Do you paint them all?

[keapople]

Well, I glued up 2 of the dalmation blanks from Bear Tooth which are white resin with black fleck in them...
I did not read on the site where it said to paint the tubes...but I should have tweaked that it had clear pieces in it.

well, since these were matching pens for our anniversary, I glued up both, turned one, only to find out that there is also CLEAR resin in there and you can clearly see the brass tube.

So do you guys just paint your tubes anyway wether it looks transparent or not?

Kirby

 

[fiferb]

I paint the tubes on all acrylics as well as the inside of the blank. That way, if the paint gets scratched off the tube as you insert it in the blank you should still have coverage from the inside of the blank. Also, you don't see the bubbles and glue when you paint the inside of the blank.

 

[Blind_Squirrel]

There are times that I WANT the brass to show to add a golden color. Other than that, I paint the inside of the blank and color my epoxy.

 

[Brewmeister35]

I paint the insides of the blanks and color the epoxy.

 

[ed4copies]

When in doubt, PAINT!!!

After a while, you have made MOST of the available blanks and have a pretty good idea which ones are opaque.

 

[LouisQC]

So to paint the inside of the blank, you do it with a Q-Tips? Wouldn't blackening the brass tube be a better solution? I'm afraid the paint would react with the glue.

 

[Blind_Squirrel]

Originally posted by LouisQC
<br />So to paint the inside of the blank, you do it with a Q-Tips? Wouldn't blackening the brass tube be a better solution? I'm afraid the paint would react with the glue.

I use a Q-tip to paint the inside of the blank. The problem I found with painting the tube is that you can still see the glue; sometimes you get air pockets in the glue.

As I said before, I use epoxy to glue in my blanks. I add a drop or two of the same paint that I use on the blanks. It has worked well so far for me. YMMV.

 

[Ligget]

I use nail varnish on tubes going into all acrylic blanks.

 

[keapople]

Oh I so hate Epoxy...but I am sure there are problems with painting the blank, and using CA to glue in...

I have some testors enamels I bought for this purpose, is that what most people are using?

Kirby

 

[mick]

I paint if in doubt....Ed I learnt good!!

I use CA on all my blanks and use acrylic craft paint(Anita's, Delta, FolkArt, etc...)for the tubes and the insides of my blanks. I've never had a problem with a reaction. Now that I've posted that I'm sure Murphy will take up residence under my work desk and I'll have a near nuclear reaction the next time I prep blanks []

<b>I have discovered that sometime you have to adjust your drill bit size if painting both tube and blank</b>!

 

[gerryr]

After I drill a blank, I hold it up to a 150w light bulb and look into the hole. I can see light coming through the side of the blank, I paint. If I can't but it's a pearlized blank I paint anyway.