Quality "acrylic" blanks

[RunnerVince]

I've been doing a lot of acrylics lately and have gotten some great advice from everyone here on my own process. Now that I've gotten the "me" problems under control, I'm starting to look a lot more critically at the blanks themselves.

I know a translucent blank is always going to look different when turned to size for a pen, but a lot of the blanks I've done have changed drastically. One was a deep blue, and went almost aqua once it was down to size for a Pluma kit. Another was a yellow that went basically clear. Still others look opaque as a blank but then go way into translucent or transparent territory once turned. I assume all of this has to do with the type and amount of dye/pigment put into the blank, but since I don't make my own blanks, the only control I have is to purchase quality blanks.

I'm looking for suggestions on quality "acrylic" blanks, where the color stays in the same ballpark once the blank is turned to size. Who makes them, and where do you buy them from? Are there any you avoid?

My last large batch of acrylics came from PSI, and the quality was all over the place, though I wasn't really paying attention to the specific brands I was buying at the time. I'd love everyone's help in knowing what to look for next time I buy.

 

[Darios]

I haven't dove into acrylic quality, but on tactic I've cribbed from here is I have a stick that I've painted with each of the colors from my ye olde testers paint set.
I take a thin slice off the end of the blank and run it over the various colors on the stick to get an idea of what the end result might be like.

 

[RKB]

Some of the best 'acrylic' blanks I have turned are Diamondcast Round Blanks.

McKenzie Penworks

McKenzie Penworks US Made Pen Kits and Home of DiamondCast Pen Blanks

www.mckenziepenworks.com

 

[Aurelius]

The transparency of an acrylic blank will depend heavily on the type and amount of the various pigments used. If you are concerned about how it will look, you could always cut a thin piece off the end, like 1/8", and then polish the face to give you an idea. As a bonus, you then have a chip that you can label and keep for reference later.

 

[egnald]

Well, here is my "little bit" of knowledge, or perhaps I should say what I think about some of the plastic blanks that are available commercially.

I love the look of Inlace Acrylester (and the price). It comes in so many gorgeous and chatoyant colors and I think it shimmers more than most of the other plastic blanks I have worked with. I think the resin is polyester based PolyLite and it is designed to be filled heavily (with lots of mica powders). Also, because it is so hard and brittle it polishes to a glasslike finish. However, I don't like to turn it because of it's brittleness - even using negative rake cutters and by following the guidelines provided by the owner/manufacturer (WoodTurningZ).

Instead of Inlace Acrylester, I opt for Rhino or Rhinoplastic blanks which are made from a highly filled polyester resin. They are still very hard and polish nicely, but they are not as brittle as Inlace, and the price is in the Inlace Acrylester range. I have found painting the inside of the hole (and sometimes the tube too) provides good insurance that the brass isn't going to show through when it gets turned down.

I have also had great success using the DiamondCast pen blanks that come from McKenzie Penworks. They use a clear urethane resin and fill it with dyes, powdered pigments, and industrial diamond dust. They turn easily and polish nicely to a high gloss finish.

Probably the easiest material for me to turn has been Alumilite Clear (or Clear Slow) blanks. Like DiamondCast, it is a urethane resin and is on the far side of the spectrum from Inlace Acrylester when it comes to hardness and brittleness. It's also the resin that many of the people that cast their own blanks use. The price is typically higher, but it is worth it to have a blank that turns so nicely. Since the resin is softer, some turners add a couple of coats of CA to the blank to add a harder outer, protective finish to help keep the blank from loosing it's glossiness through handling and use.

I know that a lot of blank casters also use a polyester resin called Silmar 41. It's not quite as hard or brittle as the Inlace Acrylester so it turns easier. I have some blanks that were cast using Silmar 41, but I haven't turned any of them yet, so I can't really comment about them.

I think that Mica Pearl blanks are also made with some kind of polyester resin. With it's pearlescence quality I'm sure that painting the hole/tube would be necessary.

