Color filling engraved acrylic pens

[Mike Berndt]

Hi All,
I have engraved a few acrylic pens but it is hard to see the engravings. I want to color fill it in a gold color so that the name can be seen clearly. Any pointers, help, or advice or suggestions would be great. I have searched the site on color fills and have some information. I just want to know what works the easiest and best for these Christmas presents.

Thanks for any and all of you help.
Mike Berndt

[Anthony Welch]

I can't say to how well it'll work, but I have finally gotten around to buying gold, antique gold and silver "rub-n-buff". Used it on some shells, corian and wood. It has turned out better than the acrylic paint I've been using to color fill. I got mine from Michaels.

Anthony

[Tim Neal]

Any acrylic paint from the hobby store should do. Before my final buffing, I dab it onto the engraving with a Qtip and wipe off the excess. After it dries, I do my final buffing.

Tim

[Mike Null]

I've found an exceptional acrylic paint at Hobby Lobby called Precious Metals gold leaf. I flood it on then scrape with card then clean with dna.

[Dan Ashlin]

Rub-n-buff is what I use. Works great!

[Martin Boekers]

Hi All,
I have engraved a few acrylic pens but it is hard to see the engravings. I want to color fill it in a gold color so that the name can be seen clearly. Any pointers, help, or advice or suggestions would be great. I have searched the site on color fills and have some information. I just want to know what works the easiest and best for these Christmas presents.

Thanks for any and all of you help.
Mike Berndt


You may want to check with the "Turners" forum also as many pen turners use a variety
of fill methods.

Marty

[Bill Cunningham]

Rub n Buff works great for acrylic pens.. I usually use gold, but they have several other colours as well

[Mike Berndt]

Hi all,
Thanks for the suggestions. I am going to try the rub n" buff method. Is there anything else you have to do over the top of the rub n' buff? I polish the acrylic then apply rub n' buff and then wipe of the excess. Is there a need to apply a finish over the fill? Just curious??

ULS 25E
Corel X5
Davisiville Middle School
Technology Education Teacher
Laser engraving/Freedom Pens/3 Carvewright's/ Vinyl graphics etc.............

[Alan Young]

I just rub off the excess and buff with a buffing wheel

[Bill Cunningham]

I find that rubbing with a cloth removes the excess as well..I'm a little heavy handed with a buffing wheel:rolleyes:. Just did 25 this week. I have customers that turn both wood and acrylic, and the R&B works great on all

[Mike Berndt]

Thanks Bill

[Tim Neal]

OK. You guys talked be into try Rub-n-Buff also.

[Mike Null]

Mike

Just one more thing. Some fonts or engravings have such fine lines that they are nearly invisible after filling. If you're having that issue you might try an outline to thicken the line.

[Steve Clarkson]

I did a search and the closest I could come was a topic on acrylic pens.......but my real question is about wooden pens.......does anyone color fill them and if so, do you have any tips?

I don't buy the rosewood pens because the engraving doesn't look as nice to me as it does on the maple pens.......but then I wondered if they colorfill well......maybe with gold rub n buff. Does anyone do that and if so, do you have a technique that works well? Do you engrave the graphic a little deeper so more paint sits in there? I'm aso concerned about getting paint under the clip, not getting all the excess paint off, etc.

[Bill Cunningham]

Hi Steve.. My customers are pen turners, and they usually just bring me in the barrels. I have done acrylic, maple, and rosewood. They all seem to fill fine. I prefer not to use fill on the maple. In most cases the maple looks better in the natural brown of the engraving. The gold rub n buff looks great on the rosewood, and wiping some acrylic paint (or rub n buff) onto the engraving on acrylic pens, then wiping it off leaves the surface clean and the engraving filled. The ones I have done with the clip still attached, have posed no problems for cleaning, provide you don't slop the fill too close to the clip.. If you do, the quick pull of a piece of cloth under the clip should remove it if it's fresh.. For wood, I engrave the graphic along with the text, and use a speed of 22% at 100% power @300dpi .. It seems to make it deep enough to hold paint or r&B

[mark anizan]

I do alot of pen turning and also engrave most that I sell.I dont use fill on any of the lighter colored woods unless I'm asked too by the customer.I fill most dark woods with gold or copper.I do all my pens after they are assembled .

