Darkening agent for brass tubes

[avbill]

Good Afternoon,

Problems with acrylic blanks again. I drilled out the blank for a baron pen kit. cleaned the inside of the blank. air pressure. I sanded the brass tubes and placed them into a brass darkening agent for 15 minutes. let dry over night. Used gorilla glue .and glued tubes into blank over night dried. Turned today. The green PR princess blank turned great. Went to 12,000 micro-mesh and took the blank outside in the sun light. I can see the brass tube now ! The brass tubes were thoroughly blacken.

My questions

Could gorilla glue eat through the the darken agent, exposing the brass. Inside the house you can see darker areas (the darkening agent) of the pen blank where the transcluence of the pen material is!

Any suggestions please.

 

[les-smith]

I don't use gorrilla glue so everything that follows may not help with your question. In my experience the darkening agent is a great product for the right kind of pen shape. If your pen will end up turning the material down really thin then the brass will still show through, especially when they are sanded. I think the sanding lines cause a contrast that is more easily seen even when they are darkened on the thin pens. I don't think the darkening agent is a gaurentee that the brass won't show through so painting them is always a good idea. Even with the darkened tubes if the material is really thin the darkness will have shade variations that may show through in some areas and not show through in other areas.

 

[ldb2000]

I have not used gorilla brand glue but if it's like other poly glues you might be seeing the glue not the tube .
When poly glue cures if there is enough room it foams and that foam is a light yellow or tan color so you might be seeing that .

 

[Randy_]

It is not clear to me from your comment whether what you are seeing in the sunlight is a black tube or a brass-colored tube or perhaps even the color of the glue rather than the tube.

You may not want to use a blackening agent at all if your blank is a light color. You might be better off painting the tube white or a color that closely approximates the color of the blank.

CSUSA has come out with a new product that is supposed to address this problem. Called Chameleon tubes, they come in black for darker colored acrylic blanks and nickel plated tubes for use with the lighter colored blanks.

Here is a link to their web site so you can read a little more about this product: http://tinyurl.com/ypbnff

 

[monkeynutz]

I was thinking the same thing as I read the OP. Gorilla glue is tan in color when it foams and cures. I'd bet that is the color you are seeing. As for tubes, Woodcraft is now selling tubes in several sizes that are your choice of bright chrome, "black" TI, or white.

 

[LanceD]

Your best bet for eliminating the brass tubes showing through whether you darkened them or not is to paint the inside of the blank. Paint them a lighter color for a brighter look or paint them a darker color for a darker shade of blank.