decal question

[Rolland]

I read that decals are used on the pens, I checked in the library but did not see anything that pertained to applying them. the reason I ask is that my brother-in-law is a retired Air Force fighter pilot and thought it would be nice to make a pen with an AF logo or perhaps a F100, or F16 on it as that is what he drove.
Of course I would need to find the decals, it should be noted that I have not made any pens yet but have everything to get started. Its kinda like learning to swim holding an anvil.

 

[soligen]

Rolland,

I'm in the process of doing my first decal, so I just did this research

As you are new to pen turning (welcome!) here is what I recommend.

First, just make some pens. Get used to the process first. Use whatever finish you like - a friction finish is easy.

Once you have done a few and are comfortable with the process, learn to do a CA finish. There was just a thread started on CA finish, so I am sure many links will be posted.

After you can get a consistent high gloss finish with CA, then look into decals. You see, everything I found calls for CA to be used in the decal process, so learning the CA finish is a pre-requisite.

When you are ready to do a decal, do a search on this site and there are threads talking about it. Also Grub32 has a decal video series on youtube.

 

[les-smith]

Contact jp_white he can give you some info.

You can read more here: http://www.penturners.org/forum/showthread.php?t=43032

By the way he loves the Air Force. :airplane: :highfive:

 

[Dalecamino]

I read that decals are used on the pens, I checked in the library but did not see anything that pertained to applying them. the reason I ask is that my brother-in-law is a retired Air Force fighter pilot and thought it would be nice to make a pen with an AF logo or perhaps a F100, or F16 on it as that is what he drove.
Of course I would need to find the decals, it should be noted that I have not made any pens yet but have everything to get started. Its kinda like learning to swim holding an anvil.

Rolland, it's just my opinion and, for what it's worth, I think you're gonna need to turn some pens and, learn to put a CA finish on them. You need to have a CA finish when applying decals to pens. Even if it's an acrylic or PR blank, you'll still need to coat the decal for protection.

Another thought, is to turn a pen then have an engraver put the plane on it. Hope this helps.