removed from the lengths to leave clean wood. The lengths of clean wood are encapsulated with metal or plastic chosen from the group of metals consisting of silver, copper, brass and the like and from thermosetting and thermoplastic plastics by placing the lengths of wood in a mold somewhat larger in diameter than the pieces of wood to be encapsulated so as to provide a layer of the encapsulating material surrounding the length of wood. Disks about 1/8 inch thick may be cut transversely from the encapsulated lengths of wood to form jewelry items. Matched earrings may be produced by cutting two disks along a common transverse plane, securing means to the opposite sides of the disks for fastening them to the lobe of a person's ear. Another embodiment of this process comprises removing wood from the center of a length of the wood so as to form a cylinder which may have an internal diameter suitable for a finger ring or for an arm bracelet when transverse lengths are cut therefrom. The wood in this embodiment may be encapsulated before or after being cut from the length of wood. The mold used for encapsulating cylinders must have a core tube spaced from the outer tube far enough to provide space for covering the inner and outer surfaces of the cylinder of wood as well as to encapsulate it.

The present invention relates to the process of producing cactus jewelry, 
by which is meant jewelry in which a length of a trunk or stem of the 
Chola Cactus which has been freed of bark and material other than the wood 
thereof (pith), is encapsulated in a mold with metal, such as silver, 
brass, copper, and the like, or with resins, such as those which 
polymerize at ambient temperature or which are thermoplastic. These 
encapsulated pieces are then cut transversely into relatively thin disks, 
e.g., about 1/8 thick, which may be smoothed and/or polished, e.g., with 
very fine sandpaper, and optionally stained and/or coated with lacquer and 
the like to give the disks a polished appearance. The wood may remain in 
the jewelry disks or be removed, if desired, leaving a disk with holes in 
it where the wood had been. 
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
Inlaid plastic articles have been proposed for various non-jewelry 
purposes. Among these prior proposals are inlaid tags in the Murray U.S. 
Patent No. 2,586,978, granted Feb. 26, 1952, decorative panels in the 
Schmitz U.S. Pat. No. 3,700,533, granted Oct. 24, 1973, wooden floor 
panels in Blackburn U.S. Pat. No. 3,905,172, granted Sep. 16, 1975, and 
decorative trays in Ostermann U.S. Pat. No. 4,686,251, granted Aug. 11, 
1987. These proposals are remote from the present invention and would not 
lead an ordinary skilled worker to the product of the present invention. 
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
The process of the present invention comprises encapsulating suitable 
lengths of the trunk and/or stems of chola cactus with metal, such as 
silver, copper, brass, and the like, or plastic, such as thermoplastic or 
thermal setting material, and cutting thin (e.g., about 1/8 inch) disks 
transversely therefrom. The disks may be used as earrings, necklaces, 
pendants, hair clips, key rings, tie tacks, and the like. Earrings may be 
made from a pair of disks having identical but unique designs on one face 
which have been cut from one position on a length of the wood, e.g., 
earrings, having the ear clip secured to the opposed faces so that the 
identical faces are displayed when the earrings are attached to a person's 
ears.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS OF THE INVENTION 
The process of the invention comprises preparing wood from the dead trunk 
and/or stems of the chola cactus plants from which bark and other material 
(pith) have been removed from the wood. The pieces of trunk and stem, when 
cut to suitable length and have bark, pith and the like removed, are clean 
wood (3) ready for encapsulation which may be done by placing one or more 
lengths of the prepared wood in a mold, pouring liquid encapsulating 
material such as metal and plastics into the mold to fill all the voids in 
the wood and permitting the material to set. Each encapsulated length is 
removed from the mold, disks are cut transversely therefrom and finished 
to make the desired article. 
Each length of cactus wood is unique. No two lengths are ever the same. 
Moreover, no two disks cuts from an encapsulated length of the wood are 
the same although the two adjacent faces of two disks formed by the same 
cut are almost identical. This peculiarity of the disks of the invention 
can be of special interest and value in making jewelry from the disks. For 
example, by using the identical faces as the faces to be seen in earrings, 
i.e., by putting the pins or clasps on the opposite surfaces, matched but 
unique earrings for the two ears are achieved. 
