Painting tubes / blanks, a different question...

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David350

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I initially was resistant to painting tubes / inside the blanks as I didn't want the extra time / step. After a few disappointments with the brass tube showing through I now have the discipline to do this step regularly and I have found it to be a relief while turning, knowing that I will not be wasting my time with a brass tube showing through.

My question for everyone is has painting (tubes or blanks) created any problems while turning? If you think about it, regardless of the type of glue you use, if you don't paint, you are directly bonding the brass tube to the blank. When you paint, you are only bonding a thin layer of paint to the blank if you paint the tubes, or bonding a thin layer of paint to the brass tube is you paint the blank. If you paint both the tubes and blank as I have read some do, you are only bonding a thin layer of paint, to another thin layer of paint.

In my mind, the paint / tube or paint / blank bond, isn't as strong as the brass tube / blank bond. Fortunately, I have not had any turning issues but was curious if this has created a gluing issue with others. FYI, I use the 5 min BSI epoxy and paint the inside of blanks with the acrylic paints from Walmart with a Q-tip...
 
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Here are my thoughts on painting tubes. I also have a video on gluing - and about 20 other topics. Hope this helps.

10 Minutes To Better Pen Making - Painting Tubes

Thumbnail - 10 Minutes - Painting The Blank.jpg
 
David350 said:
I initially was resistant to painting tubes / inside the blanks as I didn't want the extra time / step. After a few disappointments with the brass tube showing through I now have the discipline to do this step regularly and I have found it to be a relief while turning, knowing that I will not be wasting my time with a brass tube showing through.

My question for everyone is has painting (tubes or blanks) created any problems while turning? If you think about it, regardless of the type of glue you use, if you don't paint, you are directly bonding the brass tube to the blank. When you paint, you are only bonding a thin layer of paint to the blank if you paint the tubes, or bonding a thin layer of paint to the brass tube is you paint the blank. If you paint both the tubes and blank as I have read some do, you are only bonding a thin layer of paint, to another thin layer of paint.

In my mind, the paint / tube or paint / blank bond, isn't as strong as the brass tube / blank bond. Fortunately, I have not had any turning issues but was curious if this has created a gluing issue with others. FYI, I use the 5 min BSI epoxy and paint the inside of blanks with the acrylic paints from Walmart with a Q-tip...
Click to expand...
I will add a few thoughts of mine here. You are correct with all your thoughts and effects of painting blanks, tubes, or both. A couple things to remember is the paint you are using needs to be a good quality. I like to use a testors acrylic paint. They are designed to stick to plastics because they were made for plastic models. A cheap paint can peel right off a slick surface such as acrylic. (no need to paint wood) If I don't use Testors paints I will use a high heat spray paint from one of the Home centers. I like the high heat stuff because when turning and sanding you can increase the warmth of the blank due to friction from tools or sandpaper. Heat is your #1 enemy in all aspects of pen making. You try to keep this to a minimum for sure. I only paint the inside of the blank. To me a waste of time to paint both. You do a good job on the blank painting and you will have no problems.

You want to let the paint completely dry before gluing. Not all glues play well with all paints. I prefer to use epoxy because it will not cause that problem and is also gap filling. Yes it is a thin layer you are gluing to but if a good quality paint was used the adhesion is not a problem. With painting just the blank you alleviate one weak point of adhesion if you want to call it that. Paints may stick better to acrylic than metal so that can present a problem that I avoid.

Now if I am using a truely transparent blank and the kit calls for a thin blank I will actually sand the inside of the blank to rid the scratch marks from the drill. Nine out of ten times this is not necessary but some of these blanks that have ribbons in sure are transparent and scratches will show through. Just something to think about.

If painting blanks, or tubes, or both you need to make sure you do not drill the hole too tight. You may have to step up a drill bit size to accomindate this. You do not want to go through the trouble of painting and then scrape paint off because hole was too tight.

That is about it that I can add to what has been said already. Happy turning.
 
David350 said:
Fortunately, I have not had any turning issues but was curious if this has created a gluing issue with others. FYI, I use the 5 min BSI epoxy and paint the inside of blanks with the acrylic paints from Walmart with a Q-tip...
Click to expand...
My thoughts are if your process is working for you then continue what you are doing. You obviously understand the process involved with painting and gluing.

I paint the blank and have had no problems either.

I turn the blank, without the tube glued in, to almost complete. I have a dowel with various colors painted on it. I remove the tube from the blank and insert the dowel into the blank. I pick the color that gives me the best looking results. Different colors will look different. Glue the tube and continue.

Do a goo turn daily!
Don
 
its_virgil said:
My thoughts are if your process is working for you then continue what you are doing. You obviously understand the process involved with painting and gluing.

I paint the blank and have had no problems either.

I turn the blank, without the tube glued in, to almost complete. I have a dowel with various colors painted on it. I remove the tube from the blank and insert the dowel into the blank. I pick the color that gives me the best looking results. Different colors will look different. Glue the tube and continue.

Do a goo turn daily!
Don
Click to expand...