There are also blank makers that use Alumilite Amazing Clear Cast or Liquid Diamonds which are both epoxy resins. One of the big benefits is that they have a thinner viscosity and a longer cure time than others, so they can be cast without using a pressure pot and still achieve a bubble free appearance.

Anyhow, that's my take on a few of the popular trade named blanks that are available. There are lots of previous posts on IAP about the various blanks and resins, so I would suggest that you use the "Search" function and poke around to get more details on any of the specific blank "brands?" that you are curious about.

Regards,
Dave

 

[Hippie3180]

The opacity does in fact have to do with the dyes/colorants used along with proportions. Alumilite dyes are mostly translucent, so the thinner you turn your material down the less saturated, more translucent lighter the color becomes. There are opaque dyes that stay much more true when turned. Micas will also remain translucent unless used in a larger quantity. You can create some opaqueness with the translucent dyes by adding the opaque white or black, but this changes the value of the translucent color significantly ie; adding white makes the translucent color more pastel which can be undesirable.

 

[JohnU]

Lots of good info above. Also, if you reverse paint the hole, in the drilled blanks, with a color similar to the blank, you won't get the drastic color loss once the blank is turned. You can also have fun with different colors to change the end results.

 

[bugradx2]

So a pair of your questions are who makes good blanks and where do we buy them?

Exotic Blanks has a TON of blanks (of all types) and other types of blanks on their site. JohnU isn't giving himself any credit for the wonderful art that he has there but I'm going to. I've also bought some blanks from the Pensmiths (both online at at the MPG) that I've used for pens too. Resin Werks is another site I've used for NCAA colors. I'd have to double check but pretty sure the Pensmiths and Resin Werks both use alumilite.

As noted above, depending on the transparency/translucence of the blank I would follow the advice of the others to look at painting the hole. It can and does dramatically change the color. Depending on time and gumption, I'll order two blanks sometimes and turn one down carefully without a tube in it. I mean very carefully.... so that I can take a dowel that I have painted with various colors and put it in the blank to see what might be the neatest color to put in it. I think most people do white or black but honestly sometimes a red, purple, or something random looks really darn cool.

As far as alumilite, I have no scientific measurement to comment on but I've generally not had color loss or change from square blank to pen diameter. There are times the pattern has changed for better or worse on some blanks but thats the random nature of the beast a little. I will say that alumilite turns super easy and is not "brittle" like some of the other types of resins that I've used.

 

[jttheclockman]

My opinion, If you really want the best of the best and are willing to pay for them, then Trustone is the way to go as well as any of the Italian older blanks. The rest is a guessing game. All these answers again goes back to what people like to turn and there is no science behind it. One resin better than another is again no science behind it. I will say this as a blank is made thinner it will lose color refraction. Less material so that is science. Even some Trustone blanks can change colors with back painting with different color paints. Good luck in your quest. The best answer I can give is learn to deal with different blanks and decide what you want the final product to look like. Painting the inside of the blank is always a good safety net to learn about.

 

[Lew]

If you haven't used paint for either the hole in the blank or the tube itself or both, then you will be amazed at the difference in the end result. Take your yellow blank that turned almost translucent. If you pain the tube or hole with yellow paint (a common one to use is Testors model paint) you'll be amazed at how the color comes back. If you use a different color paint, it will change the way the pen looks. I have used different colors on one tube but I wasn't pleased with the result so I haven't tried it again. There are a lot of references on this site to painting the blank or tube. You might want to look them up and give it a try. If you haven't done it before, it's worth the effort. Best of luck.

 

[egnald]

Here is another one of my anecdotes. I have some really nice Acrylic Acetate blanks called Tortoise Shell that I bought with the intention of using it on a kit-less pen. One day I decided maybe I would use it to make a closed end kit pen because I haven't made the leap to kit-less yet.

Anyhow, I prepared the blanks, drilled, and glued the tubes in. I made the assumption that the inside of the blank would need to be painted, however, being too impatient to do any kind of testing, I chose white -- usually a good choice for most plastic blanks as it usually keeps the brightness and vibrance of the blank after turning.

