Acrylic tube help?

[CMC75]

We are trying to make a Princess pen for my wife and after epoxying the brass tubes in I realized they will be visible. Do I need to paint tubes or is there something that will work for this pink color?

 

[duncsuss]

Painting the tubes - or even better, painting the interior walls of the drilled holes - is the norm for translucent materials.

Painting the holes (sometimes called "back painting") rather than the tubes means there's less chance of seeing the glue.

 

[egnald]

Duncan is spot on. Best is to paint the hole. Usually I would use pink or red acrylic paint, but white should work just about as well. Painting the tube will help, but painting the hole is best. Here is a good video that Ed from Exotic Blanks put together about painting the blanks: Reverse Paint an Acrylic Pen blank.- Dave

 

[Jarod888]

You can also mix a bit of acrylic paint with gorilla clear glue. It uses water to set up, but doesn't foam.
You can do the same with epoxy, however, it is likely you will need to use testors enamel from hobby lobby or Michaels.

You can experiment with colors of paint to highlight or dull the blank.

 

[CMC75]

Appreciate your help everyone. Looks like I have some trial and error to do.

 

[jttheclockman]

Painting the inside of the blank after it was drill is best. This puts a layer of color between the tube and the glue and the blank. If you paint just the tube you can see the ugliness of the glue through the blank. Yes you can paint both the tube and theinside of the blank and also add paint to adhesive but that is overkill. You can possible make the hole too small with the layers of paint , for the tube so before you glue in tube make sure the tube slides in easily.

Now choice of color of paint will have an effect on the color of the blank. White will make it very light. red will make it very dark. A pink will between colors and should work well. Here is an example of color differences. Both white and black colors are within the blank. Painting the blank white makes it look light as with painting black it darkens it. Same blank 2 different looks. Just to give you an example of what people are saying here. Good luck.

 

[CMC75]

Painting the inside of the blank after it was drill is best. This puts a layer of color between the tube and the glue and the blank. If you paint just the tube you can see the ugliness of the glue through the blank. Yes you can paint both the tube and theinside of the blank and also add paint to adhesive but that is overkill. You can possible make the hole too small with the layers of paint , for the tube so before you glue in tube make sure the tube slides in easily.

Now choice of color of paint will have an effect on the color of the blank. White will make it very light. red will make it very dark. A pink will between colors and should work well. Here is an example of color differences. Both white and black colors are within the blank. Painting the blank white makes it look light as with painting black it darkens it. Same blank 2 different looks. Just to give you an example of what people are saying here. Good luck.

View attachment 395066

Thanks John! That is pretty wild the difference it makes.

 

[TonyL]

i have a paint can rack with about 36 cans of spray paint (all different colors). i try to match (the tube and inside barrel) to the dominant color of the blank. i did start 13 years ago with only white, grey, and blank primer.

 

[Woodchipper]

Tony, that is a good idea. Looked at various suppliers for the costs. Craft stores have the small cans but, per ounce, is more expensive than the big rattle cans. What brand do you use? Got it on the list for future purchases. I have white and black for now.