Atlantic Shore Woodturners Meeting
Thank you to the Atlantic Shore Woodturners for having me at your meeting last evening. This was the third time in the past 12 days that I demonstrated for a group on making clear casted pen blanks .
Some of the same questions keep coming up, and I thought I would share them with everyone:
Is there a kit that has everything in it to make clear pen blanks?
Yes, the Pen Blank Casting Kit from Arizona Silhouette.
What pen kit should I use?
I suggest using a larger pen tube kit such as a Sierra, Sierra Vista, Gatsby, Wall Street II of Wall Street III. They all use a 27/64″ pen tube which will give you a larger surface area to use.
What type of paint do I use to paint the tubes?
Any acrylic paint from your local hobby store will work. Just make sure that you rough up the pen tubes first.
Do I need a pressure pot or vacuum chamber to cast polyester pen blanks?
No, if you are using polyester resin, you do not need vacuum or pressure to cast your blanks. If you are using Alumilite then yes, you definitely *will* need a pressure pot, you do not need to deal with all the bubbles that form with Alumilite.
Why don’t I need a pressure pot?
The reason you do not need a pressure pot is that you are pouring the resin in 3 separate pours so if any bubbles do form they will come to the surface by themselves and break open into the air. If you try and pour it all at once, then you run the risk of getting air trapped in your pour and ruining your pen blank.
What type of printer and paper do I need to make a picture or logo pen?
I use regular ink jet paper with an ink jet printer. Photo paper is too thick, and will not wrap around the pen tube properly. I paint the pen tube with white paint to make the photo brighter as well. Also, DO NOT use a laser jet printer. The laser jet ink will “float” off because the resin will attack the ink – so only use an ink jet printer!
Why don’t you see “lines” on the finished pen since you are pouring three separate times?
Good Question! I am not a chemist, all I can say is that I have made thousands of pens using this method and NOT ONCE have I seen a pour line after it has been wet sanded and polished the pen blank. So relax and enjoy your own creation!
Lever action Bullet Click Pen
The fastest selling pen kits on the market today, the Lever Action Pen Kits, once again sold out in less than a day!
A new shipment will come into our warehouse on Thursday morning and we will still offer them at the introductory price of $12.80, but only until 11:59 PM EDT on Thursday. After that, the price will go back up to $14.95 – so act now – call us at 1-888-717-4202 to reserve your pen kits at the reduced cost.
