Bulk, long acrylic black and white blanks?

[jrista]

I'm in planning mode again for pens. I've been coming up with designs for a while, mostly resin/acrylic lately. I'm finding that somehow, I've meandered into territory where most of my ideas involve a lot of either black or white solid color material needs. A lot of the time, its just a cap (or body, sometimes) that is just black or white. Then the other part of the pen is where the more interesting design appears. Sometimes solid black or white are incorporated into a segmented blank design. Either way...I'm finding I need a LOT of black and white acrylic.

I can certainly find plenty of pre-cut 3/4"x3/4"x5" arylic black blanks. But I'm wondering if anyone knows of a good source where I could get say 12" square rods of solid black and solid white? I once purchased some long black blanked from PSI called "Aquapearl", which I thought would do the trick. As I've found out, this material is very hard, very tough to turn. It greatly lengthens the time to fully turn a blank, even something simple, and sanding, polishing, buffing take a lot longer as well. It is just HARD, rigid, stiff stuff.

I've looked around, but can't seem to find 12" long blanks of any kind really, outside of say ebonite rods or something like that. In some cases I can find 8-10" long rods usually intended for kitless pens, but they are usually very colorful and fancy one way or another. It seems solid color blanks are very hard to find. I considered pouring sheets of alumilite that I colored black with solid color painter's pigment...but I don't think that alumilite will really give me what I'm after, which is a ready to go, super easy to turn and finish resin that shines up to a glass-like shine with ease.

So...anyone know of a place I could buy acrylic solid black and solid white blanks (or maybe even 3/4" to 7/8" thick sheets, I guess, as I can cut em up myself if I need to)?

Thanks!!

 

[jalbert]

Beartooth woods sells meter sticks of "coal mine" acrylic, which is jet black. That's my go to for black acrylic. You'll have to email Ernie.
I've never used solid white acrylic before, but it looks like they sell one called "pure white," which you can get in meter lengths as well

 

[jttheclockman]

Man I am drawing a blank of the name of the vendor that sells 24" long blanks. I use to buy from them all the time for white and black acylic. I can see the web site but not seeing the name. Have to look this one up. I believe this is the site. They use to sell straight square black and white blanks. They also sell oversized acrylic blanks. If not listed you can send an email and ask. When I need 1" black and white blanks I cast my own in blocks and cut to size. If I need 3/4" then I use those. I see they cut down on the lengths because of cost effectiveness which make sense but still long. I see they have black and white rods but did not see square blanks but see white and black pearlescent which would look great together as segmented pens. They look to be square. again a quick email gets all your answers. I have ordered from them in the past many times. they have changed their web site and that is why I did not remember name.

https://woodpenpro.com/t/pen-blanks

 

[hooked]

I used to get exactly what you are talking about from Richard Greenwald but have not had luck finding long rods myself since they closed down. I have been using the semplicita line of acrylics from Beaufort lately and have been very happy with the material.

Beaufort Ink - Semplicita SHDC pen blanks

Semplicita SHDC pen blanks

www.beaufortink.co.uk

 

[Hippie3180]

I'm in planning mode again for pens. I've been coming up with designs for a while, mostly resin/acrylic lately. I'm finding that somehow, I've meandered into territory where most of my ideas involve a lot of either black or white solid color material needs. A lot of the time, its just a cap (or body, sometimes) that is just black or white. Then the other part of the pen is where the more interesting design appears. Sometimes solid black or white are incorporated into a segmented blank design. Either way...I'm finding I need a LOT of black and white acrylic.

I can certainly find plenty of pre-cut 3/4"x3/4"x5" arylic black blanks. But I'm wondering if anyone knows of a good source where I could get say 12" square rods of solid black and solid white? I once purchased some long black blanked from PSI called "Aquapearl", which I thought would do the trick. As I've found out, this material is very hard, very tough to turn. It greatly lengthens the time to fully turn a blank, even something simple, and sanding, polishing, buffing take a lot longer as well. It is just HARD, rigid, stiff stuff.

I've looked around, but can't seem to find 12" long blanks of any kind really, outside of say ebonite rods or something like that. In some cases I can find 8-10" long rods usually intended for kitless pens, but they are usually very colorful and fancy one way or another. It seems solid color blanks are very hard to find. I considered pouring sheets of alumilite that I colored black with solid color painter's pigment...but I don't think that alumilite will really give me what I'm after, which is a ready to go, super easy to turn and finish resin that shines up to a glass-like shine with ease.

