Disappointment?

[DCBluesman]

This blank is advertised as orange, black and white celluloid. The pictures are before and after. I'm a bit disappointed (this one won't become a pen). Is this normal for celluloid?

 

[PenWorks]

I don't know Lou, Different strokes for different folks [] I think that is one of the better ones he has. I sold two of those allready and wish I would have gotten more in that color. I really like it.[] There is a photo of one put together in my album. I take that back, it is the darker one simular to that. I must have sold it before I took the photo!

What I don't understand, is how they can evan come close to duplicating some resins. I cast my own PR resins this week, and I really like what I came up with. Even though I kept track of the recipe, it's all about the pattern and swirls right before it gells.

I am going to post them tomarrow. Put it together, I like it []

 

[Rudy Vey]

Depends on the thickness of the acrylic in the finished pen. Also, it is clearly visible that your brass tubes show through. For acrylics the brass tubes must be painted, in this case you should have painted them black. I use paint markers, sharpie markers or small spray cans from Rustoleum. There is a lot of info in regards to this over at the yahoo site.
Rudy

 

[DCBluesman]

Yes, Rudy. I thought about this when I was glueing in the tubes, but the celluloid was so dark and advertised as black that I skipped that step. The real question from me is does this happen to all celluloids. When I get a piece of wood down to blank size, I pretty well know what to expect when turned. With this blank, I was totally caught off-guard.

 

[Rudy Vey]

I do paint the tube for all my acrylics, regardless of color. Even the golden/orangy colored get a painted tube. Keep in mind the material is transparent, just colored, dyed, stained you name it - there are no pigments or not very much pigments involved that would avoid the showing through of the brass.
Rudy

 

[PenWorks]

I agree Lou, unless you have bought it before, some of these you have no clue what'a inside. I like the way the wood bin advertises his resins. Shows a picture of it half turned, at least you have an idea.

Rudy, I beg to differ with you. I don't see at all where the tubes show threw on this blank. There is a touch of yellow in this resin. Also, call me lazy or whatever, but I only feel the need to paint less than have of my tubes. Some resins there is no need to and on some, I like the look that the brass gives off under the right resins, if it is done right. Annthony

 

[RussFairfield]

Fact of life, Lou. Regardless of the colot or pattern, all plastic pen blanks can have some transparent spots in them. Some have more than others. Sometimes painting the tubes takes care of it and they look good, and sometimes it doesn't. There is no way to predict the finished pen barrels, and I get a lot of rejects when I use plastics. Maybe I am "plastic challenged".

 

[wayneis]

I have to side with Rudy on this one, I paint almost all of my acrylics and have almost no rejects. Personally I don't care to see the brass tubes, in my opinion it takes away from the blank. You have to keep in mind how thin any material ends up after we turn and sand. I've found several that diod not look transparent at all until they were turned. I have to say that when I did the orange one like Lou showed I was surprised but not unhappy. When I assembled it I was very happy with the looks.

My two cents,

Wayne

 

[PenWorks]

What a difference in monitors. I went to the shop to take some photos I posted and relooked at this blank. I can clearly see the tube has shown thru on the top blank and the pearl grey color has thinned. Looked real good on my home laptop last night!

Anthony

 

[elody21]

I use plastics a lot and I also turn polyester Avonite which also has the same problem. After drilling your blank use a good wood dye or shoe dye (not polish) in the color that you need. Use an ear swab to dye the inside of the BLANK not the tube. Because the drilling has roughed up the inside of the tube it will take the dye! You can put several coats and let dry depending on how you like the color. Check out pg 3 of my photos. 6 out of 7 of the half tubes have been dyed and 3 of the 4 pens are dyed inside. The aqua pen material is actually very pale. It is dyed with aqua shoe dye. The half yellow half orange half blank is actually whiteish clear Avonite! I always make my slimline a little larger than the bushings especially when doing plastics just to get more of the blank color. If I make them too thin and the blank is very transparent sometimes the CA glue will make an interesting design inside.

 

[jkirkb94]

Having done a few resins of various kinds, I find that part of the fun of doing them is seeing how they come out. I find variation even between the same kind of resin. I haven't painted the tubes but will do so in the future on some of the acrylics. I have had the tube show through on some of the more transparent ones. Most of my acrylics were done in European pens (7-8 mm) so very few have the brass show thru. Obviously the larger the drill bit the greater chance of transparency. Kirk[8D]

 

[jwoodwright]

I had good luck with Colored Epoxy. Just don't make a mistake. Stuff dries like a rock...[]