Referring now to FIG. 1 of the drawing which represents a dead plant 
typical of the chola cactus family comprising a trunk and branches but no 
roots. The roots do not have the desired structure and for this reason are 
not shown in the drawing. The trunk and branches include wood of the type 
illustrated in FIG. 2 which comprises longitudinal segments 14 of the 
circular branch or stem which are joined at 15 for short distances to 
adjacent segments on their lateral surfaces, which leaves voids 13 between 
the joined parts. As cut from a dead plant, the section of wood is covered 
by bark and pith fills the voids. The pith and bark must be removed in any 
suitable way to prepare the wood for the encapsulation operation, as seen 
in FIG. 2. 
Referring now to FIG. 3, the encapsulation operation comprises placing one 
or more lengths, three lengths being illustrated, in a suitable mold 14, 
preferably of cylindrical configuration, having an internal diameter 
somewhat larger than the outside diameter of the pieces of cactus wood to 
be encapsulated in the mold. Casting 7 is removed from mold 4. Disc 5 is 
cut from casting 7. Disc 10 has voids 11 where the wood has been removed. 
It may be filled with a contrasting material such as stone, plastic or 
glass. The mold is closed at the bottom by a plug 9. It may be made of any 
suitable metal or plastic material from which the encapsulated lengths may 
be removed, or, if desired, the mold may become part of the article. The 
bottom length of wood is properly centered on the plug 9 when it is 
inserted into the mold, upper lengths of wood are properly aligned with 
each other and a stick 20 suitably secured to the upper end of the upper 
wood piece holds the stack of wood sections properly centered in the mold. 
A container 2 filled with encapsulating material 8 may be used to fill the 
mold with encapsulating material. 
The encapsulating material may be a plastic having liquid phases above its 
melting point and solid phases below it. It is liquified for the 
encapsulating operation and solidified thereafter to form the length of 
encapsulated wood from which disks are cut. The melting point of such 
plastic is lower than the charring point for the wood so that the wood may 
remain in the finished articles. If desired, this wood may be stained to 
give an attractive appearance to the pieces of jewelry. Where a metal is 
used as the encapsulating material, the melting point will usually be 
above this charring temperature so that when it is cast around the wood it 
chars but retains its identity to impart to the cast metal the pattern of 
its longitudinal strands. After disks are cut from such an encapsulated 
length of wood, the wood is removed so that the disk retains the pattern 
of the wood but has holes where the wood was. If desired, the wood may be 
removed from the plastic disks by inserting them in a solvent for the wood 
which does not attack the plastic. 
If desired, the center part of a length of wood is removed to make 
cylinders for bracelets or rings. The center portion may be removed from 
the pieces of wood before or after encapsulating. If done before, then a 
core for the mold is necessary to form a cylindrical chamber to hold 
cylindrical lengths of wood. The core must have a lesser radius than the 
radial distance between the center and the inner surface of the length of 
wood so as to encapsulate the wood and provide a layer of encapsulating 
material around the outer and inner surfaces of the cylindrical section of 
wood. 
FIG. 4 illustrates how the encapsulated material may be cut into the 
transverse disks 5 by a reciprocating saw blade 6. 
The saw cut leaves the surface of the disk rough. Generally speaking, the 
jewelry of the invention preferably has a smooth surface, and a suitable 
device for imparting a smooth surface to the disks such as a sanding belt 
running over pulleys with the upper reach supported by a platform above 
which the disks are pressed against the moving belt. 
After the disk has been smoothed it may be covered with a thin coating of 
transparent plastic, e.g., by leaving it on the belt and spraying it with 
the plastic from a suitable container connected by a hose to a source (not 
shown) of gas under pressure. Alternatively the disks may be placed in 
shallow molds in a belt, and the plastic may be poured into the molds from 
a container. Alternatively, the disks may be coated by immersing them in a 
melt of the plastic in an electrically heated pot and then placing them on 
a rotating disk for curing and cooling. 
The disks 5, as thus treated, may be converted in desired articles of 
jewelry. 
Although the invention has been described and illustrated by reference to 
specific embodiments, it will be understood by those skilled in the art 
that many modifications, variations and adaptations may be made in the 
process disclosed without departing from the spirit of the invention and 
the scope of the claims.