Don, I like your process of not gluing in the tube until you test it with several colors to see what would be best. I'm going to give that a try too as we have seen from several people's postings one can really enhance a blank with the proper blank painting. Thanks for the idea!
 
its_virgil said:
My thoughts are if your process is working for you then continue what you are doing. You obviously understand the process involved with painting and gluing.

I paint the blank and have had no problems either.

I turn the blank, without the tube glued in, to almost complete. I have a dowel with various colors painted on it. I remove the tube from the blank and insert the dowel into the blank. I pick the color that gives me the best looking results. Different colors will look different. Glue the tube and continue.

Do a goo turn daily!
Don
Click to expand...
I like this idea! Thanks for sharing Don.
 
its_virgil said:
My thoughts are if your process is working for you then continue what you are doing. You obviously understand the process involved with painting and gluing.

I paint the blank and have had no problems either.

I turn the blank, without the tube glued in, to almost complete. I have a dowel with various colors painted on it. I remove the tube from the blank and insert the dowel into the blank. I pick the color that gives me the best looking results. Different colors will look different. Glue the tube and continue.

Do a goo turn daily!
Don
Click to expand...
that's a great idea
 
David350 said:
I initially was resistant to painting tubes / inside the blanks as I didn't want the extra time / step. After a few disappointments with the brass tube showing through I now have the discipline to do this step regularly and I have found it to be a relief while turning, knowing that I will not be wasting my time with a brass tube showing through.

My question for everyone is has painting (tubes or blanks) created any problems while turning? If you think about it, regardless of the type of glue you use, if you don't paint, you are directly bonding the brass tube to the blank. When you paint, you are only bonding a thin layer of paint to the blank if you paint the tubes, or bonding a thin layer of paint to the brass tube is you paint the blank. If you paint both the tubes and blank as I have read some do, you are only bonding a thin layer of paint, to another thin layer of paint.

In my mind, the paint / tube or paint / blank bond, isn't as strong as the brass tube / blank bond. Fortunately, I have not had any turning issues but was curious if this has created a gluing issue with others. FYI, I use the 5 min BSI epoxy and paint the inside of blanks with the acrylic paints from Walmart with a Q-tip...
Click to expand...
For years I've had people tell me always paint the inside of the tube and never the tube itself as the glue will still show thru. I'm coming up on 4000 pens and I still paint the tube. I've never had issue. Rustoleum spray paint. Pick a color that works with the blank.
 
Cbrewer1980 said:
For years I've had people tell me always paint the inside of the tube and never the tube itself as the glue will still show thru. I'm coming up on 4000 pens and I still paint the tube. I've never had issue. Rustoleum spray paint. Pick a color that works with the blank.
Click to expand...
How long do you normally let the paint dry before gluing it up?
 
Liveinmyshop said:
How long do you normally let the paint dry before gluing it up?
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I let mine sit at least 24 hours. I at times have them sit alot longer because I have various projects going at once. I first stand the tube upright so that any paint will drip down and not pool in the center. Then at some point when I see paint has stoped running I will lay flat to get airflow in both ends. Has worked well for me over many years.

By the way, I see this is your first post. Welcome to the forum. Hope you enjoy the journey.
 
its_virgil said:
My thoughts are if your process is working for you then continue what you are doing. You obviously understand the process involved with painting and gluing.

I paint the blank and have had no problems either.

I turn the blank, without the tube glued in, to almost complete. I have a dowel with various colors painted on it. I remove the tube from the blank and insert the dowel into the blank. I pick the color that gives me the best looking results. Different colors will look different. Glue the tube and continue.

Do a goo turn daily!
Don
Click to expand...
as an update, I did take a dowel and paint several sections of colors on it. It worked really nicely.

Thanks!
 
David350 said:
I initially was resistant to painting tubes / inside the blanks as I didn't want the extra time / step. After a few disappointments with the brass tube showing through I now have the discipline to do this step regularly and I have found it to be a relief while turning, knowing that I will not be wasting my time with a brass tube showing through.

My question for everyone is has painting (tubes or blanks) created any problems while turning? If you think about it, regardless of the type of glue you use, if you don't paint, you are directly bonding the brass tube to the blank. When you paint, you are only bonding a thin layer of paint to the blank if you paint the tubes, or bonding a thin layer of paint to the brass tube is you paint the blank. If you paint both the tubes and blank as I have read some do, you are only bonding a thin layer of paint, to another thin layer of paint.

In my mind, the paint / tube or paint / blank bond, isn't as strong as the brass tube / blank bond. Fortunately, I have not had any turning issues but was curious if this has created a gluing issue with others. FYI, I use the 5 min BSI epoxy and paint the inside of blanks with the acrylic paints from Walmart with a Q-tip...
Click to expand...
You may want to try adding some pigment to the resin (I'm not sure the CA glue could be pigmented), so you'll avoid that concern of having just a very thin layer of adhesion between the blank and the tube. However, at such small amount of resin, the amount of pigment should be extremely small.
 
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