Pink SL - CRITIQUE

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JimGo

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My sister graduated from college a few weeks ago, and I'm going to be sending this up to her as part of her graduation present. It is a homebrew PR slimline that I cast using the ice cube tray method. I didn't get to swirl these, and you can see it in the resin; it still looks neat, but the pearl is a little more uniform in this than I'm used to, or than I'd prefer. However, the uniformity and depth of the color meant that I could turn this as a SL and not have to paint the tubes or inside of the blank (thank goodness, because I forgot!).

As always, comments, criticisms, critiques, etc are appreciated.

Hot%20Pink%20PR%20Pen%202.jpg


Hot%20Pink%20PR%20Pen%201.jpg
 
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coach

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Nice color. Fit and finish looks good also. When you make the ice tray method, can you turn larger pens also? I get more requests for Euro homebrews.
 

JimGo

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Coach, Thanks for the comments. When I cast using the icecube tray, my blanks come out approximately 3/4" in diameter, and can be up to about 3" long or so (may actually be closer to 3.5") (a full tube is almost exactly 1 oz of resin, too, which makes measuring easy). I love it, because each tube is nice and small, which means less waste, and the ability to do a single pen's worth of a given color.

The trays are described and shown here:
http://www.penturners.org/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=6751&SearchTerms=ice,cube,tray
 

alamocdc

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Lookin' good, Jim! Travis, I bought one and they work great. The only problem I've had is that some of the first batch were a little hard to get free at first. I'll use PAM (or vaseline) on the rest to alleviate this problem.
 

JimGo

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Billy,
Not to be contrarian, but I haven't had too many problems with the blanks sticking, except one. I find that a couple of quick whacks with a 1/2" diameter transfer punch will pop most of the stickers out without a problem. I also added some acetone to the top of one particularly nasty tube, and a few whacks of the transfer punch allowed the acetone to get down in between the blank and the tray, and that allowed the blank to slide out.

Did you try the PAM yet? I'd be curious to see how it impacts the blank.

Oh, and thanks for the compliment!
 

elody21

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Jim, I love the color!. it seems the older I get the more I appreciate bright colors!! This pen does not need it, but for other slim lines, instead of painting the tube try dying the inside of the drilled blank. I happen to use leather dye with a q- tip but I think if your resin dye is liquid, it would work very well! You get a more uniform coloring! The drilling roughs up the the inside enough to accept the dye! For sticking I use vaseline!
 
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Looks great!! We actually made some pink similar to that this weekend, using your ice cube tray tip. After a little popping & wiggling around, the sticks came out fairly easy. Used a wooden spoon to help one along, tho!

Our pink looks almost just like yours-- but we haven't drilled it yet. Used the PearlEx recommended, with the red-blue, which gives it an iridescence thats out of this world! And sprinkled in some micro fine pink glitter-- which I wish we'd used more.

Congratulations to your daughter on her graduation!! Whats' she gonna do now?
 

JimGo

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Thanks Mike and Connie! It's actually my sister, not my daughter (no kids for me yet!), and her degree is in physical education. I'm not sure that she'll actually start teaching, but that's another story.

Have you tried the interference colors? Some of them are REALLY cool!
 
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Oops@@ Just shows I can't read LOL Or at least I can't comprehend LOL

Haven't tried them yet (I do'n tthink LOL theres a big block of green that needs popping out-- can't recall what we used on it!)... got any suggestions? We were wondering what they interfered with LOL

Michaels has their 40% off coupon this week. I've a feeling we'll be back there tonight, buying the other set LOL

LOL on the whether she'll start teaching or not. You gotta remember...schools will do ANYTHING in the name of sports...so have her apply at schools that also have coaching positions open. My oldest switched from being an actuary to teaching HS (talk about your pay decrease!), doesn't have a teaching certificate (But did graduate salutorian of her college class while playing FP softball, so that probaly helped lol) but they hired HER to teach HS algebra & geometry...and to be assistant softball coach. So, tell her to go for it!!!
 

JimGo

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The interference colors are REALLY cool. They give the blanks an iridescent (sp?) quality that is different from the pearl alone. I have the interference blue and the interference violet, and both are pretty neat.

With that Michael's coupon, since they have the sample kits, I'd go for one of those; they are pretty good bang for the buck, especially at 40% off!

Oh, and I'd try the acetone trick for the one that won't come out. Just pour a little bit on the top of the blank, then wiggle the blank a bit. The acetone will seep down between the blank and the tray and should clean out any part of the blank that is sticking. I was amazed how easily the piece popped out!
 
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