Something New ?

[David M]

This pen was made / applied on the tubes and it was not casted . Made with 4 colors , mica powder ( blue , white , yellow and green ) and 15 min auto epoxy.

David M

 

[mredburn]

How did you apply it?

 

[David M]

I start out with a white painted tube mounted and it turning at a low rpm. ( Home made jig to turn slower than lathe will go , skateboard weel and allthread rod and a o ring as drive belt ) Now I apply the material , 15 min expoxy that is mixed mica powders for color. I like to do white first as a base coat over the whit painted tubes( white over white ) . I have mixed 2 or 3 colors at the same time ( blue , green , yellow and the white. Now just randomly dab one color at a time on the blank, I dont put the expoxy on top of the other colors ( other than the white base coat ). You can stop the lathe and drag a small pointed object ( tooth pick or screwdriver ) thru the colors just to make patterns. Turn the lathe back on and let it spin. There is very few bubbles and sometimes you will get uneven ( high and low spots ) waves , both can be fixed with heat. I use a heat gun and warm it. The blank should be almost dry, now I apply a clear coat , like I did with the white on white base coat. With the same colors that used befor, I apply them over like colors ( blue over blue , yellow over yellow )with the lathe stopped. Drag your toothpick thru it again and turn the lath back on. The colors will get the swirl effect as it dries. The last is the finnish, clear coat of expoxy, apply only the clear and let dry. The blank will be smooth but not completly round. Mount and turn like you would normaly do , if it has low spots med ca works fine to build it up.

 

[mredburn]

Thank you for sharing your techniques it has a lot of possibilities. Does the epoxy you use have a tint to it even when its clear?

 

[David M]

In the container , it is two part one being tinted and one clear . It dries clear.
As for possibilties , you can control the direction of the colors ( have been doing some flame desigs ) and '' painting '' over decals .
David

 

[mikespenturningz]

Nice great idea..

 

[watch_art]

I wanna see some flame stuff. That sounds pretty cool.

 

[rizaydog]

Nice pen and great idea. American ingenuity at its finest...