So...anyone know of a place I could buy acrylic solid black and solid white blanks (or maybe even 3/4" to 7/8" thick sheets, I guess, as I can cut em up myself if I need to)?

Thanks!!

Stormwind blanks and The Pensmiths have a lot of solid colors to coordinate with the more colorful blanks. They are Alumilite, but with your polishing tips I've been able to get a beautiful shine on my blanks and I find it very easy to turn.

Also, Exotic Blanks has a vast array of blank offerings.

 

[jrista]

Man I am drawing a blank of the name of the vendor that sells 24" long blanks. I use to buy from them all the time for white and black acylic. I can see the web site but not seeing the name. Have to look this one up. I believe this is the site. They use to sell straight square black and white blanks. They also sell oversized acrylic blanks. If not listed you can send an email and ask. When I need 1" black and white blanks I cast my own in blocks and cut to size. If I need 3/4" then I use those. I see they cut down on the lengths because of cost effectiveness which make sense but still long. I see they have black and white rods but did not see square blanks but see white and black pearlescent which would look great together as segmented pens. They look to be square. again a quick email gets all your answers. I have ordered from them in the past many times. they have changed their web site and that is why I did not remember name.

https://woodpenpro.com/t/pen-blanks

Ah! I've bought from woodpenpro before. They used to have this Sierra-like kit called Tapa Pacifica, which had this nice triangle design on the bands. Sadly, it seems a palette of those was dropped or something, and most of the bands cracked. I really liked that particular Sierra-like design... I actually have a bunch with cracked bands. I keep meaning to see if I could fix them. Never came up with a solution before...but, now that Gluboost Ultra Thin is out, that might in fact do the trick.

Anyway, I'll have to peruse their site a bit again. Last time I was there was late 2020 or maybe early 2021. They had some good stuff.

 

[jrista]

I used to get exactly what you are talking about from Richard Greenwald but have not had luck finding long rods myself since they closed down. I have been using the semplicita line of acrylics from Beaufort lately and have been very happy with the material.

Beaufort Ink - Semplicita SHDC pen blanks

Semplicita SHDC pen blanks

www.beaufortink.co.uk

Nice! I did not know about this line. Thanks for the link! Looks like they have plenty of colors, too.

 

[jrista]

Stormwind blanks and The Pensmiths have a lot of solid colors to coordinate with the more colorful blanks. They are Alumilite, but with your polishing tips I've been able to get a beautiful shine on my blanks and I find it very easy to turn.

Also, Exotic Blanks has a vast array of blank offerings.

I use Exotic Blanks for solids. They have good primary solid colors. I have a bunch of those. The real trouble is finding enough solid black and white (white in particular).

I hadn't heard of Stormwind, so I'm gonna check them out. I can certainly make alumilite work, with a GB ultra thin finish, but it is a bit more work. If that's all I can find though, well, it'll do.

BTW, looking forward do the day you get a couple of buffing wheels. They are going to take your work to the next level!

 

[jrista]

Beartooth woods sells meter sticks of "coal mine" acrylic, which is jet black. That's my go to for black acrylic. You'll have to email Ernie.
I've never used solid white acrylic before, but it looks like they sell one called "pure white," which you can get in meter lengths as well

Thank you! I forgot all about Beartooth's solid colors. They had a number of them last time I checked. I must have missed coal mine and pure white. Going to take a look now though.

 

[jrista]

Stormwind blanks and The Pensmiths have a lot of solid colors to coordinate with the more colorful blanks. They are Alumilite, but with your polishing tips I've been able to get a beautiful shine on my blanks and I find it very easy to turn.

Also, Exotic Blanks has a vast array of blank offerings.

I'm a huge fan of retro style designs. So these blank sets kind of made my day:

Earth Tones - Stormwind's Blanks and Scales

This bundle includes 5 round, opaque blanks, exactly as pictured. Each blank measures approximately 8 - 8 1/2″ long x .75 diameter • 1 Aged Sap • 1 Carmelized • 1 Fresh Sand • 1 Seedling • 1 Fresh Clay All blanks are cast with urethane resin Painting tubes for component pens in...

swbns.com

Almost Acidic - Stormwind's Blanks and Scales

This bundle includes 5 round, opaque blanks, exactly as pictured. Each blank measures approximately 8 - 8 1/2″ long x .75 diameter • 1 Plum Crazy • 1 Watermelon Treat • 1 Bright Salmon • 1 Pear Yellow • 1 Pearl's Edge All blanks are cast with urethane resin Painting tubes for...

swbns.com

I'm curious, do you have any photos of a finished pen that used any of their blanks?

