Tie-Dyed Pens!

[Skie_M]

Was trying to go for Alabaster or colored Marble, but I used too much color...

My 4 slimline blanks, rolled and ready to bake .... top left is the blue that I mixed up with silver, top right is the red that I mixed up with gold, top center is the leftover slab of polyclay from this experiment.

First pen completed, it was made from the 2 blanks on the left.

Second pen completed, it was made from the 2 blanks to the right.

Another view of the second pen, showing the other side.


I'll have to tone it down a bit and try again.

 

[builtbybill]

I think they look pretty cool, might be trying that.

 

[Skie_M]

What I wish I could show is a very close up detail, because the gold and silver glitter that I mixed into the red and blue is very pretty in the light ...

 

[liljohn1368]

Those look great...

 

[Skie_M]

I'll write up a better tutorial later for how to achieve similar effects ....

First, I mixed a full pack of blue fimo with half a pack of silver premo (both different brands of polyclay) I mixed them till their color consistency was even and the clay would readily fold without crumbling or cracking.

Next, I mixed a full pack of red fimo with half a pack of gold premo, and I mixed them the same way. I use a "pasta machine" roller. I run the clay through, take the resulting mess and squish it back together, and run it through again and again till it stops falling apart and is a nice consistency.

These would be the packs at top left and top right. You can see that they're rolled pretty thin in the end. This was to guarantee my color consistency.

Next, I took a full pack of premo white (opaque) and mixed it with half a pack of Sculpey III (4 ounces of an 8 ounce pack, a MUCH bigger bar) Translucent color. This one took a little longer to mix together, as I was mixing 3 times more clay with this pack ... this one is the "base color" for my stone look.


Notice, I haven't mixed any of these three together yet .... I keep them separate so that I can control my mix of colors.


I took perhaps a ounce and a half and 3 square inches each of red and blue ... I rolled the white/translucent out very thin and cut the red and blue into small strips. I laid the strips across my base color and then folded them inside (lengthwise, to keep my color strips mostly segregated), and rolled them on the #1 setting (thinnest). When it came out, I folded it into a 3-layer pile and rolled it again. The results of that are what you see in the top center of the first pic... that's the left overs from rolling the 4 pen blanks.



Rolling was quite simple. I took 2 slimline tubes at a time and rolled them on top a singe layer of the clay mix, gently peeling the clay off the work table as I went to wrap it around the tube. The ones on the left ended up being pretty much just a single wrap round. This turned out to be not quite enough, as my finished pen has a tiny spot where my fingerprint didn't get turned or sanded away. The ones on the right got about 2 and a half layers...

It's not enough to just roll them on there, you have to pinch gently, and press, and pull .... rolling it would press the clay between the tube and the table, expanding the clay and making it too big for the tube, so keep any rolling MINIMAL, and just to even out the surface of the clay.


I set up a baking tray .... just a small rectangular aluminum tray with 2 skewers going through from short side to short side ... The skewers kept my blanks off the table and protected them from direct heat.


I figure my toaster oven doesn't actually keep foods as hot as a real oven would, so I set the timer to 50 minutes, and the temp to about 280 degrees F (around 145 C ).

Once finished, I let them cool for an hour, so that they were cool to the touch (just kidding, I took a nap! ). Then I trued up the blanks to the tubes (sanding belt, gentle touches ... the PC disappears fast even with 100 grit!). I reamed my brass tubes and got my mandrel out .... yes, I was gonna turn these babies!



Turning was mostly uneventful, except for the heart attack I had when I had a blowout. My first pen barrel blowout .... I have a pic somewhere.. *hits pause*

Ok, found it ...

I superglued the piece that flew out (you can see it resting to the left on top the barrel) ... I was about to glue it back in when I realized ... "hey, I should take a pic!" and left it just like that.

This is to illustrate the fact that these pen blanks are NOT GLUED TO THE TUBES. Turn it very very gently ... this stuff is ultra-light-weight ... it's like turning balsa wood!

It also gums up your sandpaper like nobody's business. I sanded 220 grit dry, then 500 dry, and then said, "Hmm ... I wonder if the texture would look more like stone if I just rough finished it now?" So, the first pen only went to 500 grit, got wiped down with rubbing alcohol, and then got 2 coats of CA. After that, 2 applications of PlastX and off the lathe it came. (Yes ... NO finish sanding at all...) The results were decently nice. The exterior of the pen barrels shows some slightly uneven texture, which is what I wanted to see. I want people to pick this thing up and think, "Hey ... is this stone? It couldn't be, it's way too light, but it looks like stone!"

The second pen got the more royal treatment .... sanded dry to 1000 grit, then given 9 coats of CA, wet-sanded from 1000 up through 12,000 micromesh, plus PlastX and Turtle Wax. It's a gorgeous lil pen. Between the two, I do like this one's appearance better.

 

[ironman123]

Yep, tie-dye.

 

[vakmere]

I am using Primo and Fimo. The possibilities are many with what you can make with PC. To reduce blowouts I roll out a very thin sheet of the color(s) I'm using on the tube (smallest pasta setting) and wrap it around the tube first, the other material will stick to that layer better. I also use the bushings with tube on the mandrel as a guide to the depth of the clay. I try not to be so thick to minimize turning and fracturing. Gentle rolling on the tube will help minimize air pockets. Use a 1/4-20 x 6" bolt to slide the tube and clay on and keep it off the the baking tray with 1/4-20 fender washers on either end of the bolt. Helps keep the blank rounder. I did a Stratus 3/8" tube with its bushings. When I'm happy with the profile I'll sand out the radial lines with 800 then 1000 grit, use 4 coats of thin CA to start then 10 to 12 of Medium CA. Wet sand thru all the MM grits then plastic polish.
The results are very good. A small investment for materials and spending time rolling and making canes and swirls, even making mistakes, sometimes yields some surprises. Your pens turned out well. Use a better camera if you can and really show off your work. Do some more and post them.

 

[Skie_M]

I used slimline tubes .... not really enough "meat" on the bones there for a base layer.


I will say that the material turned extremely easily .... probably easier than balsa wood would turn... but getting it to even out with the sanding was tough due to how fast it loaded the paper.

If I had used a larger tube, then I might have been able to get away with using a base coat, turned it round after baking, and then applied whatever designs I desired to the outside where it would show in the final reveal.

I'll start working on canes soon ... for now, I still need to work on obtaining the colors I want, figuring out what temps I need to bake at, and for how long, what kind of clay mix I like working with best, and getting the design I want out of my clay...

Right now, I want people to pick up one of these pens and say, "Whoa ... I thought that was stone!"

I'll see what I can do about the camera situation. It's a 2 Mpix camera on my pad .... my only camera, for now.


I will probably also put this experimentation on hold, as I work on turning the real deal ... My alabaster will get here on Monday.

 

[vakmere]

I hear you on the slim lines. You're right not much room to work with. However doing it on the mandrel Will help keep the end of the tubes open a little more. I have a little trick that I use to send those down. I want to try to make a video maybe I can share it with every body. But keep up the good work this is a lot of fun working with this stuff.