Much to my dismay as I turned the cap of the pen down to near it's final dimension, my folly became grossly apparent. The closed end (undrilled 1/4-inch or so) of the blank looked great, but wow, the area that had the tube was significantly different. The gorgeous reddish browns in the blank had turned a pale yellow!

So, to prepare for the next time, I sliced off a scrap piece of the blank into 1/16 inch thick pieces and painted one side with various colors that I had on hand. My experiment confirmed what John Underhill already said in this thread, painting with a color similar to the blank helped significantly in preventing the color loss - and preventing a dramatic color change.

The picture is a good indicator of how dramatic a change the paint back color can make. Obviously the next time I decide to use these Tortoise Shell blanks to make a kit pen, I will paint the inside of the blank and tube with brown or maybe brown with just a drop of yellow added to lighten it up.

Regards,
Dave

This was my original picture that shows the turned piece along with the blank and painted samples:

These show the blanks along with the paint on the backside (not in the same order as above).

 

[Dieseldoc]

Might want to look at Addiicted2pen blanks. Allen Meyers
Sample on one I just turned.

 

[RunnerVince]

Thanks all. I have been backpainting the blank. That was one of the issues that I knew was a "me" problem. I do need to experiment further with different colors, and I'll take the advice of cutting a sixteenth off the end of the blank to see how it will look.

@RKB @egnald I have had great luck with diamondcast. Any issues I've had with those blanks have been my own fault.

@egnald @bugradx2 @Dieseldoc Thanks for the specific suggestions!

 

[RunnerVince]

Might want to look at Addiicted2pen blanks. Allen Meyers
Sample on one I just turned.

I found https://addicted2pens.com/, but I'm not seeing any blanks...only completed pens. Am I missing something?

 

[bugradx2]

Here is another one of my anecdotes. I have some really nice Acrylic Acetate blanks called Tortoise Shell that I bought with the intention of using it on a kit-less pen. One day I decided maybe I would use it to make a closed end kit pen because I haven't made the leap to kit-less yet.

Anyhow, I prepared the blanks, drilled, and glued the tubes in. I made the assumption that the inside of the blank would need to be painted, however, being too impatient to do any kind of testing, I chose white -- usually a good choice for most plastic blanks as it usually keeps the brightness and vibrance of the blank after turning.

Much to my dismay as I turned the cap of the pen down to near it's final dimension, my folly became grossly apparent. The closed end (undrilled 1/4-inch or so) of the blank looked great, but wow, the area that had the tube was significantly different. The gorgeous reddish browns in the blank had turned a pale yellow!

So, to prepare for the next time, I sliced off a scrap piece of the blank into 1/16 inch thick pieces and painted one side with various colors that I had on hand. My experiment confirmed what John Underhill already said in this thread, painting with a color similar to the blank helped significantly in preventing the color loss - and preventing a dramatic color change.

The picture is a good indicator of how dramatic a change the paint back color can make. Obviously the next time I decide to use these Tortoise Shell blanks to make a kit pen, I will paint the inside of the blank and tube with brown or maybe brown with just a drop of yellow added to lighten it up.

Regards,
Dave

This was my original picture that shows the turned piece along with the blank and painted samples:



These show the blanks along with the paint on the backside (not in the same order as above).

Cutting 1/16 off the blank to paint? That's a neat idea!

 

[Dieseldoc]

I found https://addicted2pens.com/, but I'm not seeing any blanks...only completed pens. Am I missing something?

Try face book resin casting--Allen Myers

or Allen Myers66@gmail.com

 

[XanderPen]

Curing resin (well) takes chemicals that are no longer readily available in most countries. Large scale operations have 3000psi pressure casting pots, access to good hardeners and semi consistent colors/quality. SAIYITE on ali is decent.

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[Penchant 4]

Here is another one of my anecdotes. I have some really nice Acrylic Acetate blanks called Tortoise Shell that I bought with the intention of using it on a kit-less pen. One day I decided maybe I would use it to make a closed end kit pen because I haven't made the leap to kit-less yet.

