First resin pen

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Danny Linguini

Danny Linguini

Member
Joined
Nov 26, 2025
Messages
67
Location
RI, USA
My first attempt with plastic. This is a Duchess kit from Penn State with purple Aquabright. I can't find anything wrong with it. The barrel lines up perfectly with the hardware on both ends, the twist mechanism took one adjustment after a test fit, the finish came out as good as I had hoped with micro mesh pads and One Step Polish. I think I like this stuff. Any criticisms or suggestions are more than welcome.

IMG_1822.jpeg
 
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Sometimes it is hard to tell from the picture, but it looks like you can see the brass tube through the blank down by the tip/nib where it is normally turned thinner. You should consider painting the inside of the blank before you glue the tubes in next time, or at least paint the brass tube before you glue it in. I usually just hit the hole in the blank with either a brush or swab with craft acrylic paint or with white spray lacquer. (I like lacquer because it dries really fast - like in 15-30 minutes.

Of course, congratulations on your first resin pen! I like it! - Dave
 
egnald said:
Sometimes it is hard to tell from the picture, but it looks like you can see the brass tube through the blank down by the tip/nib where it is normally turned thinner. You should consider painting the inside of the blank before you glue the tubes in next time, or at least paint the brass tube before you glue it in. I usually just hit the hole in the blank with either a brush or swab with craft acrylic paint or with white spray lacquer. (I like lacquer because it dries really fast - like in 15-30 minutes.

Of course, congratulations on your first resin pen! I like it! - Dave
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What Dave said. I still struggle with some resins for even color. Painting helps, but the color you paint with makes a big difference, too. There have been quite a few discussions on that topic here.

It's a great looking pen, though!
 
egnald said:
Sometimes it is hard to tell from the picture, but it looks like you can see the brass tube through the blank down by the tip/nib where it is normally turned thinner. You should consider painting the inside of the blank before you glue the tubes in next time, or at least paint the brass tube before you glue it in. I usually just hit the hole in the blank with either a brush or swab with craft acrylic paint or with white spray lacquer. (I like lacquer because it dries really fast - like in 15-30 minutes.

Of course, congratulations on your first resin pen! I like it! - Dave
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Thanks for that. I didn't notice until you mentioned it. I actually bought a set of acrylic paint pens just for that, but these blanks didn't look that transparent before I glued the tube in.

Thanks all for the kind words and suggestions. And yes, now I am hooked!
 
Nice work and a very pretty color on the resin! I actually saw the brass tube as part of the resin gradient before reading the comments, and it doesn't look bad in my opinion.
 
Just want to note - the pic above was taken under a pretty bright shop light. Under normal light, you really can't see the tube. Outside under sunlight it will also probably be visible. Nonetheless, it's still something I need to be aware of with this kind of material. I had already drilled and glued a few more of these (one purple, two blue, and two yellow/gold) before I saw this feedback; but going forward, I'll get in the habit of painting the tubes before gluing.

On that subject - if I don't have a paint color that matches the blank material (this purple, for example), any suggestions for how to treat the tube?
 
Danny Linguini said:
Just want to note - the pic above was taken under a pretty bright shop light. Under normal light, you really can't see the tube. Outside under sunlight it will also probably be visible. Nonetheless, it's still something I need to be aware of with this kind of material. I had already drilled and glued a few more of these (one purple, two blue, and two yellow/gold) before I saw this feedback; but going forward, I'll get in the habit of painting the tubes before gluing.

On that subject - if I don't have a paint color that matches the blank material (this purple, for example), any suggestions for how to treat the tube?
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Oooh - you've opened up two hot topics that make me want to go get the popcorn....

1 - do you paint the tube or paint the hole in the blank? (both???)
2 - what color do you paint things?

For the half a penny that my personal answers to the two questions are worth.
1- it depends. I have one particular pen I make that I use a black tube with. Fortunately, Exotic Blanks sells sierra tubes in various colors so I just keep a stock of them on hand. I keep some white ones too. Buying them this way allows me to be a little lazy. Generally speaking, I typically paint the hole in the blank. I've had a couple people recommend the apple blossom paints at WalMart and they seem to do a really nice job so I use those.
2 - It also depends. I have a dowel that I painted with various colors a while back and I'll carefully try to turn a section of a blank down to nearly the correct diameter after drilling the correct hole. Once I have the blank close then I'll stick that dowel in there and see what color I like.

Mark Dreyer has a neat video on youtube in his 10 minutes to better pen turning where he shows the affect of different interior colors on the pens he makes. It's well worth the watch to do a little research and get some ideas on how to make pens stand out.
 
bugradx2 said:
1 - do you paint the tube or paint the hole in the blank? (both???)
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Food for thought from personal experience...

If you paint the tube, use sharpie marker on the tube, use colored tubes... it is absolutely possible that you will see the epoxy (or whatever adhesive you use) through the blank as it turns down and becomes translucent. I have had a few that I was not happy with. IYKYK.

For best results... paint the inside of the drilled blank.

If you are a belt and suspenders type... you can also quickly color the tube with a Sharpie marker. I bought a set of the Sharpie Brush Markers so I had color choices and they do a quick jobl.
 
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