Epoxy Spinner

[techer]

The photos show a "spinner" I built to get a smooth,glossy,hard epoxy coating on my pen barrels. Basicly it rotates the barrel while the epoxy is drying. The 8" diameter disc holds up to eight barrels and is driven by a 9 RPM 110v ac gear motor. The motor is wired to jog, to get the barrel into a conveient position for coating, or for running during thre drying cycle.The barrels are mounted on 3/8"dia X 3" long nylon bolts that are turned down to slide into the brass tube. The bolts are mounted on the spinner disc. I use EnviroTex pour-on high gloss finish available at Michealsor ac More. Drying time can be 4-8 hrs depending on room temperature and humidity.

 

[DurocShark]

Sweet!

 

[ctubbs]

Way kool idea. Thanks for sharing.
Charles

 

[hehndc]

With this system, do you sand and polish after the epoxy cures? nice idea. Did you use a bbq rotissary motor?

Thanks.

Steve

 

[techer]

The epoxy leaves a hard,smooth,clear finish that does not need any further finishing. As a base for the epoxy I sand to 600 grit and then apply 1-2 coates of Mylards Sanding Sealer. The motor I used was purchased a few years back from American Science and Surplus. A bbq rotisserie motor should work just fine, but I would recommend one that works on ac rather than batteries since some epoxies require long drying cycles.

 

[Drstrangefart]

I am SO impressed and a little amused. Definitely cool. I get the feeling I could spend hours watching it turn and listening to background music from Mythbusters. They just seem to fit together well.

 

[Akula]

been using a setup like this for years...even use envirotex on fishing lures...no runs, no drips and no errors LOL

I have not used it on pens because there is little control (that I found) to get a pen without fitting issues. I care a lot on how the pen looks once completed and any over or under just don't work for me. I have tested on pens and the results were never the same for me. On the fishing lures, it's not that important, they usually get redone if used once a few toothy fish get ahold of them, most just go into a collection someplace.

 

[rsulli16]

what kind of epoxy do you use?
Sulli

 

[Jim Smith]

I use an epoxy spinner for building fishing rods and for when I put an epoxy head on flies, but I've never used epoxy on pens. I have a question for you. Your pens are in a non-concentric rotation, meaning they are on the outer edge of your wheel as opposed to spinning in the very center of the wheel. Therefor they are actually revolving rather than rotating. In that position, I would think that one of two things would happen. If they are locked in place, then the side facing down would alway be facing down, sort of like the dark side of the moon always facing away from the earth. In this position, the epoxy could very easily puddle on the bottom of the blank making the blank out of round. If your blanks are not locked in place and they spin freely, once the epoxy on the bottom of the blank was the heaviest and gravity takes over then the same thing would happen. When spinning a fishing rod, the rod spins on the center axis so that is is constantly rotating versus revolving. I'm not sure if I explained my question very well, but I was just wondering if you find that the epoxy is thicker on one side than the other three?

Jim Smith

 

[Phunky_2003]

I use an epoxy spinner for building fishing rods and for when I put an epoxy head on flies, but I've never used epoxy on pens. I have a question for you. Your pens are in a non-concentric rotation, meaning they are on the outer edge of your wheel as opposed to spinning in the very center of the wheel. Therefor they are actually revolving rather than rotating. In that position, I would think that one of two things would happen. If they are locked in place, then the side facing down would alway be facing down, sort of like the dark side of the moon always facing away from the earth. In this position, the epoxy could very easily puddle on the bottom of the blank making the blank out of round. If your blanks are not locked in place and they spin freely, once the epoxy on the bottom of the blank was the heaviest and gravity takes over then the same thing would happen. When spinning a fishing rod, the rod spins on the center axis so that is is constantly rotating versus revolving. I'm not sure if I explained my question very well, but I was just wondering if you find that the epoxy is thicker on one side than the other three?

Jim Smith

I can't comment on his, it's kind of hard to see, but it may be like mine. I have a similar spinner I made from an electric rotisserie. I made inserts that fit snugly into the tubes and snugly on the spinner. This keeps them rotating so the blanks dry evenly.

 

[DurocShark]

Jim, I see what you're saying. Unless the individual barrels are rotating separately from the big wheel, you can get a heavy side.

Perhaps the slow speed of the wheel makes this a non-issue? If the barrels are firmly attached, and the spinner is VERY slow, the epoxy just flows out. No centrifugal force involved, only Earth's gravity which will keep pulling the high spot of the epoxy around and around...

 

[techer]

EnviroTex Lite High Gloss Finish

 

[techer]

The barrels are fixed in place. If you follow a spot on the barrel as it rotates on the spinner you will observe the spot to rotate 360 degrees. Measurements around a plane accross the barrel show the diameter does not vary more than a few mils.

 

[airborne_r6]

... If they are locked in place, then the side facing down would alway be facing down, ...

This is 100% wrong.

 

[KenV]

If they are fixed, the bottom at 3 O'clock will be the Top at 9 O'Clock.