Hartwell85
Member
I was looking for a better way to apply an even coat of paint to the pen blank hole after being dissatisfied with the common techniques I found. I tried painting the hole using a Q-tip but did not always get an even coat. Also had to deal with cotton fiber fuzzies. Tried spray painting the hole after watching a video on YouTube but the results were disappointing. It was difficult to get sufficient coverage in the middle of the blank without having an excessively thick coat of paint at the ends. In addition, paint would usually settle to a localized thick coat on the blank that made it difficult or impossible to insert the tube without scraping paint out of the hole.
After much thought on the problem, I found that nylon straw cleaning brushes worked very well to easily apply an even coat of paint. I bought a set of multiple size brushes on Amazon (links below).
This method works with acrylic or enamel paints although acrylic paint dries faster.
To paint the hole:
I am getting good results with this technique. I always drill the hole slightly oversized to compensate for paint thickness.
Link to the Straw Cleaner Brush Kit that I use:
https://www.amazon.com/Hiware-Drink...db9df&pd_rd_wg=by8u9&pd_rd_i=B06XDK78GQ&psc=1
Alternate Straw Cleaner Brush Kit:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08LMJV5PH/ref=redir_mobile_desktop?_encoding=UTF8&*Version*=1&*entries*=0
After much thought on the problem, I found that nylon straw cleaning brushes worked very well to easily apply an even coat of paint. I bought a set of multiple size brushes on Amazon (links below).
This method works with acrylic or enamel paints although acrylic paint dries faster.
To paint the hole:
- Find a brush that is about the same size as the hole or slightly under size. You don't want to use a brush that fits tightly because it will scrape paint along the wall of the hole and splatter paint everywhere when you pull it out of the hole.
- Apply paint to the lower third of the brush. Either squeeze paint from the bottle onto the brush or roll the brush in a puddle of paint. Don't apply too much paint to start. If coverage is insufficient, you can add more paint to the brush and reapply or recoat after the first coat is dry.
- Insert the brush into the hole and apply the paint in a similar fashion as gluing the tube into the blank. Gentle motion works better than aggressive.
- On larger diameter holes, you made need to run the brush around the hole in a circular motion to get full coverage.
- If you observe light areas in the paint after it has dried, just apply a light coat again.
I am getting good results with this technique. I always drill the hole slightly oversized to compensate for paint thickness.
Link to the Straw Cleaner Brush Kit that I use:
https://www.amazon.com/Hiware-Drink...db9df&pd_rd_wg=by8u9&pd_rd_i=B06XDK78GQ&psc=1
Alternate Straw Cleaner Brush Kit:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08LMJV5PH/ref=redir_mobile_desktop?_encoding=UTF8&*Version*=1&*entries*=0
