To paint or not to paint?

[Woodchipper]

I was pondering my supply of synthetic blanks to use a generic term. Is there any rule of thumb for determining if a blank or tube needs painting? I think some of the pen blanks have rather thick walls after turning. My experience with the Slimline kits shows paper thin walls after turning with the glue showing. Your thoughts and experience?

 

[d_bondi]

I find that unless the material is quite opaque that you can frequently see the tube showing through, or at least the color of it showing near the ends of the blank where the material is especially thin.

I have also noted that painting or coloring the tube can still allow the glue to show through, so the best solution for me has been to backpaint the borehole in the blank. If you want belt and suspenders, back paint the blank, paint or use marker on the tube and mix a little acrylic paint into your epoxy.

When back painting the tubes with acrylic craft paint (the $1 ones from any craft store) I have had good luck.

 

[egnald]

My approach would be - when in doubt, paint. And if I think I don't need to, Paint anyway! - Great Insurance. - Dave

 

[Woodchipper]

Thanks. Some of the blanks are rather dark and some, obviously, are light with translucent spread throughout the blank.

 

[Cwalker935]

After cutting my blanks to width, I take a cutoff and hold a small flashlight against it. If the light shines through, I back paint.

 

[tomtedesco]

Agree with egnald.

 

[mmayo]

Paint all unless unbelievably opaque, even then paint.

 

[mark james]

Paint. It is an easy step.

 

[byounghusband]

You will be surprised how the colors change when you paint the tubes. I had some blaniks from Zac Higgins the had white resin in them. One I painted the inside white and the other one black. You can see the difference. See here: https://www.penturners.org/threads/its-been-a-while.179535/#post-2202526
Like Egnald said, when in doubt, paint them.

 

[RunnerVince]

I've been having no end of issues trying to backpaint pen blanks. Almost every pen, I get one or more of the following issues:

• Paint appears crackled in the final pen.
• Scratch lines show through where the paint didn't seep in.
• Sanding to remove scratch lines makes the bore hole too large, and the tube is no longer snug, leading to concentricity issues or ruining the blank.
• Paint is too thick, and tube scrapes it right off on insertion.
• Paint is too thin and the tube still shows through.
• If I use painted tubes instead, I can see the adhesive.

I'm currently using CA glue (Starbond thick), which I suspect may be the issue with the first bullet. I'm willing to give something else a shot, but I've had the same issue with Gorilla glue. Any suggestions for a decent epoxy?

I'm drilling the blanks on my lathe, then hand-sanding longitudally starting with ~240 grit and up to a minimum of 600. In the past, I've sprayed the blanks, but I find that I'm wasting so much paint and not getting great coverage in the middle of the blank, especially on 7mm pens. I've recently switched to brushing on acrylic paint, which I suspect is not of a great quality. I'm also looking into a better paint. But at the moment, I'm struggling with even coverage and finding a balance between too thick and too thin. I let the paint dry for at least 24 hours, if not more, before gluing the tubes in, then proceed to turn as usual.

I'd also appreciate any suggestions on common mistakes, tips and tricks, or specifics of where I might be going wrong. And if I haven't given enough detail, let me know what else I need to post.

This is frustrating enough that I'd completely forgo any non-wood blanks if they weren't so in demand. Between the stringy mess involved with turning them and the PITA of backpainting, it wouldn't be worth it if people didn't like them so much.

 

[pacer_3iii]

If you are still wondering, check out the PDF and video from Ed at Exotic Blanks about this topic. Best advice I ever saw on the topic was from him, and you take an offcut of your blank, cut it as thin as the blank's final dimension on the tube, and finish it like you will the pen. Then hold the offcut over a dowel painted with various colors and see which makes the blank look best. If in doubt, paint the blank, but do the blank over the tubes. Your glue is going to come between the blank and the tube anyway, so it will distort the paint.

I found that Barrel Bond epoxy from System 3 is the best at adhering tubes in blanks, especially with painted blanks. I use Testor's enamels and haven't had a bond failure since I switched to the Barrel Bond. Granted, I don't turn nearly as many pens as most here, so YMMV.

 

[jrista]

I always paint...but not the tube, the hole. Painting the tube will often mean you can see the glue through a thinner blank in the end, and that is sometimes just as bad if not worse. Paint the hole. If I'm doing resin, I pretty much always paint.

 

[ed4copies]

Ten years old and 12,000 views, might be worth watching!!

 

[Woodchipper]

Will watch it. Ed, thanks for the post.
Edit: Watched the video and time well spent. Thanks.

 

[JohnU]

My theory…. If it ain't wood… paint it!
I paint both the tube and the hole. Spray paint goes on the tubes pretty thin.

 

[Smokey S]

It didn't take me long to learn when beginning turning acrylic blanks. Of course my first corrective action was to paint the tube and of course that still made an ugly pen looking at the glue smearing. I definitely learned from y'all. I always paint the acrylic blank hole and also sometimes the tubes if I have spay paint to match. This is such a great group………Smokey