[Steve Clarkson]

Thanks guys......I'l give it a shot.......can't believe I never thought to do it before!

[Chuck Stone]

I have never really cared for the look of filled engraving, but I do it because that's
what people want. But in the back of my mind I'm always wondering what happens
if the color fill gets damaged, dug out of the engraving etc. so I do a CA finish over
the fill. Makes it smooth and permanent. Plus, it's no problem over acrylic.. the CA
is an acrylic finish anyway.

[Vicki Rivrud]

What is CA?
Vicki

[Mike vonBuelow]

Precious Metals gold leaf is my favorite!

cyanoacrylate = CA

[Vicki Rivrud]

Thanks - I thought that was what it was. I never thought to use CA to finish off a color fill.

Vicki

[Glen Monaghan]

in the back of my mind I'm always wondering what happens
if the color fill gets damaged, dug out of the engraving etc.

I engraved some black G10 knife handles for a client and, while it engraved well, the design was black on black. The client wanted greater contrast and thought a gold fill would look good on black. I tried Rub N Buff first, but he quickly brought the test knife back because a fair bit of the waxy fill had come out one way or another (he said some wore out with handling and then he poked at it to see what would happen...). He still didn't like it after engraving deeper in hopes the wax would stay put. Now I fill with Testor's gold enamel. At first, the dried paint shrank so much that I had to do several paint/dry cycles to get a good fill. So, I let the gold settle in the bottle and poured off about half the clear solvent/base and now the mixed paint is thicker and doesn't "shrink" so much as it dries.

-Glen

[Everett White]

OK, I was reading this and bought some gold rub and buff and tried to fill in a small name I engraved on a wood pen. Instantly the gold sank into the grain of the wood. It took a lot of sanding and repolishing to get the gold out of the grain but now the engraving looks very "old".

HOW do I keep the gold from getting into the grain?

Thanks

[Dan Hintz]

HOW do I keep the gold from getting into the grain?
Spray the engraved area with some clear first, let it dry, then color fill.

[Chuck Stone]

you wouldn't put it on unfinished wood.. it would become the finish. (like it did!)
What sort of finish are you using? Most any cured finish should hold up to the
rub & buff, but a friction polish might not. The solvent in the RnB might eat into
the shellac.

BTW.. for 'digging out' stuff like that, I've got an eraser pen. Sort of like an airbrush,
but instead of paint, it blows out 220 grit sand. It gets into those little crevices
and digs out paint in wood grain. Also gives a nice frosted look to rastered acrylic
if you only have extruded and not cast. Come to think of it, it does a nice job
on the cast, too. Just raster through the paper, use it as a mask.

[Everett White]

AH.. (light bulb)

Yeah it's a friction polish. I was reading a seperate topic dealing with this same thing, but they used a lacquer. I will try this out. Btw I found a bullet pen and engraved a friends name on it for a thank you gift, I just wish the engraving could have been better. Maybe next time. I found it at usa craft supplies dot com. The pic is from their site but the one I did is close to it.
http://www.woodturnerscatalog.com/woodturners/Images/products/large/bullet-pen-kit_l.jpg (javascript:window.close())

[Chuck Stone]

Friction polishes are fast and easy, but not really long lasting. They're
usually a combination of shellac and waxes. Shellac is a lot more durable
without wax, but the friction polish won't hold up to handling very well.
And it doesn't take engraving well.. it melts rather than vaporizing.
I've done those kits in resin and antler.
You might want to go with a CA finish rather than a friction polish. CA
takes an engraving well and is more durable than the lacquer. And it
is faster, since it takes a good week before the lacquer is ready to
polish out and engrave.

[Dane Fuller]

...I've done those kits in resin and antler...

Chuck,
Beautiful work! Did you color fill the antler? I've got a pen turning client that's been sending his antler pens out of state to have them engraved. Ever since he found out I was even thinking about getting a laser he's been after me to do them.

BTW, He just got a gig for minimum order of 150 mesquite pens for a local business and tapped me for engraving the logos.

[Dee Gallo]

I'm curious, Chuck - did you ever use CA as a finish on flat work? Would there be an advantage over other types of finishes?