Honeycomb question

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tomtedesco

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I want to make a pen using aluminum honeycomb. I was told to soak the metal in white vinegar for about one hour to "rough up" the metal and allow the PR to stick better. Blank looked good but as it was turned the very small sections on the outside fell off. Now it has been suggested I use the acid bricklayers use to clean bricks. Any help would be appreciated. :confused:
 
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Dieseldoc

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With the alun honey comb blanks I have cast we're not cleaned with any special way, blow them off , insure they are the same temp as the alumlite(70 degrees plus), pressure pot for 4 hours at 60 psi and never had any bowl out.

I only turn my blanks with. Very sharp skew.

That is what I do, hope it held.

Charlie
 

Dieseldoc

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Epoxy resin will work better but I am guessing alumilite will work too because it does not shrink and pull away from the metal.

Interesting comment about using Epoxy resin as I have found out Alumlite works 100 percent of the time. I sure Epoxy resin would work too. However when gluing in tubes which are pre painted, with CA I get a blotchy looking color from the tube. When using Epoxy with colored tubes and putting color in the Epoxy before gluing in tube the blotchy problem is gone, tubes stay tight and don't have any blow outs. To insure that the ends of tube-blank stay solid I will after turning 50 percent of diameter put a little CA on both ends, then do the same thing just before reaching the correct diameter of the tube.
For sure making Alum Honey comb pen is a real challenge to get good.
 

Rachgard

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Jan 10, 2018
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Texas
I have turned about 6 pens from honeycomb blanks I have made myself. One of which I turned down to a slimline, which I think was almost a dumb idea, even though the pen ended up very pretty. I do not clean the aluminum before pouring. I do use alumilite and a pressure pot. I also use a carbide roughing gouge and only take off a tiny bit at a time. I go into these blanks knowing that they're going to take a while to make. I stop roughing when I'm about 1/8 of an inch out, or if there's chunks flying everywhere, I'll stop sooner. Then I take off material with 80 grit sandpaper. Like I said, it takes a while. With this method, I'm able to consistently do bigger pens with no blowout. But with the slimline I found that even with the gentle removal method I could still see separation, so I had to part off the ends and glue everything again. I probably could have prevented it had I put on some thin ca halfway through like dieseldoc said. I usually ca the ends after trimming them. IMG_9769.JPG
I think alumilite helps, but you have to be really cautious on the removal as well.
 

tomtedesco

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Jan 7, 2015
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Location
Centennial, CO
I have turned about 6 pens from honeycomb blanks I have made myself. One of which I turned down to a slimline, which I think was almost a dumb idea, even though the pen ended up very pretty. I do not clean the aluminum before pouring. I do use alumilite and a pressure pot. I also use a carbide roughing gouge and only take off a tiny bit at a time. I go into these blanks knowing that they're going to take a while to make. I stop roughing when I'm about 1/8 of an inch out, or if there's chunks flying everywhere, I'll stop sooner. Then I take off material with 80 grit sandpaper. Like I said, it takes a while. With this method, I'm able to consistently do bigger pens with no blowout. But with the slimline I found that even with the gentle removal method I could still see separation, so I had to part off the ends and glue everything again. I probably could have prevented it had I put on some thin ca halfway through like dieseldoc said. I usually ca the ends after trimming them. View attachment 175014
I think alumilite helps, but you have to be really cautious on the removal as well.

Thanks for all the reply's, sounds like PR may not be the way to go. Interesting idea about sanding to final diameter, may have to give that a try.
 
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