Sunday movie!! Late and LONG!!

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ed4copies

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Yes "Reverse Painting" turned into a marathon!!

Eight pen blanks were turned and the vid started out at nearly a half hour. The main reason it got so late was "drying time" Saturday early afternoon the "painting" section was "shot". But the paint had to dry before inserting tubes. So, Sunday early afternoon was tube insertion.

The building is not warm, so the paint was not thoroughly dry. So, I used epoxy to put in the tubes.

Well, YouTube says its ready!!

reverse paint an acrylic pen blank - YouTube

Hope it was worth the wait!!

Ed
 
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ed4copies

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To finish the saga, the epoxy also did not dry completely.

So, two of the blanks had the tube "slip out" while I was turning them. I now know another cause of "out of round" pens. When the tube started slipping, the blank had a noticable wobble. Both bushings were turning true. It took until I was taking the pen off the lathe, when I realized the tube was slipping.

New education---never had that happen before.
 

Teeball

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Great video Ed , this is exactly what we need to see. Being a beginner in pen turning I am soaking up the experience you have shared. Thank you :highfive:
 

edstreet

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No longer confused....
Few things of note worthy :)

Why use primer inside the hole when you can put it on the tube?

Crackle paint?

Mix paint with GAP FILLING poxy?

Colored epoxy.
 

Ambidex

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vid

Liked the video Ed...was kind of surprised at how different the colors made the finished blanks appear. I've only used black and white to paint the tubes and insides of the blanks, and as a result have some blanks sitting around I haven't used as I didn't think either color would work. As far as not painting both, someone mentioned (can't remember who) that just painting the tubes would allow the glue to show through. I found that to be very true and trashed some blanks that I had thought earlier had an odd appearance.:redface: As far as the length of the videos, I watch them in the early morning with a cup of coffee and am not in a hurry.:wink: George
 

edstreet

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No longer confused....
Forgot to mention that enamel based paint and liquid dyes will structurally weaken the glue joint bond significantly.

Polyester pigments, ronan and tempera dyes will increase the structural bond.
 

edicehouse

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Just remember all that this is 1 way of doing something. There are many different ways to do the same job. Watching these may give you an idea, and are able to apply it to something else. Or you have been stumped and you get the Eureka moment.
 

ed4copies

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Well, in the light of Monday morning, I'm glad to have this one behind me!!

HOWEVER, let me be very clear that the constructive input IS WELCOME!!!

Although I have made and sold many pens, the techniques I am demonstrating are, mostly, things I have learned on IAP. So, if there are NEWER ideas floating around in some members' crania, let's get them into the open and see what can be IMPROVED!!!

Thanks to those who watch these and a special thanks to those who add comments here!! Any suggestions are likely to improve the next videos!!!!

Ed
 

Ed McDonnell

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Good job on the video.

I used to use q-tips, but they don't seem to make them (q-tips) as well as they used to. They seem to unravel too easily these days. This can leave long threads in the paint in the tube. I considered this a problem, others may not.

These days I use a small long bristle paint brush. Gives a nice thin even coat on the interior of the blank.

If my acrylic paint is a little too thick, I thin it with a tiny amount of water.

Putting the painted blanks / tubes in a toaster oven at 100 - 125 degrees will quickly dry acrylic paint.

Reverse painting should be viewed as a creative artistic activity and not a chore (or a fix for defectively translucent blanks). It presents an opportunity for the pen maker to create something truly unique. There is no rule that says you can only use one color for reverse / tube painting. Multiple colors can result in some very attractive results.

Just some thoughts.

Ed
 

Falcon1220

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I was painting the inside of a yellow blank yesterday evening. My daughter came into the room and was confused why I was doing it. I think I will show her this video today. You did a way better job of explaining it than what I did. Thanks
 

walshjp17

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Great video, Ed. Clear explanations and demonstrations.

The only thing I do differently is to add a drop or two (tip of a toothpick-sized drop) of the same color paint to my 5-minute epoxy prior to gluing in the tubes just to prevent possible scratches from showing from the tube insertion process.
 

longbeard

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Thanks Ed, nice video. I also use a q-tip to paint the blanks. Never thought of using the acrylic paint that you used, i've always used testors model paint, now i dont have to go as far to get paint. Thanks
 

ed4copies

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A few "secrets" about that video:
1) The paint did not thoroughly dry, which eliminated the possibility of using CA, which is my favorite method of gluing in tubes.
2) I had 8 pens to make and so I "ran out" to get 15 minute epoxy-which I would have tinted, had I only had one color to do. I was afraid it would start to set up while I was tinting. No worries,
3) The 15 minute epoxy had just over an hour to set and it did not. So a few of the tubes "sloshed around" in the blanks. The good news??? The epoxy did NOT make the acrylic paint smear.
4) Because I had so many short snippets of video, the compiling time was an hour. Usually, it is about 15 minutes. So, I got farther behind schedule.
5) I EXPECTED YouTube to take a long time---THEY surprised me---15 minutes and it was "up".

I will try to start these earlier in the week---I AM SORRY it got so late last night.

Ed
 
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