Anyhow, I prepared the blanks, drilled, and glued the tubes in. I made the assumption that the inside of the blank would need to be painted, however, being too impatient to do any kind of testing, I chose white -- usually a good choice for most plastic blanks as it usually keeps the brightness and vibrance of the blank after turning.

Much to my dismay as I turned the cap of the pen down to near it's final dimension, my folly became grossly apparent. The closed end (undrilled 1/4-inch or so) of the blank looked great, but wow, the area that had the tube was significantly different. The gorgeous reddish browns in the blank had turned a pale yellow!

So, to prepare for the next time, I sliced off a scrap piece of the blank into 1/16 inch thick pieces and painted one side with various colors that I had on hand. My experiment confirmed what John Underhill already said in this thread, painting with a color similar to the blank helped significantly in preventing the color loss - and preventing a dramatic color change.

The picture is a good indicator of how dramatic a change the paint back color can make. Obviously the next time I decide to use these Tortoise Shell blanks to make a kit pen, I will paint the inside of the blank and tube with brown or maybe brown with just a drop of yellow added to lighten it up.

Regards,
Dave

This was my original picture that shows the turned piece along with the blank and painted samples:
View attachment 372979


These show the blanks along with the paint on the backside (not in the same order as above).
View attachment 372982 View attachment 372980

Great samples. Heck of a good idea.

 

[Woodchipper]

Turning a synthetic (hesitate to call it acrylic as I'm not sure what it is) and remembered I forgot to paint the blank hole or tube. Color is dark and almost turned to finish...so far, so good.
Dave, great idea to cut a lengthwise slice and check the blank colors against paint colors.

 

[philipff]

If you can get one or 2, the Carolina Pen Company is world renown for his blanks!!! P

 

[Darios]

If you can get one or 2, the Carolina Pen Company is world renown for his blanks!!! P

Yeah no kidding. 100% sold out on their brooks blanks series.

 

[pacer_3iii]

BearToothWoods is the only vendor I've seen so far that gives examples and/or comments on the blanks as to what needs to be painted and what doesn't. The ones that are a must-paint usually say so in the product description.

Inlace was a drag at first, and I still have troubles with some of the blue based ones (especially Blue Steel) but I've found that the secret for me to get a good result with inlace is to a) make sure the epoxy/glue is completely covering the entire tube, b) take a break every so often to keep the blank from getting too hot, and c) don't give up on small catches and dimples because they can be filled in with CA and are nearly undetectable on the final product.

Ed from Exotic Blanks has a video demonstration of the paint stick and shaving a piece off the blank to test, that's where I got the idea from. And the bottles of craft acrylic paint work really well too if you want to try to match the main color of the blank in your painting.

 

[ed4copies]

Ed from Exotic Blanks has a video demonstration of the paint stick and shaving a piece off the blank to test, that's where I got the idea from. And the bottles of craft acrylic paint work really well too if you want to try to match the main color of the blank in your painting.

Because it is ten years old, it is hard to search, so here it is:

Thanks for remembering!!

 

[greenacres2]

A few years ago (maybe several years ago...time flies!!) @jttheclockman did a great study on back-painting that was really to show the genesis of one of his pens (if i recall correctly, it may have been one that won a BASH category). The back-paint color that he chose was one that i'd have never guessed was used--finished product gave no hint of the back color.

If someone digs that thread up, i'll try to remember to bookmark it finally!!

 

[egnald]

A few years ago (maybe several years ago...time flies!!) @jttheclockman did a great study on back-painting that was really to show the genesis of one of his pens (if i recall correctly, it may have been one that won a BASH category). The back-paint color that he chose was one that i'd have never guessed was used--finished product gave no hint of the back color.

If someone digs that thread up, i'll try to remember to bookmark it finally!!

Is this the one you are thinking about? Paint colors/types for blanks and/or tubes. - Dave

 

[jttheclockman]

I believe David found the thread that you are referring to but if not maybe you can give a little more detail.

