Wrapping Tubes In Fabric

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crokett

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Is this going to work? My mom sews and she had a huge bag of fabric scraps she was going to toss. I grabbed a couple and just wrapped some slim line tubes in some of it. I used plenty of CA and soaked the fabric as well as I could - it was oozing through the fabric as I was wrapping the tube. I am letting them dry overnight and will attempt turning them tomorrow. Is the fabric going to cut cleanly or tear? If it matters, it is cotton.
 
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I tried a little piece of fabric my wife had once. I just wrapped it around the tube and cast it in PR. I don't know how well the CA will hold up. I guess it works for when they do pinecones. I've never did one (pc) so I don't know.
 
It should be just fine, as long as you give the CA enough time to cure and degas. I always wait a couple days before I cast, but Ive read where others give it 24 hours. I did some fabric pens a few years ago with no problems. Here's one that I still have a picture of. I would suggest spray painting your tubes before you glue the fabric on to it so the brass doesn't shine through. Good luck!
 

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I have made several that way using denim and a couple with hunters orange. I turned them using a skew and finished them with a CA finish. They turned just fine with no tear out.
 
thanks. John, that is a really pretty pen. I was also thinking of trying this with epoxy. I can brush it onto the fabric layers as I go, and it has a longer working time than the CA does, especially if I use a 10 or 15 minute epoxy.
 
Not that my way is better but I take the cloth and lay it flat on an old pen kit bag and brush elmers glue over it. I water the glue down just enough so it will penatrate the cloth. When it dries, overnight, I cut it to fit the tube and glued it down with elmers. I let dry a couple days then cast. So far so good. I've been wanting to post pics just havn't had time . Good luck.
 
Branden, I am going to have to try that method with just fabric and casting. The one I did last night I wrapped several layers and will attempt to turn it back down. The next time I do this I will use that method and then cast the tube.

thanks for the tutorial.
 
I have done it with blue jean denim, Cotton from tee shirts, and knitting Yarn. Make sure you soak it well in CA. As you find air pockets reseal with CA, I have done just material and have mixed it up with wood. You are only limited by your imagination. I have not casted over the material just use material and CA then finish with CA.
 
Get you some ziplock bags and some work gloves, i.e. nitrile. Then get some bondo or something that takes forever to dry, 2 hour epoxy works wonders, some blocks of wood like 2x4 and some C clamps.

Add glue like you would put mayonnaise and the fabric being the bread. Once your thickness is met bag it and put between the wood and clamp it as tight as you can get it. Once dry you have a linen micarta blank.

Should look something like this when it comes out of the bag.
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Sand, grind, drill etc then sand it good and dont forget your respirator!!!!
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Once you are done sanding and you will be sanding. You should have something like this

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This is called 'micarta', you can do this with linen, denim, paper, canvas, and a good range of other similar type materials.
 
I seen a nice seminar at the first MPG I attended several years ago by Billy (sorry I don't remember his last name or user name) where he started with a tube on the lathe and a long strip of denim. He glued it to the tube like in Brandon's article, only he used CA and turned the lathe by hand, applying glue as he went, to build up a round tube of fabric before turning it down. The finished blank looked like the pen above.
 
Dang it!!! Now something else to try!!!

The fabric pen didn't work, at least with CA. As careful as I was, the fabric came off in chunks in places. I will try epoxy and the bagging method next.
 
I tried wrapping fabric around a wood dowel and using epoxy. That was promising, it drilled clean but the blank was too small and I blew out one side. I am trying again by wrapping it around the tube and using epoxy. Judging by how the drilling went, it should cut more cleanly than the super glue did.
 
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