pen tubes colors

allen levine

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new york city burbs
can I paint the brass pen tubes that come with a pen kit?

(some of the lighter acrylics tend to show the gold, I would prefer to paint them black or white, or some color)

not sure if you can tell from the picture, but the lavender pen on top, you can see the gold colored tube right through the acrylic, would rather have a black or white background.
 

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I'm no expert, but I have read of people doing that in the past. I guess the trick is making sure you don't scrape the paint off when putting it in the blank.
 
Allen, I have an assortment of "sharpie" markers that I color my tubes with. It's quick, easy and dries fast. When done... just replace the cap and throw it back in the drawer. I have black, red, blue and highlighter yellow.
 
It's almost a "Must" Allen. Most blanks are cast with just that in mind. I'm a fan of black, but I also use a lot of silver to brighten the colors. You will often have better results painting the inside of the blank...Q-tips work really good
 
tom, youd think something as simple as just using a sharpie would pop into my mind. this is why ya gotta love this place.
I have about 10 years supply of sharpies, one of my former employees had a thing for them, he used to order them by the case.

My daughter just got home from class and saw the three pens laying on the table and when she came out of the shower she said, oh dad, btw, I took that purple pen laying on the table, its cool.
 
Hi Allen; As Jim B mentioned always paint the tube when you are using an acrylic.

If you want your tube to be black I use a gun bluing sol'n such as this. There are many on the market with different names, I'm sure!

I use acrylic paint to paint my blanks. I usually like to pick a colour that most matches the blank, and I generally look for a colour that has Pearl or Metallic in it's name.

Lastly, I always use 2 part epoxy to glue in my blank. One drop of the acrylic paint in the epoxy when mixing it takes the place of painting the inside of the blank, which is a difficult and messy chore in my opinion. I've never been able to paint the inside of the tube, and have it look like it has been painted.

Be certain to allow the acrylic painted tube to dry overnight. You will probably need a minimum of 2 coats to
coat the tube. This is where job planning comes into pen turning. This is work to be done the evening before so you can turn pens tomorrow!

View attachment 73461
 
I don't do a lot of pens anymore, but when I used the more opaque acrylics, I always painted my tubes... I use Testor's model paints most often and tried to match the primary color of the blank... and I remember having one of Curtis Seebeck's cactus blanks cast in a clear acrylic... I painted the tube and the inside of the blank in a bright red.... the clear acrylic seemed to magnify the color and made for a very intense red fountain pen...
 
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