Suggestions for painting pens

[kovalcik]

Hi,

I have been lurking for a while and thought I would post this question to the experts to see if anyone has any experience to share.

I would like to make some wooden pens where my daughter paints on some designs. Usually she uses acrylic paints, so there is some thickness to the paintings. My questions are at what stage should I have here do the paintings? (Bare wood, after a couple coats of CA, other?) Second, what should I put over the painting to protect it? Can I use CA even though the surface is no longer smooth due to the paint?

Thanks for your help.

 

[navycop]

You can have her paint the wood after it is round and cast in PR.

 

[azamiryou]

Do you wish to retain the texture of the paint, or put a coating over it for a smooth finish?

For a smooth finish, you could probably use CA - just build up a lot of layers before you sand it, so that you don't sand into the paint and ruin the texture. Or as Mike says, cast in clear PR.

If you want to keep the texture of the paint as the surface of the pen, I'd try a spray finish of some sort, maybe a lacquer. (You'll have to be careful, though, some lacquer thinners will dissolve acrylic paint. Experiment on scrap.)

As for when to paint, the acrylic will probably stick most strongly to the bare wood, but painting after CA should be fine as well.

 

[kovalcik]

Thanks for the suggestions. I will have her try on my always present supply of botched pens and see which works best. I have always wanted to try PR, maybe this would be a good time to explore that avenue.

Navycop,

I have a Shopsmith Model 500 that I use for my lathe. Have replaced all the other tools with dedicated machines, so it is only a lathe these days. For what I do the only real issues I have with it is the tail stock is not as sturdy as I would like and you are limited when buying accessories. What has your experience been like?

 

[holmqer]

I often airbrush designs on pens with acrylic airbrush colors. I put the acrylic on bare wood then spray a light mist coat of shellac over that before putting on a CA finish. If I skip the shellac spray, the CA can smear the paint.

 

[navycop]

Thanks for the suggestions. I will have her try on my always present supply of botched pens and see which works best. I have always wanted to try PR, maybe this would be a good time to explore that avenue.

Navycop,

I have a Shopsmith Model 500 that I use for my lathe. Have replaced all the other tools with dedicated machines, so it is only a lathe these days. For what I do the only real issues I have with it is the tail stock is not as sturdy as I would like and you are limited when buying accessories. What has your experience been like?

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