Air bubbles through acrylic

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Haynie

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I did my first resin blanks this weekend. Both of them show air bubbles from the epoxy through the blank. I reverse painted one and not the other. Both show it. I assume the paint did not hang onto the blank and was removed when I put the tube in. Both tubes were painted.

DO I need a thicker coat of paint? Both blanks were a serious tight fit after painting the tubes?
 
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renowb

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The tight fit probably rubbed the paint off. Try opening the hole up somewhat.
 

Haynie

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I used spray paint. Is paint on acrylic a better idea? I am not sure I like the idea of opening up the hole anymore.

On one of the pens I got some wicked good texture on the brass tube and I really like the look of the texture through the blank if you look close. How do I avoid the epoxy air bubbles so I don't have to paint the tube and I CAN see through the blank to the painted tube?
 
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ed4copies

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I used spray paint. Is paint on acrylic a better idea? I am not sure I like the idea of opening up the hole anymore.

On one of the pens I got some wicked good texture on the brass tube and I really like the look of the texture through the blank if you look close. How do I avoid the epoxy air bubbles so I don't have to paint the tube and I CAN see through the blank to the painted tube?

Cast your own blanks around the tube.
 

Leviblue

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If you are using 2 part epoxy to glue the tubes into the blanks, try tinting the epoxy slightly. Add a little color, the same as the reverse painting and the painted tubes, goes a long way.
 

Brooks803

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Also allow for the paint to cure properly. I wait 30mins between coats and sometimes apply 3 or more as needed. Some paints cover well some don't. After drilling the blank do a test fit with the tube. See how much room you have for paint, if you already have a tight fit you might want to open that hole a bit with sanding or a file.
 

BSea

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Also, how long did you let the final coat dry. Dry to the touch isn't fully cured. I usually wait at least overnight before gluing in the tubes. You can also speed up the paint curing by putting the painted blanks in a toaster oven for about 20 minutes at about 150. But I recommend the overnight method.
 

BSea

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I should have also pointed out that even fully cured paint is easy to scratch. even though I normally don't do this, you probably should also dress the ends of the tubes. This makes sure there are no burrs or anything sharp sticking out along the edge of the brass tubes. Bear tooth woods sells the tool. They may still have some of the slightly rusted ones really cheap. That's where I got mine. You can also just go over the ends with sand paper. But my guess is that the tubes were just too tight.

I've made a few sanding rods with dowels, and glued on wet/dry sandpaper to the dowels. This also can smooth some of the rough edges you may get from drilling the blanks. This also makes the blanks look better when using really clear blanks.
 

sbell111

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I've made a few sanding rods with dowels, and glued on wet/dry sandpaper to the dowels.
I prep all of my tubes by hitting them with a tiny sanding drum chucked into a dremel. This gets them good and rough to allow great glue adhesion. I slao use these prepped tubes as sanding rods with acrylic blanks. It works a treat and, since I always keep a supply of sanded tubes on hand, my 'sanding rod' is always available.
 
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