10 Minutes To Better Pen Making - Painting Acrylic Before Turning

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mg_dreyer

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Albeit we probably all know by know that acrylic pen blanks need to be painted before turning - I did this video for some of team still new to pen making. In this video I go over how I paint the blanks, the reason I paint the hole and not the tube, shapes, and dramatic effect I can get mixing colors. Just wanted to step back and give my thoughts on acrylic blank prep.

10 Minutes To Better Pen Making - Painting Acrylic Blanks

Let me know what you think.
 
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Brandy

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That's really interesting! I tend to have trouble with the paint being removed when I insert the tube. How do you prevent that? I have heard you should drill the hole a little larger but have not had luck with that.
 

TonyL

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I am sure Mark will answer.
However, I spray krylon/Rustoleum inside the barrel and outside of tubes. I allow the paint to dry for a full 24 hours. I use epoxy (it acts as a lubricant to some degree). I have probably had that issue 1 of 100 times - and believe me, I have no special skills. I do then allow the epoxy to fully CURE per the instructions. Happy turning!
 

Warren White

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Hi Mark,
Very good video, but I would like to have seen how you paint two different colors in the blank. Painting the blank one color (which I do) is pretty straightforward; painting two colors, not so much.
 

mg_dreyer

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I am sure Mark will answer.
However, I spray krylon/Rustoleum inside the barrel and outside of tubes. I allow the paint to dry for a full 24 hours. I use epoxy (it acts as a lubricant to some degree). I have probably had that issue 1 of 100 times - and believe me, I have no special skills. I do then allow the epoxy to fully CURE per the instructions. Happy turning!
Tony as you know I always look forward to the different ways people do things - and appreciate people joining in. The goal of my videos is to think about all the aspects of pen making and sharing is great.

I never used spray but I will look into it.

PS and if you keep this as a secret, I actually don't paint the holes anymore - my wife does all the prep work. She paints the holes and does all my gluing.
 

mg_dreyer

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Hi Mark,
Very good video, but I would like to have seen how you paint two different colors in the blank. Painting the blank one color (which I do) is pretty straightforward; painting two colors, not so much.

Sorry I did not explain this well. I will use a Qtip and from one end (generally the middles) paint the white and go about half way up the blank (maybe a little farther). Let that dry over night. Then from the other side I use black paint and go the white and over lap. I try not to be perfect because I don't want a line - more a vignette. Hope this help.

Here is a better shot of the pen from the video (sorry about the image quality - screen snapshot). Black on the outside end white in the middle. The blank is a generic yellow blank.

Multi color.jpg


Here is a shot from the video of the original blank ...

Multi Pens.jpg
 

howsitwork

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Great video and heavens what a difference he depending upon tube colouring. Never considered using tube colour to add or determine the overall look before.

Many thanks 🙏
 

lorbay

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That's really interesting! I tend to have trouble with the paint being removed when I insert the tube. How do you prevent that? I have heard you should drill the hole a little larger but have not had luck with that.
That leads me to believe that the paint is not sticking to the tube properly. Are you sanding your tubes before painting?? I run a small file up the blank before inserting the tube. The next thing to do is paint the inside of the blank.
Lin
 

mg_dreyer

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That's really interesting! I tend to have trouble with the paint being removed when I insert the tube. How do you prevent that? I have heard you should drill the hole a little larger but have not had luck with that.
I really don't have that issue on the larger diameter kits (10mm / 10.5 mm / 12.5 mm). On 7mm I always drill at 9/32" which when painted leaves a hair room to glue. I use 5 minute epoxy to fill the gap. Never had an issue. I have another video on gluing out there.
 

greenacres2

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Great video and heavens what a difference he depending upon tube colouring. Never considered using tube colour to add or determine the overall look before.

Many thanks 🙏
JT The Clockman has a great example from a BASH or Extravaganza entry a year or two ago. If i recall correctly, it was light blue paint for a copper-colored blank--but that may be faulty memory on my part. Hopefully, he will reply with an updated link to that pen--it was beautiful.
earl
 
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