Shopsmith Forums

I have done a lot of wooden pen turning and decided to try some acrylics.
Anyway my first project was a cigar pen and I used a dark blue blank. It really turned out well and I was excited to try some more. My next project
was to make a thinner style pink cloud colored pen for a friend. Well...after I turned it down and polished it, the brass colored pen tube stuck out like a sore thumb.

Should the tube have been painted to help conceal it? Appreciate any input from you guys. Thanks!

Possibly you could have painted the brass insert but another thing to consider is how much do you turn the blank down before it becomes so thin that you can see through it. I recently did a white and a darker color acrylic pen & pencil set for a Christmas gift and you could not see the brass insert in it. Not sure how slim you got you material. Here is a picture of the set described. These are slimline and this is about as far a I turn them down. The line showing on both of them is from the flash and not the brass inserts. The inserts were not visible.

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You need to paint the tubes. I usually use white paint. Check out the pen turners site for more information.

http://www.penturners.org/

James

You can also try using nickel tubes, made for that purpose. Try Craft Supplies USA, http://www.woodturnerscatalog.com , part number 050-9230.

Ron

Woodcraft is another good source for white tubes. I think Penn State Industries has them as well.
BPR

Ernie at http://www.beartoothwoods.com carries black, white and nickel tube sets for several styles of pen kits. He has always given me excellent service.

i go a different route as i paint the inside of the blank using a Q-tip before glueing the tube in. i use gorrilla glue instead of ca glue.

Thanks for everyone's input! Much appreciated.