Black epoxy for gluing tubes?

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Has anybody used black epoxy to glue tubes into acrylic blanks? I ask because I usually prefer to back paint the blank black unless it's a light color like yellow or white. I'm wondering if it will eliminate the need to backpaint thus saving a day waiting for it to cure, or if you get the dreaded "epoxy bubble" look showing through.
 
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lorbay

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I have done it a few times, but I find that it's too thin and thus get some streaking along the way. So now I always back paint. Or paint the tube.
Lin
 

jttheclockman

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I only use black tint in my epoxy or other colors when doing segmented blanks. Adding black to epoxy will not eliminate the need to back paint the blank. You are safer to back paint.
 

TonyL

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I wonder if the black epoxy will hide the glue lines (same thing with the colored tubes)?
 

jttheclockman

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I wonder if the black epoxy will hide the glue lines (same thing with the colored tubes)?
Short answer is no to both. The thing you have to remember is when working with translucent blanks the very first thing you see is the top of the blank and then transfer down to the back side of the blank. You see this way before the glue or the tubes. That is why when you back paint a blank it has the most dramatic effect in the look of the blank. If you just paint a tube now you are looking through the blank and then the glue to see the color of the tube. I am trying to think of the word they call that but drawing a blank(no pun intended) It is like the depth of the blank or the clarity of the blank. This is why people sand the drill marks from the blank hole too. Helps or else you could see those too depending on the blank.
 

budnder

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I just mix a little black powder coat (got mine at Harbor Freight) into the epoxy when I'm feeling the need for black glue. Just did this last week in lieu of painting the inside of the blank black... just black sharpied the brass tube and used the black epoxy. Worked fine. Why? The tube was kind of a tight fit, and I felt like there wasn't enough room for the paint layers.
 
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Thanks for the replies. I didn't think it would work but thought I'd ask. I've tried the colored tubes before but they did nothing to hide the epoxy, and the blank I'm using has translucent blue so they definitely wouldn't help.
 
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