 

[eharri446]

Here is another site that you can check out. Their rods are 3/4 inch round and 48" long: Delvie's Plastics

 

[Hippie3180]

I'm a huge fan of retro style designs. So these blank sets kind of made my day:

Earth Tones - Stormwind's Blanks and Scales

This bundle includes 5 round, opaque blanks, exactly as pictured. Each blank measures approximately 8 - 8 1/2″ long x .75 diameter • 1 Aged Sap • 1 Carmelized • 1 Fresh Sand • 1 Seedling • 1 Fresh Clay All blanks are cast with urethane resin Painting tubes for component pens in...

swbns.com

Almost Acidic - Stormwind's Blanks and Scales

This bundle includes 5 round, opaque blanks, exactly as pictured. Each blank measures approximately 8 - 8 1/2″ long x .75 diameter • 1 Plum Crazy • 1 Watermelon Treat • 1 Bright Salmon • 1 Pear Yellow • 1 Pearl's Edge All blanks are cast with urethane resin Painting tubes for...

swbns.com

I'm curious, do you have any photos of a finished pen that used any of their blanks?

I do not but they are quite popular among my Instagram friends. Lots of folks turn them. Are you considering the "shine" factor?

 

[jttheclockman]

Here is another site that you can check out. Their rods are 3/4 inch round and 48" long: Delvie's Plastics

Forgot about them I use these people alot also. I buy their 1/8" rods many times.

 

[jrista]

Here is another site that you can check out. Their rods are 3/4 inch round and 48" long: Delvie's Plastics

Hmm, interesting. I wonder if this is cost effective... Looks like the cost for a 5" blank cut from these would be around $4 per blank. In contrast, Beartoothwoods coal mine and pure white blanks are $3.50 each, and the price drops when you hit bulk thresholds.

They show opaque white and black. However, in their selectable list of colors, they have two Translucent whites. Does anyone know if they actually have an opaque white?

Also curious what they mean by translucent. Is that just a byproduct of the manufacturing design, or intentional translucency? The ivory is also an intriguing color...but, not sure if I want actually translucent blanks.

I actually really like beartoothwoods selection. The only trouble I have with them, is their web site is so exceptionally slow. It often takes 20-30 seconds to load a page, which makes it so tough to browse their site. I usually end up leaving without buying anything because its so hard to get around....

 

[TonyL]

These folks have been referenced before: Vermont Freehand

 

[jrista]

Well, after analyzing the prices for the longer rods...in the end, they actually don't come out any better cost-wise, and in some cases are actually more costly.

From what I can find, BearToothWoods actually has the better pricing. Even though they don't sell long rods, at bulk pricing they end up being a much better deal. If I buy 10+ of the pure white, its $3.30 a blank. Ten of those is 50 inches, for $33. If I buy 20+, its $60 (or $30/10), and it gets more cost effective from there. There was one 48" rod that was around $38, so if I can get effectively 50" for $30 or less, I'm doing pretty good.

BTW also offers call blanks which are 1.5"x5" for $11.50. Split that into quarters, and you have 3/4"x5" blanks for $2.88 a blank. An even better deal, and apparently you can custom order those up to 23" long, for an EVEN BETTER deal.

So, I think I'll probably do that, just by bulk call blanks, cut em down to size, split em into quarters, and I can probably get 48" of pure white, coal black, and I think they also have numerous other solid colors, for roughly around $2.50 a 5" blank.

 

[jttheclockman]

Jon it is good to try to calculate which is a better deal but will warn you that you will do better if you know what you want to do with them and buy from a vendor you are comfortable with. Remember when cutting blanks length or width you lose blade kerf material. Another thing when you commit to 5 " blanks and want to do longer pens such as a pool cue pen and I am sure there are others like the Panache then the 5" blanks do not work well. If you are going down that rabbit hole then look at bowl blanks too. You can cut both ways and get pen blanks. Doing segmented work like I thought this was all about does not require 5" blanks and you can be working with mush smaller pieces or thinner pieces. Good luck. All those vendors are excellent vendors.

