Acrylic Insite Needed

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Tullyamo

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When purchasing an acrylic or arylic type blank, how do I know it will be a solid color and not display the tube beneath it? I have a doodles acrylic acetate that worked out WONDERFUL then tried several acrylic black blanks.... each time they showed the brass tube underneath. I have a customer that wants an all JET BLACK pen with BLACK hardware but does NOT want to see even a hint of the tube underneath. I thought about getting him ebony... then laughed at myself for the mere thought.
 
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When i doubt Paint it. I've gone through the same thing. You get done with a beautiful blank only to find that darn brass showing through it. i find that i'm in doubt almost with every pen i do.
 
Tullyamo said:
When purchasing an acrylic or arylic type blank, how do I know it will be a solid color and not display the tube beneath it?
Click to expand...

In my experience, you really won't know until you turn it down. It depends on the material and how thin it's turned relative to the tube. This is why I why I paint the inside of all my plastic blanks, be it acrylic, PR, corian, etc.
 
Tullyamo said:
When purchasing an acrylic or arylic type blank, how do I know it will be a solid color and not display the tube beneath it? I have a doodles acrylic acetate that worked out WONDERFUL then tried several acrylic black blanks.... each time they showed the brass tube underneath. I have a customer that wants an all JET BLACK pen with BLACK hardware but does NOT want to see even a hint of the tube underneath. I thought about getting him ebony... then laughed at myself for the mere thought.
Click to expand...


YOU don't.

Bear in mind, the style of pen you are making IS a factor. How much MATERIAL do you have covering the tube??

There's a big difference between a 7mm (Slimline) and an Emperor.

The difference in opacity depends on the dyes and the attempts at a "pearly" look.

Our (Exotics) Alternative Ebony is quite opaque, but I would not GUARANTEE you can't see the tubes. On a slimline, with 200 watt light shining through it, I suspect you probably could see the tube.

Hope this helps some.:biggrin::biggrin:
 
ALWAYS paint the tubes with the various "plastic" Better to be safe than sorry! also painting gives you an opportunity use different colors to create different effects.
 
Yes, ALWAYS paint the tubes I will also paint the inside of the blank just to be safe. I use dark primer in a spray can or flat black paint. Don't forget to scuff the tubes before painting.
 
This is one of the blanks I make that someone recently turned (http://www.penturners.org/forum/showthread.php?t=59779). I do not know for sure if he painted anything on the inside. The cutoff the pen is sitting on is leftover from that blank and it looks solid black. I have 1 left in my classified ad here (http://www.penturners.org/forum/showthread.php?t=59645 #27) and I can make more if you'd be interested. However, I agree with everyone that you should paint the tubes, inside the blank, and I will even tint my 5min epoxy to match just in case any paint gets rubbed off.

Tullyamo said:
When purchasing an acrylic or arylic type blank, how do I know it will be a solid color and not display the tube beneath it? I have a doodles acrylic acetate that worked out WONDERFUL then tried several acrylic black blanks.... each time they showed the brass tube underneath. I have a customer that wants an all JET BLACK pen with BLACK hardware but does NOT want to see even a hint of the tube underneath. I thought about getting him ebony... then laughed at myself for the mere thought.
Click to expand...
 
so.. now there are paints to buy^^ Or buy painted tubes. Which paints are good enough to buy? I have about a dozen acrylic pens to make. Several of the wood pens have cracked and I figured out why... These people are keeping their pens inside their pockets, under a lay of 40lbs of lead, under another layer of sterile gown during a 4-6 hour case while working in temps of 75ish and under two bright hot krypton spot lights during surgery. No wonder the flipping pens were cracking... moisture content was reaching nearly 60% then drying out over the next week. Regardless of the *DO NOT EXPOSE THE PEN TO WATER< HIGH TEMP<EXTREME CONDITIONS **IT WILL CRACK I got 6 pens back in one week.

I have made 2 of the doodle acrylic acetate pens for trial. Guess what... 2 weeks later.. NO CRACKS. But now there are the "hey, I want one of those pens that are plastic because dr. soandso says his hasn't cracked yet."

But, there are red and black pens, orange pens, ivory, black, and several other colored pens that have been requested in the past few days. I am guessing I am the one who made the mistake of printing out exoticblanks.com, woodturnerscatalog, and pennstateind.com acrylics pages without prices for them to tell me what colors they want. After having ordered several to make a few cigar pens, I am running into the tube being showed at the nib end of each pen.:eek:
 
I use Testor's model paint. It's cheap. Apply it with a q-tip or acid brush (like plumbers use) to the inside of the blank after the hole is drilled. Once it dries, you can glue in the tube.

Painting the inside of the blank as opposed to the tube prevents you from seeing the glue through the blank after it's turned.
 
I have done two acrylics that were black, a American classic and a mod slim, tubes did not show. It was a group by last year, i think the blanks came from woodpenpro or something like that, don`t remember.
 
I'm a spray paint guy. Flat black for dark blanks or colored paint if I want to enhance a color. I spray both the tube and inside the blank and have never been dissappointed yet.

Jim Smith
 
There have been many insiteful threads on this topic. Click on the search tool and type in "paint inside blanks" or even "paint tubes". A couple months back I was researching this very topic and since have painted the inside of all the blanks I thought may be questionable. It's too easy not to. There was also a thread that showed how the overall outward appearance of the pens was changed by painting the inside of the blank---all really good stuff.
Mike aka; moke
 
I use Apple Barrel brand acrylic paints from Michael's to paint inside the blank -- IME cheaper than Testor's and works as well. I apply with a Q-tip, wait overnight, apply 2nd coat and wait overnight before using epoxy to glue tube. I can usually get by with recommended drill bit for the blanks but do use 13/32" (10.3mm) rather than the recommended 10mm for Cigar pens.
 
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