Picture on tube?

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Chuck B

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LOML asked me a interesting question so I come to the experts for an answer. Her question is can we put a small picture of our puppy around a tube & cast it in clear resin?
 
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Chuck B

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How would you adhere pic to tube? I haven't trid to do any casting yet but I am definitely inrigued with the possibilities. What would I need to start? Company to get the supplies from? Basically I need any & all info to cast my own resins.
Thanks for the replies.[:D]

Chuck
 

mrplace

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I did something similar (well tried). I painted the tubes a light pink color and then put those puffy style stickers of tinkerbell on the tubes. The cast come out nice, but I didnt seal the barrel and resin leaked in.

The only thing there is to do, is to try it.[;)] It would be hard to say if the photo colors would bleed with the resin chemicals. I would have more than one photo and experiment first.
 

ctEaglesc

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YOu don't need to cast it.
Turn a blank out of a light colored wood, the straighter the profile the better as also the lighter the wood.Maple aspen comes to mind.
Reproduce the picture on a porous paer, similar to news print.
Bond the picture to the wooden blank.
Stabilize and sand the blank.
Doing it this way doesn't give it the appearance of a "cheap pen like you get free from advertizing companies which are considedred "novelty pens"
You could also "frame it" in a nice wood.
I would do a search on decopage and use a little imagination, otherwise it will look like a plastic pen with a picture in it.Kind of like the pen with a picture of a woman in it who takes her clothes off when you turn it upside down.
 

wood-of-1kind

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Originally posted by ctEaglesc
<br />otherwise it will look like a plastic pen with a picture in it.Kind of like the pen with a picture of a woman in it who takes her clothes off when you turn it upside down.

Hey Eagle, I used to have one of them pens. Are you saying it ain't art and a collector item?[;)]

-Peter-
 

Chuck B

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Originally posted by ctEaglesc
<br />
Reproduce the picture on a porous paer, similar to news print.
Bond the picture to the wooden blank.
Stabilize and sand the blank.

Eagle, how do you reproduce pic on a "porous"paper I just don't understand that part[?]
 

Malainse

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Originally posted by wood-of-1kind
<br />
Originally posted by ctEaglesc
<br />otherwise it will look like a plastic pen with a picture in it.Kind of like the pen with a picture of a woman in it who takes her clothes off when you turn it upside down.

Hey Eagle, I used to have one of them pens. Are you saying it ain't art and a collector item?[;)]

-Peter-

I still have one....[:D]
 

angboy

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Originally posted by wood-of-1kind
<br />
Originally posted by ctEaglesc
<br />otherwise it will look like a plastic pen with a picture in it.Kind of like the pen with a picture of a woman in it who takes her clothes off when you turn it upside down.

Hhhhmmm... maybe I should try making one of those as my next endeavor! [}:)][}:)]
 

ctEaglesc

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Originally posted by recon
<br />
Originally posted by ctEaglesc
<br />
Reproduce the picture on a porous paer, similar to news print.
Bond the picture to the wooden blank.
Stabilize and sand the blank.

Eagle, how do you reproduce pic on a "porous"paper I just don't understand that part[?]

I have made pens out of newspaper.After doing that I thought it would ne a neat idea to make one out of graph paper since I use it a lot for my designs.Total disater!
The graph paper did not "wick" up the CA.
I suggested a "porous" paper much like news print.
I think it is available in office supply stores.
YOu could try copy paper but I believe the "better quality" papers MAY pose a problem.
I DO KNOW that newspaper and CA work well though I have never wanted to encase a picture in a pen.
THis is where thinking outside the box comes in handy.
My first post was a suggestion as to how I would approach this idea not necessarily the best or the only.
I jsut feel that once it is encased in plastic turning it is a no brainer and not much of a challenge.Plastic is plastice and there are enough plastic pens out there already(Most are sold by Walmart.)
Your idea is intriguing becasue your pen is special because it is YOUR puppy.Because of the special meaning it would have (especially to your wife since it is her suggestion)I thought it would be nice to make the pen something that didn't look like it was a freebie sent through the mail.
My .02.[^]
 

Radman

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Don't remember who, hope he's reading, but some time ago a guy posted pics and if I'm not mistaken, a tutorial on just such a pen. His was golf themed. It was VERY nice.
 

its_virgil

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]Originally posted by ctEaglesc
<br />YOu don't need to cast it.
<b>But it will work...It's been done before. I would do as eagle suggested and turn a wooden barrel down to below the bushing and glue the picture to the wood then cast it in resin. It will make more of the picture useable...essentially making the tube larger. Print the picture on computer paper.</b>

You could also "frame it" in a nice wood
<b>A good idea and would add a nice touch to the picture idea.</b>

Doing it this way (using CA over the picture as was suggested) doesn't give it the appearance of a "cheap" pen like you get free from advertizing companies which are considedred "novelty pens"
<b>Neither does using resin, in my opinion. But that's a matter of taste and preference. Do the one you will like.</b>

otherwise it will look like a plastic pen with a picture in it.
<b>And what is CA? It is a plastic! Casting in resin is a great way to do this project as is using CA, although I've not done any CA encapsulating. I have done lots of resin encapsulating and don't find it to look cheap or novel. Just my opinion as were the other posts in this thread. Show us your finished result however you decide to proceed.

