Is camo opaque enough?

[Phillip Kelley]

Does anyone know if a camo blank from PSI is opaque enough to use without painting the tube black? I am in a hurry (it is the adult A.D.D.)
to make a pen & don't know wheter to use the brass tube unpainted or not...

 

[LanceD]

When in doubt always paint. Use acrylic paint and speed the drying process by putting it in a warm place.

 

[Ambidex]

camo

I made an order for 100 of them...didn't paint any and they all turned out fine

 

[commercialbuilder]

I think it will depend on how thin you have to turn the ends of the blank, each kit is different. You can use Krylon Acrylic spray pain on the tubes and glue them in in 15 minutes in my basement shop.

 

[ChrisN]

What I do if I am not sure is I cut and drill the blank like normal. I then slide the tube inside of the blank WITHOUT gluing it in, and put it on the bushings. I turn it down to a bit above the bushings. Then I can pull the tube out and see if it changes the color of the blank. If it does, I paint the tube and/or blank. I then glue the tube in, trim the blank, and finish turning.

 

[longbeard]

I have made a few where when finished, you could see the brass tube not thru the blank, but between the color lines, example, if it was a woodland camo, between the green and tan colors, you could see a bit of the tube between the colors, but not thru the colors. I paint the blank and the tube when i turn those.

 

[Ambidex]

I made an order for 100 of them...didn't paint any and they all turned out fine

Let me qualify...I got the clicker kits from Woodcraft a couple years ago as there really wasn't much else out there. And as a couple other comments said, perhaps the walls may be thinner on the PSI kits. If I remember correctly they had 8mm tubes and there was quite a bit of meat left on the blanks..Best of luck!

 

[PeetyInMich]

With most blanks I think it depends on the final thickness once its turned, I typically hold the drilled blank under the light on my drill press, and if I see any "glow" in the drill hole I know I must paint since it will only get worse as it gets turned thinner. But when in doubt, play it safe and blow some paint down the hole.

 

[jcm71]

I have made several 50 Cal and 30 Cal pens from PSI with the PSI camo blanks. No problems on the tube showing through.

 

[Dan Masshardt]

What's so bad about brass anyway?

I think it's a nice color.

 

[longbeard]

I made an order for 100 of them...didn't paint any and they all turned out fine

Let me qualify...I got the clicker kits from Woodcraft a couple years ago as there really wasn't much else out there. And as a couple other comments said, perhaps the walls may be thinner on the PSI kits. If I remember correctly they had 8mm tubes and there was quite a bit of meat left on the blanks..Best of luck!

I must clarify also...my camo blanks came from CSUSA both styles of camo blanks. Woodland camo blank and the other was the light tannish colored one. Twist bullet pens, cigar style, couple slims, there was always a spot or two that you could see the tube between the colors.