Painting Tubes

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Rosewood

Member
Joined
Apr 27, 2009
Messages
46
Location
George County Ms.
OK I am fairly new at this, having only made 50 or so pens. Sold only about $450.00 worth, mainly Slim Lines. I am venturing into other types. Received some semi-clear blanks from one of the fine folks here on this site. I used "Testors Model" gloss white spray paint"on the tubes. I scratched them up fairly well with 220 grit sandpaper. Tried a trial fit this AM and half of the paint was scraped off while inserting. What did I do wrong? I painted them yesterday afternoon, let them dry over night.
 
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Try "drilling" a slightly larger hole so that you do not "force" the brass tube too much. Also, reverse paint (paint inside of the blank) as well using a Q-tip swab.
 
I have been using Rustoleum Painters Touch and have had good luck with that. I also paint the inside of the blank as recommended by Curtis, and for good measure a little bit in the epoxy as well. I believe (just not 100% sure) that I have seen a tutorial where Curtis uses Testors to just paint the inside of the blanks and not the tubes. Hope this helps.

Bill
 
Yup, either Testors in the drilled hole or Rusyoleum spray on sanded tubes. Be sure it dries very well. I tend to get impatient so I paint the last thing before the lights are turned off at the end of the day then let it be till morning, that seems to be long enough.
WB
 
just the inside of the blank

I used to paint the tubes also, but you can still see the glue through a fairly translucent blank. I've switched to painting just the inside of the blank, and it works excellent! I use testors model paint (I especially like the silver as it coats thinly and well), but I saw on another thread that "ceramcoat" acrylic works even better so I picked up some to try, but havent gotten to it yet.
good luck!
Jim
 
I had the same issue with the paint scraping off the inside of the blank and exterior of the tube. I have been trying the following routine with good success:
- Paint the inside of the blank
- Paint the exterior of the tube
- Mix up the epoxy, adding a bit of paint to color the glue
- Apply glue to the tube, and insert into the blank while the paint is wet
Tubes are easy to install, no brass bleed-thru, and no adhesion problems so far.
I use artist's acrylic paint, as it has very high pigment content. A little goes a long way. I get it at a local craft store.
joec
 
Is it cost productive to just buy white tubes? My 25th wedding anniv is coming up (next yr) and I want to make the old wedding party (and our family) pens. I was going to use labels with our wedding date and a 25th anniv logo on it. It would only be about 15 - 20 pens.
What ya think??
 
A problem I've encountered with some of the acrylics is caused by drilling. The acrylic leaves small rough residue inside the hole after removing the bit from the hole. My painted tubes were getting scratched when I test fit them in the holes.

I started a practice of looking in the holes and possibly running a small round file through the holes to remove the small burrs from the inside.

Made the hole a lot cleaner.
 
I found out the hard way that on some blanks you will still be able to see the glue no matter what color you paint the tubes. Not sure if it's the way I glue up the tubes or not, but I have since changed to painting the inside of the blank as well as a little paint in the epoxy and have not had a problem. If you paint the inside of the blanks then I think the white tubes would be a waste of money. Hope this helps.

Bill
 
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