First Pen question

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MrKugelschreiber

MrKugelschreiber

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I am about to break in my 1st lathe, a Rikon 70-220 VSR and I am making a Breast Cancer Awareness Pen for my mother whom has beat breast cancer twice! I thought the first pen should be for this miraculous human being. My question is what color should the brass tubes be? The blank is an acrylic called pink crush (WXLB4434), sold by PSI. I do believe the brass would show through and I obviously don't want that. Any advice is welcomed, thanks!
 
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You could try to match the color of the blank as closely as possible, or you could just use white. If you want to darken the shade of pink use a darker color for the tube. The color you choose for the tube will have a huge impact on the final appearance of the pen. There are posts throughout the IAP that demonstrate the different effects caused by various color tubes on the exact same blank.
 
I actually like having the brass tube show through on my BCA pens.

The Hot Pink Crush is opaque enough that you need do nothing to conceal the brass ...

The Hot Pink Aquapearl, however, has thin threads of clear acrylic bands running through it randomly, and the brass tube inside shows through like floating bands of gold. I like that effect.


Your pink crush may be opaque enough to need nothing .... but if you're concerned, then taking a can of Krylon White and coating the outside of the brass tube will be quite sufficient to your needs. Make sure the paint cures first, before gluing up.

Also .... PRACTICE ON SOMETHING ELSE FIRST ... in fact, do 2 or 3 pens first before you do this one! You WILL want to do a different acrylic blank before you do this one. It's important to you, so please practice so that you have a chance at perfect. I understand that you want your first one to mean something to you and to her, but having nothing worth keeping is just not the right way to go.

Make sure you don't work the blank all the way down to the bushings! (acrylic can be chippy, and you'll get little divots all over) ... instead, stop a few millimeters short of your final dimensions and finish with 80 - 120 grit sandpaper before going for your final polish.

I like to work mine with wet micromesh up to 12,000 grit, and then polish with Meguiar's PlastX on the lathe, and then apply Turtle Wax Hard Shell polish, also on the lathe ...

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As you can see, the results are very nice. (Was entered into Summer Extravaganza BPC)
 
I have to agree about practicing on other materials. You could just not assemble any of them and then this would stil be the FIRST FINISHED pen you created. Maybe you will be luckier than I was, as I had multiple failures before I got one finished to my liking. Good luck and please post your finished pen
 
One thing I forgot to mention is that ,IMHO, it is better to paint the inside of the blank instead of the tube. That way you have a coat of paint on top of the glue. If you just paint the tube you might still see glue through the blank.

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mbroberg said:
One thing I forgot to mention is that ,IMHO, it is better to paint the inside of the blank instead of the tube. That way you have a coat of paint on top of the glue. If you just paint the tube you might still see glue through the blank.

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I agree with this. Painting the inside of the blank is definitely the best option.

As far as color, I usually try to copy the predominant color of the blank. If it has contrasting colors, I use a medium silver. I rarely use white anymore. It has a tendency to wash out the colors. And depending on the blank, it can really turn out kind of blah.
 
I paint my tubes, and also mix some white paint into the epoxy--seems to work well. It wouldn't hurt to paint the inside of the blank as well (make sure the tube will fit!). Didn't do this on my first couple pink acrylic pens and the tube did show through here and there. I say go for it! If you don't like the results, try it again.
 
Thank you all very much, what is the process you use to paint the inside of the blanks? The pen turned out pretty well along with 2 bolt actions!
 

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MrKugelschreiber said:
Thank you all very much, what is the process you use to paint the inside of the blanks? The pen turned out pretty well along with 2 bolt actions!
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Looking good. It's more than a pen. I also made a BC with Heart blanks.
Show the bolts sometime. They have to be the coolest pens on the planet.
 
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You've done awesome! It certainly doesn't look like a first effort! :)

I see that the Pink Crush isn't anywhere near as dark/opaque as the Hot Pink Crush...


As for the painting process .... I hear a lot of people just grab the appropriate color of Krylon and shoot some through the hole (probably outside the shop ...)

Some people grab a q-tip or toothpick that's been "chewed on" to give a brush at the tip ...

Some people mix up some epoxy and add a small dab of acrylic paint in the color that they want .... (and then that toothpick or q-tip ...)
 
Thank you...I took the class at Woodcraft and turned a Marble wood Slimline that turned out very nice, that was about 3 months ago. My schedule is nuts, so I just recently got around to buying all the equipment. My son really wanted to learn so I went crazy and spent well over 1k. I watched a ton of youtube videos while on the road at work and figured I would just dive into acrylics. I am very interested in casting my own with logo's, pictures, etc.

Thanks for the heads up on the internal blank prep with painting them.
 
Another method you could use would be to print your own decals and then apply them to your item (after first coat of CA, if working on wood), and then coat that with several layers of CA to keep it secured, and then do their finish sanding/polishing as usual. The nice thing about that feature is ... you could COMBINE it with a clear cast blank, to give a floating picture over a background.
 
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