Painting tubes

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PMisiaszek

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Oct 22, 2005
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Venice, FL and St Mikes, MD
I'm working on a project for which "painting" the tubes has been recommended. What do you use to paint tubes? Is magic marker sufficient? Does painting the tubes have any implication for gluing them? I use CA, Epoxy and Sumo interchangeably.

Pete
 
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Parson

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Primer is supposed to work well too. I just bought a can of it. I'll gonna try testors too... the CA glue seems to melt just about everything away as it is inserted into the blank.
 

toddlajoie

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I suggest either drilling the blank SLIGHTLY larger than normal (or if this is not possible, drill it as normal and carefully enlarge the hole a bit with a dowel wrapped with sandpaper, keeping it as round as possible) Then paint the inside of the tube with Testor's model paint and a Q-Tip. I usually put on 2 coats to be sure it gets a good coverage, and let each coat dry overnight at least. I nearly always use Sumo/Gorilla glue for tubes, as I've just had better luck with it than CA, but either one will disolve the glue if you play with it too much. I sit the Sumo glue in a glass of hot water to make it nice and runny, rather than it's usual thick self, and using another Q-Tip, put a light coat inside the painted blank (don't rub too much or it will start to disolve the paint.) Then put a ring of glue around the sanded tube and twist it a bit as you insert the tube in the blank (again, don't twist it too much or pull it in and push it out a lot or the paint will disolve and move around, which could cause it to show through in some places...)

This method has worked very well for me, even on blanks that were nearly completely see-thru, since painting the blank rather than the tubes prevents you from seeing the glue, or bubbles in the glue... (and credit where due, I got the idea from a video of Curtis explaining it...)
 

EBorraga

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Hey Pete,

Fingernail polish works very well also. I usually paint the tube and inside of the blank.
 

bruce119

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I second the testers spray paint. It cost a little more but will hold up to CA and not melt. It will also hold up to PR casting.

.
 

bruce119

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I will add BUT if you are just painting for like acrylic blanks. and gluing in the tube. I get cheap like rustolium paint the inside of the blank and the tube then epoxy glue the tube in. If you are gluing objects to a tube then casting Testers for sure.

.
 

flyitfast

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San Antonio, TX 78247
Painting pen blanks and tubes

You can paint the tube or the inside of the blank. Each may have a different effect. On acrylic blanks that are clear, painting the inside of the blank with different colors can make a big difference if there are objects moulded in the blank. I made two pens using halves of one blank - the effect was totally different. They didn't look like the same blank. I use acrylic paints that are available at Hobby Lobby or somewhere similar. Use a QTip, which works easiest on most pen blanks. The Qtip fits easily in most drilled holes. Sometimes it may take a second coat. Black can have a dramatic effect in red swirl blanks, but other colors blend and bring out the blank's effect. Epoxy the tubes in the blanks. It seems to work better than CA. Also, it doesn't hurt to first wash out the blank if you have used any lubricant when drilling. The paint adheres better.
As above, the credit for this goes to Curtis S. It really works well with his cactus or bluebonnet blanks.
gordon k.
 

joeatact

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Jul 7, 2005
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Lot of times I use dye to coat the inside of the blanks. Works good.

Testors spray paint I still have issues with simular 41 desolving it!
 

bitshird

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I use PR dye and color my epoxy, this way both the tube and the blank get colored, I've never tried it but it's been said you can color epoxy with acrylic paint, but I hate using CA to glue tubes into any thing, with the PR dye it only takes a couple drops to color the epoxy and it doesn't mess up the cure time or strength.
 
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