 

[jrista]

Jon it is good to try to calculate which is a better deal but will warn you that you will do better if you know what you want to do with them and buy from a vendor you are comfortable with. Remember when cutting blanks length or width you lose blade kerf material. Another thing when you commit to 5 " blanks and want to do longer pens such as a pool cue pen and I am sure there are others like the Panache then the 5" blanks do not work well. If you are going down that rabbit hole then look at bowl blanks too. You can cut both ways and get pen blanks. Doing segmented work like I thought this was all about does not require 5" blanks and you can be working with mush smaller pieces or thinner pieces. Good luck. All those vendors are excellent vendors.

Sure, I understand all that. I was using a 5" long blank as a reference point...what is the EFFECTIVE cost per 5" blank. If I buy a 48" long bar and its $39, then effectively, each 5" blank I'd cut from that bar would be $4.07 each (not that I would only cut 5" blanks from it, its just a reference point). The BTW base cost of any pre-cut 5" blank is $3.50, so the 48" long bar isn't a great deal. I could have just as easily used a cost per inch, or a cost per centimeter, but a 5" blank is pretty standard. Its just a reference point.

If I buy the "bulk" 1.5x1.5xY" blanks, which are large, long blocks, then I could certainly cut them down to whatever size I want. I've done this with large 1.5"x1.5"x7-8" blocks of trustone, which gets me a MUCH better price than buying pre-cut trustone blanks. Split a chunk length wise to get 3/4"x3/4"xZ" long blanks as needed. In that case, I'm not restricted really...if I needed a 6" long or 8" long blank for any reason, I could cut exactly what I needed. Kerf is super thin, as I use my bandsaw for these things, so I'm not losing enough to matter. And at the very low cost of at most $2.88 per EFFECTIVE 5" blank if I buy the duck call bulks, its a darn good deal.

For now, I just ordered an aggregated total of 10 pure white, coal mine, and solid gray blanks which brought the price per blank down to $3.30 per 5" long blank for the whole batch. For what I'm doing to start, the little cutoffs I will have will be fine for the segmenting purposes I have ATM. When I need more flexibility, I'll dive into the larger duck call blanks, and trim them down to size as needed. No matter what I do, even at the base $3.50 per 5" blank cost, BTW is still a better deal than other places. Long term, some of the pen designs I'm playing with involve highly angled segments, so there will be more waste there. Most of those designs involve black as the base with some bright color (mica powdered or solids) as the accent layers, and when I get to that point I'll buy some long 1.5"x1.5" bars of the duck call blank material, and trim down and quarter to size as needed. Should be very cost effective in the long run.

 

[jttheclockman]

Sure, I understand all that. I was using a 5" long blank as a reference point...what is the EFFECTIVE cost per 5" blank. If I buy a 48" long bar and its $39, then effectively, each 5" blank I'd cut from that bar would be $4.07 each (not that I would only cut 5" blanks from it, its just a reference point). The BTW base cost of any pre-cut 5" blank is $3.50, so the 48" long bar isn't a great deal. I could have just as easily used a cost per inch, or a cost per centimeter, but a 5" blank is pretty standard. Its just a reference point.

If I buy the "bulk" 1.5x1.5xY" blanks, which are large, long blocks, then I could certainly cut them down to whatever size I want. I've done this with large 1.5"x1.5"x7-8" blocks of trustone, which gets me a MUCH better price than buying pre-cut trustone blanks. Split a chunk length wise to get 3/4"x3/4"xZ" long blanks as needed. In that case, I'm not restricted really...if I needed a 6" long or 8" long blank for any reason, I could cut exactly what I needed. Kerf is super thin, as I use my bandsaw for these things, so I'm not losing enough to matter. And at the very low cost of at most $2.88 per EFFECTIVE 5" blank if I buy the duck call bulks, its a darn good deal.

For now, I just ordered an aggregated total of 10 pure white, coal mine, and solid gray blanks which brought the price per blank down to $3.30 per 5" long blank for the whole batch. For what I'm doing to start, the little cutoffs I will have will be fine for the segmenting purposes I have ATM. When I need more flexibility, I'll dive into the larger duck call blanks, and trim them down to size as needed. No matter what I do, even at the base $3.50 per 5" blank cost, BTW is still a better deal than other places. Long term, some of the pen designs I'm playing with involve highly angled segments, so there will be more waste there. Most of those designs involve black as the base with some bright color (mica powdered or solids) as the accent layers, and when I get to that point I'll buy some long 1.5"x1.5" bars of the duck call blank material, and trim down and quarter to size as needed. Should be very cost effective in the long run.