Picking colors for a blank that has transparency can get tricky and even when you slice a small piece off you really are not seeing all the veining and details in that small of a piece. That is why I sort of cringe when that keeps getting brought up and videos done and all that. yes it can lead you down to a certain color range but within that color range there can be a myriad of choices that can still change the effect. But if you are looking to just enhance a blank that is a basic colored blank then go for it. We all do it at times. here is an example that I am sure other have tried too. One on top was a grey paint( not black) and the one on the bottom was white.

 

[greenacres2]

Is this the one you are thinking about? Paint colors/types for blanks and/or tubes. - Dave

Yep, it was that Blue Metallic paint that really enhanced that blank--and a color i'd have not thought to try since it wasn't in the same color family as the blank. I'm still in awe of that pen!!
earl

 

[jttheclockman]

Yep, it was that Blue Metallic paint that really enhanced that blank--and a color i'd have not thought to try since it wasn't in the same color family as the blank. I'm still in awe of that pen!!
earl

Thanks. Here a couple closer looks of that pen. The blue paint did the blank justice for sure. Just one of those happy results. I also changed the pimp stone on the clip on that pen. In case you did not notice. I do that on occasion.

 

[XanderPen]

Thanks. Here a couple closer looks of that pen. The blue paint did the blank justice for sure. Just one of those happy results. I also changed the pimp stone on the clip on that pen. In case you did not notice. I do that on occasion.


View attachment 373088View attachment 373089

That is incredible!!! Was this a vertical cast?

 

[XanderPen]

Is this the one you are thinking about? Paint colors/types for blanks and/or tubes. - Dave

I have seen some posts of people nickel plating the brass. I did the typical youtube research, attempted it myself and failed miserably. The nickle would flake/peel off. Tried many setups; copper plate over the brass then nickel plate. Its not as easy as youtuber make it out to be.

I believe anodizing aluminum might be a better option for people looking to conceal the brass under translucent resin. I have not tried this and cannot locate Aluminum tubes here in the needed dimensions.

Titanium *seems* easy to (Anodize?/color) as well; evidently it changes color depending on the voltage/time applied and not dye.

 

[jttheclockman]

That is incredible!!! Was this a vertical cast?

No casting. This was a trustone blank called Mexican Agate. One of my favorites.

 

[XanderPen]

No casting. This was a trustone blank called Mexican Agate. One of my favorites.

Never head it referred to as trustone before. But I know what you are talking about; they make beads/rings/bracelets out of that in asia. I have never (knowingly) seen a pen made out of it. Its resin "stabilized" rocks.

Getting a 7mm hole in that thing must absolutely murder drill bits. the lapis/jade/opal bead operations around me; they buy 3mm drill bits by the kilo! And the polishing/shaping is done on very expensive wheels.

How did the glue up go? Did the brass stick to the "trustone". What about the finish?

 

[duncsuss]

Never head it referred to as trustone before. But I know what you are talking about; they make beads/rings/bracelets out of that in asia. I have never (knowingly) seen a pen made out of it. Its resin "stabilized" rocks.

Almost - it's rock dust mixed into resin. You are right that it messes up drill bits very quickly! Here is a link to give you an idea what is available: https://www.makermaterialsupply.com/collections/trustone

 

[jttheclockman]

Never head it referred to as trustone before. But I know what you are talking about; they make beads/rings/bracelets out of that in asia. I have never (knowingly) seen a pen made out of it. Its resin "stabilized" rocks.

Getting a 7mm hole in that thing must absolutely murder drill bits. the lapis/jade/opal bead operations around me; they buy 3mm drill bits by the kilo! And the polishing/shaping is done on very expensive wheels.

How did the glue up go? Did the brass stick to the "trustone". What about the finish?

This is where I get all my TruStone from. https://www.randbcrafts.com/items/tru-stone-blanks?a=1&page=1

As far as working it goes, it is really not bad. Some colors are easier than others because of the make-up. drilling needs to be done slowly with good cooling of the bit. Finishing is just polishing with MM. Turning was done with carbide cutter and final laps with a good sharp skew as I always do all my blanks.

Here is another TruStone blank that I love to use that I think is spectacular color. It is called Banded Malachite I also have used Black and White Mother of Pearl Trustone. Again all turned and finished the same way.