Todd in PA
Member
I've been painting the holes of my acrylic blanks black. With the goal of creating a light barrier, black seems the obvious choice. I've been using spray paint because it's thin and doesn't build up the wall thickness too quickly. It takes 4 coats of black on a translucent blank usually before I can see no light through the blank when held close to a bright light.
But black really doesn't show off the colors vibrantly. I bought a can or orange for a specific pen that I was making as a birthday gift, and wanted the color to be vibrant. After 9 coats I didn't have a light barrier. I switched to black and reached a light barrier that I was happy with at the 12th coat. Well you guessed it…the tube doesn't remotely fit. I had to drill out the hole again and start over.
The spray paint, even the black, really doesn't stick to the plastic well. It tends to run off and most of it ends up on my catch pan. I tried craft paint and q-tip before, but it seems too thick, making the tube too tight after a few coats.
By the way, I do drill up a half size when I'm planning to paint to leave room for paint and glue. For example, if the kit calls for 10.5mm, I'll use 27/64", which is 10.7156. I also add some black craft paint to my epoxy. This of course reduces the wall thickness of the acrylic after turning, which is sometimes a detriment to the finished appearance.
What specific brand and style paint do you use for color?
What paints have you written off as ineffective for this application?
How many coats do you apply?
But black really doesn't show off the colors vibrantly. I bought a can or orange for a specific pen that I was making as a birthday gift, and wanted the color to be vibrant. After 9 coats I didn't have a light barrier. I switched to black and reached a light barrier that I was happy with at the 12th coat. Well you guessed it…the tube doesn't remotely fit. I had to drill out the hole again and start over.
The spray paint, even the black, really doesn't stick to the plastic well. It tends to run off and most of it ends up on my catch pan. I tried craft paint and q-tip before, but it seems too thick, making the tube too tight after a few coats.
By the way, I do drill up a half size when I'm planning to paint to leave room for paint and glue. For example, if the kit calls for 10.5mm, I'll use 27/64", which is 10.7156. I also add some black craft paint to my epoxy. This of course reduces the wall thickness of the acrylic after turning, which is sometimes a detriment to the finished appearance.
What specific brand and style paint do you use for color?
What paints have you written off as ineffective for this application?
How many coats do you apply?