Do a good turn daily!
Don</b>





Originally posted by ctEaglesc
<br />YOu don't need to cast it.
Turn a blank out of a light colored wood, the straighter the profile the better as also the lighter the wood.Maple aspen comes to mind.
Reproduce the picture on a porous paer, similar to news print.
Bond the picture to the wooden blank.
Stabilize and sand the blank.
Doing it this way doesn't give it the appearance of a "cheap pen like you get free from advertizing companies which are considedred "novelty pens"
You could also "frame it" in a nice wood.
I would do a search on decopage and use a little imagination, otherwise it will look like a plastic pen with a picture in it.Kind of like the pen with a picture of a woman in it who takes her clothes off when you turn it upside down.
 

ctEaglesc

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Sorry Don there is a difference.
When I made my first denim pen I was turning off the denim impregnated with CA the material was cotton.
Others have wrapped denim on a tube much like the advervising pens.
The skill level is much more difficult than turning clear palstic.
In this instance a picture wrapped on a tube would be the same as an advertizing pen.They are a dime a dozen.(Sometimes literally)
 

its_virgil

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Sorry Eagle. You're opinion and my opinion differ...Does that make yours right? Or mine wrong? I don't think my snake pens look any thing like what you describe as being cheap and a dime a dozen and it's the same process. Of course you're entitled to think whatever you want..but, so am I. Now, let's go make some pens.
Do a good turn daily!
Don

Originally posted by ctEaglesc
<br />Sorry Don there is a difference.
When I made my first denim pen I was turning off the denim impregnated with CA the material was cotton.
Others have wrapped denim on a tube much like the advervising pens.
The skill level is much more difficult than turning clear palstic.
In this instance a picture wrapped on a tube would be the same as an advertizing pen.They are a dime a dozen.(Sometimes literally)
 

Skye

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Don’t know if this will come out wrong or not, but here goes:

I think there will be a difference, maybe not to the caster but to the viewer, between a puffy tinkerbell sticker and the skin of an once living animal.

The amount of work will be very similar, but I'm not going to look at a pen and say "Wow! There's a tinkerbell sticker inside the pen!" as likely to say "Wow! That's rattlesnake skin!" The work and process will be about the same, but the outcome will be different.
 

BRobbins629

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Like this?

2006101418133_Dog%20Pen.jpg
<br />

Printed this on photo paper, cut down center of blank, glued around and cast resin as Don suggested. Have also printed pictures and patterns on label stock, stuck to tube and cast clear resin around.
 

its_virgil

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Thanks Bruce for posting your pen. I knew that what Chuck asked about had been done but I could not remember who had done so. Nice job...looks great.
Do a good turn daily!
Don
Originally posted by BRobbins629
<br />Like this?


Printed this on photo paper, cut down center of blank, glued around and cast resin as Don suggested. Have also printed pictures and patterns on label stock, stuck to tube and cast clear resin around.
 

Chuck B

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Eagle,
Thank you for the good info about puting it on wood & turning below bushings. And everyone else thank you for all of the replies.

But actually it is 2 pens one of the puppy we have now & one of the dog we had for 17 yrs until I had to put her down 6 months ago. For LOML,& I it was like losing a child. My son also took it hard we got Panda when he was 2 yrs old.

You have all given me some great info on how to proceed. & after the holidays I will try it. & also try to turn it into a "tutorial" if the Admin tink it's good enough.

Chuck
 

Roy99664

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I have a question on your picture pen Bruce. Did you print the picture your self or take it to a print shop? Can the "normal, run of the mill" home printer reproduce the quaility needed for a picture this small?
The pen is great by the way.
Roy
 

Skye

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I would say no. Not only would the image quality be questionable but the ink would probably start to disolve in the resin. Maybe not on a color laser printer, but photos would probably still be better.
 

BRobbins629

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The pen I posted was scanned on a low end HP "all-in-one" printer and shrunk to fit around the pen. I did print this one on premium photo paper at the highest resolution available, so yes - a run of the mill printer will do.

While for this pen and a few others that are similar, I did CA the picture to the cut diwn section of the blank, I am also experimenting with printing on label stock and just sticking that to the blank. Its not as glossy as the photopaper but a little easier to handle.
 

BRobbins629

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Originally posted by Skye
<br />I would say no. Not only would the image quality be questionable but the ink would probably start to disolve in the resin. Maybe not on a color laser printer, but photos would probably still be better.

I use epoxy to cast over the pictures and have never had a problem with ink bleed. Just use regular ink jet cartridges - not the photo cartridges.

As for image quality, I am shrinking the picture and they have all looked pretty good.
 

Roy99664

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I didn't mean to hijack this post or be a pest, but I'm having trouble wrapping this much abused brain around this procedure. Do you cut the indent for the picture in the blank to below bushing diameter while the blank is still square and then fill the cut out with resin, or do you turn the pen first then inlay the picture and fill with resin or epoxy and finish.
Hope this makes sense.
Thanks
 

BRobbins629

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Originally posted by Roy99664
<br />I didn't mean to hijack this post or be a pest, but I'm having trouble wrapping this much abused brain around this procedure. Do you cut the indent for the picture in the blank to below bushing diameter while the blank is still square and then fill the cut out with resin, or do you turn the pen first then inlay the picture and fill with resin or epoxy and finish.
Hope this makes sense.
Thanks
I turn the blank round, but proud of the bushings. For the Euro style pens, the indent O.D. is approximaely .100" to .150" below the final O.D. of the pen.

Turn
20061018101856_Photo%20Pen%20step%201.jpg
<br />

Mount Picture (shown on lathe, but I take off to mount)
20061018101934_Photo%20Pen%20Step%202.jpg
<br />

Cast
20061018101957_Photo%20Pen%20Step%203.jpg
<br />
 

Roy99664

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Thanks Bruce, I think I finally got it! My Grandaughter requested a pen for her birthday and I thought this might make it a bit more special. Thanks again.
Roy
 
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