# Hiding a crack in acrylic



## PaulSF (Jan 7, 2010)

I'm working on an acrylic blank now, and after I finished turning the blank down to the desired size, I discovered what appears to be a crack in the blank.  The good news is that it's in the cap, at the end where the endpiece will be, so it can be partly hidden by the clip.  The bad news is that it goes on a diagonal, so in all likelihood part of it will show.

Does anyone have any other tricks for hiding this annoyance?  I had high hopes for this pen!  :question:


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## ed4copies (Jan 7, 2010)

The term "acrylic" is used generically.   The material is not all repaired with the same "glue".  What material is it?


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## Texatdurango (Jan 7, 2010)

PaulSF said:


> I'm working on an acrylic blank now, and after I finished turning the blank down to the desired size, I discovered what appears to be a crack in the blank. The good news is that it's in the cap, at the end where the endpiece will be, so it can be partly hidden by the clip. The bad news is that it goes on a diagonal, so in all likelihood part of it will show.
> 
> Does anyone have any other tricks for hiding this annoyance? I had high hopes for this pen! :question:


Sorry, but an annoyance! A crack is a crack, or a defect or a flaw but not an annoyance.  It would be considered an annoyance when a customer pays good money for the pen only to find the covered up crack or worse yet, to have the crack spread!

I think if I couldn't shorten the blank to entirely get rid of the crack I would either have a new pen for myself or the trash can would be just a bit fuller!


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## wolftat (Jan 7, 2010)

The only trick I have seen to hide a crack is called an oops band. If done properly, noone will know unless you tell them.


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## PaulSF (Jan 7, 2010)

I don't rightly know what material it is.  The package label doesn't give any information.  And yep, it's going to be a pen for me, I suppose.

It's an orange blank with black veins. Shame I can't soak it in some kind of black dye that would seep into the crack and color it, while not affecting the rest of the blank.


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## wolftat (Jan 7, 2010)

You can try to fill the crack with black epoxy or CA. It can't hurt it much worse.


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## Texatdurango (Jan 7, 2010)

wolftat said:


> You can try to fill the crack with black epoxy or CA. It can't hurt it much worse.


Neil, I can't believe what you're suggesting! 

A $3 blank, and a $.40 tube would take care of the problem in no time.  *Then* you would have a pen you would be proud to show someone rather than hoping they don't see your repair! :wink:


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## ed4copies (Jan 7, 2010)

Thin CA is very likely to repair the crack and make it invisible.  You WILL have to repolish, the shine will go away when the CA is applied.


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## ed4copies (Jan 7, 2010)

Although I didn't see where you asked:  No, I would not sell it.  BUT, I have lots of friends who are happy to have pens (not including my parents!!)


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## PaulSF (Jan 7, 2010)

ed4copies said:


> Thin CA is very likely to repair the crack and make it invisible.  You WILL have to repolish, the shine will go away when the CA is applied.



I'll give this a try.  I'm still sanding (400 grit), and I'm a newbie, so I don't really mind going through these processes again. It's good practice.

Thanks!


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## wolftat (Jan 7, 2010)

Texatdurango said:


> Neil, I can't believe what you're suggesting!
> 
> A $3 blank, and a $.40 tube would take care of the problem in no time. *Then* you would have a pen you would be proud to show someone rather than hoping they don't see your repair! :wink:


 $400 dental drill, $50 in bits and I can turn a $20 pen into a $25 in a couple of hours.:biggrin:


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## ed4copies (Jan 7, 2010)

CLEAN the area first.  Use any solvent to get all the sanding dust off.

Don't "douse", just put a little thin CA on with one of the plastic baggies that your pen kits came in.  With luck, the CA will fill the small crack and, by tomorrow, you won't notice it.  If you are sloppy (as I am usually), you may want to resand to remove the excess CA that runs around the blank.  IF it goes to the end, take the blank off the lathe and put a little thin CA on the end, that will help fill the crack.

It will be good experience.  Sometimes it works great, other times the "oops" ring is the only choice.  IF you use an "oops" ring, you are really reinforcing this area anyhow, when you glue the ring to the remaining "acrylic" blank.  I wouldn't put it on an emperor!!! (this is a "ha-ha" for my friend George!!)


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## PaulSF (Jan 7, 2010)

If it comes to doing an oops ring, I'll just start over with a fresh set of blanks (I have one more orange/black "acrylic pen blank" from Wood River.  This was going on an Apollo Infinity, and I really don't want to waste a good kit on a flawed blank.


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## Texatdurango (Jan 7, 2010)

PaulSF said:


> *If it comes to doing an oops ring, I'll just start over with a fresh set of blanks* (I have one more orange/black "acrylic pen blank" from Wood River. This was going on an Apollo Infinity, and I really don't want to waste a good kit on a flawed blank.


