Tube blackening

[ldimick]

Thanks to Jay Pickens for his fine article on blackening tubes.

I recently bought a few cellulose blanks from CSUA. Upon receiving them I saw that they were a bit too opaque to really turn without treating the tubes. Yesterday I got some stuff in form Pipemakers.org and tose are darned near transparent.

So I read Jay's article. Of course, since the weekend is here, and I want to turn pens NOW, I didn't want to wait for the BLACKEN-IT to be shipped to me. So I did a google search and found that model train enthusiasts use this stuff all of the time. So this morning I made a quick stop at my lobby model/rocket/"spend too much money at" store and bought the BLACKEN-IT.

So check your local hobby store under train supplies.

 

[Rifleman1776]

Try black paint.

 

[Mikey]

If you use paint, paint the inside of the resin/acrylic instead of the tubes. the product won't have that "wet look" from the CA or epoxy showing through as it would if just doing the tubes.

 

[ldimick]

I tried paint on the inside of the blank. When I slide the tube in the CA pulled the paint off the blank when I was squaring the blank. So I figure I am using the wrong paint. Go figure acrylic paint for acrylic blanks. []

My next thought was to use 5 minute epoxy with some pigment but that just seems like a mess waiting to happen.

Now I'll try blacken-it when I get home tonight.

Better get some wax to plug the ends.

 

[Rifleman1776]

Originally posted by Mikey
<br />If you use paint, paint the inside of the resin/acrylic instead of the tubes. the product won't have that "wet look" from the CA or epoxy showing through as it would if just doing the tubes.

A friend, who got me started in penturning, only did acrylics in white swirly/clear. He painted his tubes the desired color. You could not tell the blank wasn't colored. Very effective technique.

 

[ldimick]

What kind of paint did he use? Was it Krylon spray? And he sprayed directly on the tubes? What did he use to glue them in?

 

[Mikey]

I realized that after I turned a few pens using Ed's EPR. I got wet spots from where the CA or epoxy had adhered. There really is no way for sure to have the entire surface covered since you are sliding the blank inside. The next try I used the CS celluloid and sprayed in some model paint with my airbrush, then let dry overnight. The result was very nice and you cannot tell there is a tube inside. In fact, i used pearl, so where the blank is translucent, it shimmers.

 

[Rifleman1776]

Originally posted by ldimick
<br />What kind of paint did he use? Was it Krylon spray? And he sprayed directly on the tubes? What did he use to glue them in?

He said acrylics just brushed on. I don't know about his glues, never asked.

 

[TexasJohn]

I have been wondering about this. If you paint inside of the blank, and paint the outside of the tube, when you glue the tube into the blank are you not gluing to glue? You are not gluing to the tube or the wood (if the blank is wood), you are applying the epoxt (or whatever) to the painted surface.???? The first question should have read "...are you not gluing to paint?"

 

[ldimick]

That was the exact reason I had problems. Glue to paint.

But the BLACKEN-IT looks like it will work for me. It actually roughens up the surface of the tube.

But the advantage of paint is that you can get better colors under the acrylic.