Wasted material

[graham murfin]

I'm looking for tips but theres no answer, I buy beautiful acrylic 3/4" square or similar, say you make a jr gentlemans its turned down to 1/2" dia we work in metric now in uk, jr gentlemans 13.3mm and 12.5mm
it goes so thin the colour waters out, you can see the brass below, with white or pearl it got yellow in it from the tube if you make it thicker you end up with a fat ugly pen.
Im thinking of leaving out the tube and glueing parts in ?? I wonder whether chrome plated tubes would be better.
What do you wiser fellas do ?

graham

 

[JimB]

I don't do acrylics but I know those that do paint the tubes for the reason you talk about.

 

[Mapster]

I don't know if I qualify as a wiser fella, but if you reverse paint the blank the same color as the blank before glueing in the tubes, and also paint the tubes, it looks much better. For example, a white pearl blank you paint the tube and the inside of the blank white and it will keep the blank looking white.

 

[Russianwolf]

two things.

1) As mentioned paint the tubes. black, white, or a color that enhances the balnk.

2) Source. Depending on the source, the blanks can have a little pigment or a lot of pigment. I've turned some that the shavings have as much color coming off the blank as the blank has at the beginning. Try several sources and find the ones that work best for you. (I really liked the pigment content of the ones I got from Exotics).

 

[alphageek]

I find that for many of my pens different tubes to help. I have found Chrome, Black Ti colored, and white tubes for some kits. I also "reverse paint" the inside of the blank for some as well.

In a lot of ways, the black Ti colored tubes work best for me for many blanks... But each acrylic is different... and a few are fine with just the brass.

 

[BSea]

2) Source. Depending on the source, the blanks can have a little pigment or a lot of pigment. I've turned some that the shavings have as much color coming off the blank as the blank has at the beginning. Try several sources and find the ones that work best for you. (I really liked the pigment content of the ones I got from Exotics).

That's part of it, but the pigments themselves have different levels of opaqueness (is that a word??). So it could be that the color of the blank also needs to be taken into account. I'm to the point that unless I know for sure that the blank is opaque, I reverse paint, and paint the tubes just to be on the safe side.

Another thing to be aware of is that there are several makers of blanks that use transparent resin for parts of the blank. Once you are comfortable with reverse painting, you can really add to the blank by reverse painting the blank a complementary color to the color of the blank. This way, you get some input as to the final look of the pen.

And one other tip. Add a small amount of paint to the epoxy. This will also help. And when you reverse paint, paint with light coats (notice the plural). Don't try to cover the inside of the blank with 1 thick coat. You'll more than likely scrape of some of the paint when inserting the tube.

And one last tip. Be sure to let your blanks dry completely before inserting the tubes (I usually wait overnight). Otherwise, you might scratch off the paint, and you won't know it until the blank is turned close to the final diameter.

 

[Haynie]

Reverse paint the blank and the tube.

Hey, alphgeek, where are you getting the different colored tubes?

 

[1080Wayne]

And a last , last tip . Make sure the hole is large enough to allow the tube to slip through freely before painting the inside of the blank . A few strokes with a rat tail file may be required .

 

[Frank Nemke sr]

I look in the hole after drilling and if I see any light coming through the sides I paint the blank and the tube