Firefyter-emt
Member
Well tonight I attached those black tinted rods I made in the 3/4" PVC tubes. I was pleased to find the rods popped right out of the tubes after sitting for a week. (I figured I would let them sit as I did not need them sooner.) My first impression was that they looked good, nice and hard as well. I milled the ends square and it cut just fine and I kept the cut off for center bands.
I then milled up a blank for a cigar pen, the stuff drilled just as you would expect it to. Now I did cheat and used a set of gloss black powder-coated tubes in the blank just in case, but I think I could have gotten away without them.
It seems a hair soft turning, but when I mixed the clear, I think I could have used a hair more catalyst, even the clear cactus dried very slow. I was able to turn the pen down without any problems and then sanded it, and sanded it.... Man, black is hard to get perfect!
It took polish very well and shined up nice. Now my only issue is that it's more of a cinder black or even dark charcoal. This is most likely the powder itself, I did use matt black, but the gloss looks the same when a powder. Colors would be just fine, but it would retain what the powder looks like I have to guess. On the cigar it's noticeable, not really "bad" but you can tell the black does not match the kit. On a different kit, maybe one with black ti it would go very well, even a different look than a solid black pen.
Long post, but here to say that I will be picking up some more powder on e-bay to play with, the cost is a LOT less and I can still use it to powder-coat something if I want.
Here are some photos:
Oh, and I did notice tonight that my cigar bushings really stink. I never noticed how much play was in the bushing to tube fitment before. I will be turning a new set on my metal lathe before I make another kit. The ones I made for my Serria are so close of a fit, and because they do not have a hole thru the bushing, I can push one bushing out when I push in the second one just on air displacement!
I then milled up a blank for a cigar pen, the stuff drilled just as you would expect it to. Now I did cheat and used a set of gloss black powder-coated tubes in the blank just in case, but I think I could have gotten away without them.
It seems a hair soft turning, but when I mixed the clear, I think I could have used a hair more catalyst, even the clear cactus dried very slow. I was able to turn the pen down without any problems and then sanded it, and sanded it.... Man, black is hard to get perfect!
It took polish very well and shined up nice. Now my only issue is that it's more of a cinder black or even dark charcoal. This is most likely the powder itself, I did use matt black, but the gloss looks the same when a powder. Colors would be just fine, but it would retain what the powder looks like I have to guess. On the cigar it's noticeable, not really "bad" but you can tell the black does not match the kit. On a different kit, maybe one with black ti it would go very well, even a different look than a solid black pen.
Long post, but here to say that I will be picking up some more powder on e-bay to play with, the cost is a LOT less and I can still use it to powder-coat something if I want.
Here are some photos:
Oh, and I did notice tonight that my cigar bushings really stink. I never noticed how much play was in the bushing to tube fitment before. I will be turning a new set on my metal lathe before I make another kit. The ones I made for my Serria are so close of a fit, and because they do not have a hole thru the bushing, I can push one bushing out when I push in the second one just on air displacement!
