# Glueing Acrylic Blanks



## Band Saw Box (Mar 26, 2014)

I've been thinking about doing a blue and gold (Navy colors). I have a gold leaf blank that vanngo5d sent me and I want to pair that with a navy blue blank. I'm not sure yet if I want to do a blank with a gold center and blue end or blue center with gold ends. I guess it will fall to the plating of the pen kit it use. I have a JR gent with gold in that case I would to the gold center and blue ends but I still not sure how that would look. but getting off the I want to ask. So what will best way to do the glue up and how long should I allow the glue up to set before drilling. Thanks for the help


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## plantman (Mar 26, 2014)

Dan; If you use CA and a accelertor it will be ok by the time you get it set up to drill. I use thick or gap filling CA and just hold it with my hands. If I am doing segmenting, I use thick CA, no accelerator, and clamp it together. The thick CA gives you a little longer working time to line up your pieces. About 5 seconds depending on tempaure and humidity. Have you thought of cutting at a 15-30 degree angle, giving you a nice stripe? If you are doing a 5 minute epoxy, I would clamp it and let it sit overnite just to be on the safe side.   Jim  S


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## Ted iin Michigan (Mar 26, 2014)

Dan - Other than a half hearted attempt to get you to use black & gold (Army colors), I'm thinking the CA will work well. You can also use epoxy if you think a little extra time would help. The only other thing is the necessity to have mating surfaces that are as spot on as you can get. Good luck! Looking forward to pics!


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## Band Saw Box (Mar 27, 2014)

Thanks Jim S and ted for the help. Ted I could do a Black and Gold blank my son was in the Army Reserve. Another question can an acrylic blank be laser engraved? I'm going to pick up some replacement tubes for JR gent kits and play around. I'm think that the with the color's I want to use a chrome kit will look better.


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## bjbear76 (Mar 27, 2014)

I've had several acrylic pens engraved and they came out quite well.  Actually, I think the engraving stands out better on acrylic rather than wood.  Many of our members will do the engraving for you.  I've sent my pens to Stan Cook (mrcook4570) in the past.  He's always done a top notch job for me.


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## Band Saw Box (Mar 27, 2014)

Thanks Bill. I'm not sure if I'll have the pen/pens engraved but It good to know they come out nice.


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## Ambidex (Mar 27, 2014)

I'm on the 5 minute epoxy bandwagon. It gives you a little ooops time and fills smaller voids and gaps. Painting the tubes and the inside of the blank is a good idea if the blank is at all translucent. Mixing a little color in the epoxy works too.As far as time to let cure I try to let it go a couple hours but have turned one inside of an hour also.  Was Army but am looking forward to seeing the pictures!:biggrin: Oh and take your time milling the ends. Depending on the blank some of them can be a bit brittle and need sharp mills to keep from cracking..damhikt


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