Sorry I did read this because if you are happy then that is all that matters. To another question you had if the blank does not say opaque then it is probably translucent. There are varying degrees to this but best bet is to paint the blank to be sure anyway.

 

[Bryguy]

Check out https://vermontfreehand.com/ excellent source for long rods of acrylics.

 

[jrista]

Check out https://vermontfreehand.com/ excellent source for long rods of acrylics.

I did. I've actually bought from them in the past. They actually have some of the most unique and "rich" looking acrylics around. I have a number of their more interesting blanks. Their solid white and black rods were actually quite a lot more expensive.

The goal of buying long rods was cost, but ironically, it seems that long rods/bars of acrylic are generally not cheaper from most sources. That was something I did not expect.

Right now, the best deal by far that I can find is the 1.5" x 1.5" "duck call" blanks that you can buy in lengths up to 23" from BearToothWoods. In those bulkier sizes, your price per 5" or price per inch or whatever unit you prefer, is MUCH better than anywhere else. Possibly by as much as a factor of two (half as much as say VF).

 

[jalbert]

Hmm, interesting. I wonder if this is cost effective... Looks like the cost for a 5" blank cut from these would be around $4 per blank. In contrast, Beartoothwoods coal mine and pure white blanks are $3.50 each, and the price drops when you hit bulk thresholds.

They show opaque white and black. However, in their selectable list of colors, they have two Translucent whites. Does anyone know if they actually have an opaque white?

Also curious what they mean by translucent. Is that just a byproduct of the manufacturing design, or intentional translucency? The ivory is also an intriguing color...but, not sure if I want actually translucent blanks.

I actually really like beartoothwoods selection. The only trouble I have with them, is their web site is so exceptionally slow. It often takes 20-30 seconds to load a page, which makes it so tough to browse their site. I usually end up leaving without buying anything because its so hard to get around....

I would be careful with Delvies. Their "opaque" black isn't truly opaque once you start turning it down and boring it out. It also turns a lot worse than the acrylic acetate blanks you get from beartooth or other places. Just fyi if you are looking in the future at their rods.

 

[ed4copies]

Long rods create additional shipping costs, hence they are more expensive.

 

[jrista]

Long rods create additional shipping costs, hence they are more expensive.

Hmm, yeah, hadn't considered the cost of long rods. I don't need them to be super long... Mostly I was looking for low cost. Longer than 5" is good, but they don't need to be 24 or 48 inches long.

 

[jttheclockman]

Shipping could always be the equalizer. Even shipping turning blocks as you claim to want. Or boards and wanting to cut into blanks. all adds up and you need to factor those costs in those long math problems you listed.

 

[jrista]

Shipping could always be the equalizer. Even shipping turning blocks as you claim to want. Or boards and wanting to cut into blanks. all adds up and you need to factor those costs in those long math problems you listed.

BTW has a flat rate shipping cost...so given the goal is to buy bulk and cut as needed, that should only serve to reduce cost even further.

Before, what I was saying I hadn't considered the UNIQUE shipping issues with LONG bars. Oddly shaped packages incur additional shipping costs most of the time. I can buy bulk blocks in quantity, so long as they, say, fit in a single MFRB, for a single shipping price. I just bought a ton of blanks from BTW yesterday and the shipping cost was the same regardless of how many blanks I added to my cart. So the more I buy in single shipment, the better (at least, I guess, until you fill up a box and need another, I suppose.)

Vermont Freehand has long listed half meter and meter long rods, but they also state that if you buy one, they WILL cut them down to fit inside their shipping boxes. So you can't actually buy really long bars from them, not AS a long bar anyway.

 

[jttheclockman]

BTW has a flat rate shipping cost...so given the goal is to buy bulk and cut as needed, that should only serve to reduce cost even further.

Before, what I was saying I hadn't considered the UNIQUE shipping issues with LONG bars. Oddly shaped packages incur additional shipping costs most of the time. I can buy bulk blocks in quantity, so long as they, say, fit in a single MFRB, for a single shipping price. I just bought a ton of blanks from BTW yesterday and the shipping cost was the same regardless of how many blanks I added to my cart. So the more I buy in single shipment, the better (at least, I guess, until you fill up a box and need another, I suppose.)

Vermont Freehand has long listed half meter and meter long rods, but they also state that if you buy one, they WILL cut them down to fit inside their shipping boxes. So you can't actually buy really long bars from them, not AS a long bar anyway.

Great hope works out for you I have bought many blanks from Vermont and mentioned them here before. Nice material. All Italian acrylics.