Cholla Cactus Kaleidoscope

I like using woods that surround us every day, but we often don’t realize how beautiful they really are. For the 2019 BKS expo in Arizona, I wanted to make a kaleidoscope from desert wood. What says the desert more than a cactus? I like this scope so much, that I've decided to keep it as a regular item. Each scope will be unique in its appearance.

The kaleidoscope features the wooden skeleton from the Cholla cactus which is encased in resin and then turned on a lathe. It has a liquid turning object chamber filled with objects representing the southwest, and comes with a display stand. 

Mirror systems can be 2 or 3 mirror, isosceles or right triangles.
Picture
Espío con mi pequeño ojo (I Spy with my Little Eye)

Cholla Cactus

The Cholla cactus is a desert succulent that contains an internal wooden “skeleton” and is perfect for a kaleidoscope. There are over 20 species of Cholla in northern Mexico and the Southwestern United States.  Some species of Cholla cactus are called the “Jumping Cactus” because its spines and limbs seem to jump at you when your boot or shoe comes close.

Their branches are weakly attached and may come off on passersby and their spines are very difficult and painful to remove. If an arm breaks off when there is sufficient water present, the arm will grow roots and become a new cactus.
​
The small holes seen in the skeleton are where clusters of needles originated, and the large holes are attachment points for the arms (branches).

How it's Made

There were many steps in preparing the cactus for use as a kaleidoscope. When the cactus dies, the skeleton will be a dark weathered gray color from exposure to the sun. Steps in making a kaleidoscope from the cactus included:
  • Cutting the arms into appropriate lengths,
  • Sanding the wood with a “bristle brush” sander to remove the external gray color
  • Slicing the cactus in half on a band saw to remove the inner pith (a.k.a. dirt)
  • Baking to ensure the cactus was “bone dry” because liquid in the wood affects the next step
  • Stabilizing the wood with “cactus juice™” in a vacuum chamber. A yellow dye was included in the stabilizing liquid to make the wood stand out more. This process basically replaces air in the pore spaces of the wood with the stabilization liquid.
  • Baking the cactus to activate the cactus juice. This solidifies the stabilization liquid in the pores. At this point the cactus is very dense and hard. I could probably use it as a hammer without damaging the wood.
  • Shaping the cactus with a band saw and belt sander so it would fit into a PVC pipe. This cactus was very curvy and took a lot of persuasion to fit into a straight pipe. Most pieces were originally larger than the mold it was going into.
  • Baking the cactus again to ensure all moisture was removed which would interfere with the next step.
  • Casting in a pressure pot (80 psi) inside a PVC pipe mold using a resin product called Alumilite. This creates a solid blank with the cactus inside. This process should eliminate most air in the casting resin, but because the Cholla has so many holes, there are going to be some small air bubbles present.
  • Turning the casting on a lathe to create the kaleidoscope body.
  • When the scope was bored for the mirrors, it left an unattractive semi-transparent surface, so it was painted green on the inside surface, hiding the mirrors. 

Southwestern Kaleidoscope Objects

Many of the objects in the kaleidoscope are based on things found in the southwest. Can you spy the following with your little eye?
  • Chili pepper
  • Feather
  • Lariat
  • Charms (2 of the following: buffalo, boot, snake, or cow skull)
  • Silver Rondel
  • Turquoise
  • Fool’s gold
  • Gold (hexagon) Nuggets
  • Copper Radiator Fins similar to a swamp cooler’s (early desert air conditioner still used today to add moisture to the air and thereby cooling the air)
  • Skull – for Day of the Dead
  • Dice – for Indian casinos