 
Just as I thought you were going over to the dark side.... you came through with flying colors and see the oops band for what it is.... Atta boy! 

The way I see it, taking pride in what you take into the house now will only make you a better pen maker down the road. And just in case you ever do have an occasion to do an oops band, figure out a design that you can use several with different colors and call it a segmented pen! I'll never forget how my first one started out :biggrin:


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## PaulSF (Jan 12, 2010)

Well, I couldn't hide the crack, so I redid the cap with a new blank that pretty much matches the bottom of the pen.  Here's the finished project:


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## BigguyZ (Jan 12, 2010)

Very nice!  Is that a custom centerband?


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## Texatdurango (Jan 12, 2010)

Good Job!  I've never seen that kit, what is it called?


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## glycerine (Jan 12, 2010)

OOOooohhhh...  I misread.  I was thinking it would be easy to hide crack in acrylic, but how would you get it back out!!!!!
Just kiding, I'm thinking a CA coating should do the trick.


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## glycerine (Jan 12, 2010)

Texatdurango said:


> Neil, I can't believe what you're suggesting!
> 
> A $3 blank, and a $.40 tube would take care of the problem in no time. *Then* you would have a pen you would be proud to show someone rather than hoping they don't see your repair! :wink:


 
Not if it were a custom color or a clear casting around something...


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## Texatdurango (Jan 12, 2010)

glycerine said:


> Not if it were a custom color or a clear casting around something...


 But it wasn't, I was going by information provided in post #5.... stay with us!


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## PaulSF (Jan 12, 2010)

BigguyZ said:


> Very nice!  Is that a custom centerband?



LOL!  Me, a custom centerband?  Heh, I can barely make a decent pen yet!

It's the Apollo Elite from PSI.


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## jttheclockman (Jan 12, 2010)

I too have just found those blanks and got them from Ernie. I am working on a few as we speak and are you sure it is a crack. The reason I ask there is alot of veining running through there and what appears to be cracks are just light colored veins ever so thin. I love these blanks because of the light refraction you get off of them. I need to get a few more things done and hopefull have a few photos to put up.


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## BigguyZ (Jan 12, 2010)

Ah, looks like a churchill with a different center band....

I never liked the original Apollo, but that's not bad at all.



PaulSF said:


> LOL!  Me, a custom centerband?  Heh, I can barely make a decent pen yet!
> 
> It's the Apollo Elite from PSI.


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## PaulSF (Jan 12, 2010)

Oh, it's definitely a crack.  This was just one of those $3 "acrylic" blanks you buy off the spinner at Woodcraft.  Would've been nice to pass it off as a vein, but it just wasn't my day.  Fortunately, the new blank matched the old pretty closely.


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## Rifleman1776 (Jan 13, 2010)

Out of focus picture, can't tell if the fix worked or not. If it did, congrats.
If it didn't, sometimes you have to accept that 'stuff happens'. Trash parts and start over is often the only solution.
As for giving as gifts, I wouldn't do that. Friends are your best salesmen, giving junk speaks for you and junk doesn't say nice things about you or your skills.
My disasters either end up in trash, as parts or as shop pens where no one will see them.


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## PaulSF (Jan 13, 2010)

You won't see the crack in the photo, because I tossed the cracked blank and redid it with a fresh blank.


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## Daniel (Jan 13, 2010)

This is the second thread I have seen conserning racks in the end of acrylic. This comment may have worked better in the conversation yesterday, but here it is anyway. I have seen many cracks be created during the drilling process. as teh bit exits the blank there is a catch the drill bit makes sort of like when a bit exits metal. this will often either chip out the edges of the hole or crack the blank at that end. THis just may help some of you struggling with cracks to avoid them. Use a backer block when drilling or drill long blank then cut off. Also drilling on the lathe woudl give you better feed control for that last 1/4 inch or so of drilling. nice and slow as the bit exits. plus drilling ont he lathe allows you to hold the blank in a collet which I sispect would go a long way toward preventing cracks.

Oh by the way I also use the clean it up good and apply CA. sometimes it works and sometimes it does not. I would not give much hope for a black blank though. everything shows on a black blank. I would also consider an oops band. the final look would determin if I went that route. Some consider this a compromise. I consider it being experienced and able to contend with the unexpected. I can still make a top grade pen from less than perfect results.


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## PaulSF (Jan 22, 2010)

Guess which pen I just sold!  And for $75, too!


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## randyrls (Jan 22, 2010)

WAY TO GO PAUL!!!!!  OK, this stupid software will not let me type in all caps unless I add a comment about stupid software!!!!


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