# HF Sale On Paint Pot



## thetalbott4 (Jan 7, 2006)

last week I bought the 2.5 gal paint pot for casting snake skin blanks. Paid 79.99. Now I get my Harbor Frieght catalog and on the back page they are on sale for $39.99! Story of my life. Anyway, for those considering it, now is the time.


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## Mudder (Jan 7, 2006)

Can you post the HF part number?


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## its_virgil (Jan 7, 2006)

Take in your receipt and see if they will honor it and give a refund...Often sales will be honored if the item was purchased pre-sale within certain time frames. Worth a try if the store is close. I bought mine mid-Nov and will try today and see if it works.
Do a good turn daily!
Don



> _Originally posted by thetalbott4_
> <br />last week I bought the 2.5 gal paint pot for casting snake skin blanks. Paid 79.99. Now I get my Harbor Frieght catalog and on the back page they are on sale for $39.99![!] Story of my life. Anyway, for those considering it, now is the time.


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## PenWorks (Jan 7, 2006)

I went to HF yesterday, they were 79.00, they only had the display model and wouldn't even sell that for 79.00 let alone 39.00, Go Figure ! [?] [xx(] [?]


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## its_virgil (Jan 7, 2006)

93119 OVGA and 37515 1VGA

Don't know which one is in the sale flyer....Anthony is not the first one who has mentioned it is not on sale and others say it is. I don't understand, but anyway, you have the numbers. My store only had the second number in stock.
Do a good turn daily!
don



> _Originally posted by Mudder_
> <br />Can you post the HF part number?


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## penhead (Jan 7, 2006)

My local HF store goes by the theory: .."if the catalog or flyer says Harbor Freight on it, it's current...".

So if you have the catalog with the lower price and the local store has it on the shelf, I imagine most every HF would honor that lower price.


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## dpstudios (Jan 7, 2006)

Could this thing be used as a vacuum chamber somehow?


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## thetalbott4 (Jan 7, 2006)

Part number listed in catalog is 93119-1RMB. I've tried taking the reciept back to see if they will match the sale price and got a no dice answer. I did the display box at Micheals half off today though. They have a dozen at least.


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## its_virgil (Jan 7, 2006)

I don't see why not. If it will hold 60psi inside, it should with-hold the same pressure when pumped empty. The holes in the top are tapped 1/4" NPT (pipe threads).I can't get mine to totally seal....It leaks down from 60 to 50 psi in about 30 minutes...can't find the small leak, but 30 minutes is quite long enouth for PR to be jelled and well on the way in the curing process. If I really tried, I coult find the leak and stop it, but there is no reason to spend the turning time for an air leak[]
Do a good turn daily!
Don


> _Originally posted by eddiek9_
> <br />Could this thing be used as a vacuum chamber somehow?


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## penhead (Jan 7, 2006)

OK, admitting uninformed wisdom here...what all (besides paint) are these being used for.
As a vacuum chamber for PR..which I presume is needed to pull the air/bubbles out??
What about stabilizing wood??

Thanks.![]


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## dpstudios (Jan 7, 2006)

Stabilizing wood is exactly what I had in mind. I've got a lot of spalted maple, pecan $ magnolia that is just too punky to do anything with right now & wanting to stabilize it for use.


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## Teniko (Jan 7, 2006)

Could anyone post a tutorial on stabilizing wood and casting snakeskins using the paint pot? If this has been done, a link to the site would be appreciated. Thanks, David.


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## Gary Max (Jan 7, 2006)

Grizzly sells them for $10.00 less in the new catalog.


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## its_virgil (Jan 7, 2006)

Okay Friends,
Since I think Serge and I started the paint pot craze, I will explain what we are doing with them. We are casting snake skin pen blanks in polysester resin using pressure. <b>We are not using vacuum.</b> The pressure, 40-60psi squeezes the air bubbles so small that they are not seen by the human eye and the castings are crystal clear. All we are doing is (1) prepare the blank as we normally have been doing. (2) place the prepared tubes in the paint pot, (3) pour in the resin, (4) place on the pot top and secure it, and (5) pressurize it. I leave my pot pressurized for a couple of hours then remove the mold from the pot. Less time is ok, since the PR jells in about 30 minuts and is rock hard in a few hours or less. I don't think Serge is doing any stabilizing and I am not stabilizing wood in the pot either. I will leave stabilizing for someone else. For $1 a blank, I will let the professional stabilizer stabilize any wood I have that needs it.

I don't think a turotial is needed unless someone has never done any snake skins at all. Look on the IAP homepage and you will find two articles by jay Pickens. One is about casting with PR resin and has all of the info you will need. What to buy, where to get it, how much to use, how to color it, etc. Jay also has another article on embedding things in PR resin. He shows how to glud to the tubes, how to support the tubes, and even that they need to be weghted down so they don't float.

I just looked and Jay's article on casting is now in the list of articles: http://www.penturners.org/forum/portal.asp?cat=articles

Anthony Turchetta and  Dana Stabb also have articles on casting polyester resin in the archive. I wish those had been available when I started casting. I do have the luxury of living relatively close to Jay and can visit him on occassion.

There is also an article by Lee Biggers on using polylurathane for stabilizing wooden pen blanks.

Maybe a tutorial on using the pressure pot is in the works, but it is relatively simple. Get one, make your blanks, place in mold and put mold in pot. Pour in the resin, place on the top, seal and pressurize. 

you may want to look at this thread: http://www.penturners.org/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=11631

Do a good turn daily!
Don


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## Teniko (Jan 7, 2006)

Thank you Don for the post, it helped a lot, Dave.


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## its_virgil (Jan 7, 2006)

Teniko,
You're welcome. You may email me privately if I can be of any other help.
Do a good turn daily!
Don


> _Originally posted by Teniko_
> <br />Thank you Don for the post, it helped a lot, Dave.


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## TomServo (Jan 8, 2006)

Don: excellent summary! I've been following the vacuum/pressure casting threads because it's an interesting subject to me - and for stabilizing wood, wouldn't it be better to pull a vacuum for a couple minutes and then pressurize? It's my understanding that this is more in line with the commercial process (but with thinner stuff than plain PR).  
edit: I found a thinner for PR - Styrene
Thinner for polyester resins and gelcoats. When combined it allows for easier spraying and also achieves better penetration of porous surfaces. We recommend thinning at about 10 to 15% by volume.

Also on the sale - Doesn't that only apply to purchases over $50? the ad's pretty confusing to me, as the items in the flyer are also listed at the non-sale price. Maybe that's why some stores won't sell it at the sale price. Just a thought.


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## thetalbott4 (Jan 8, 2006)

One thing to consider about using the paint pot as a vacuum vessel is that you cant see whats going on inside. When you pull a vac on a fluid, it tends to foam as the air is pulled out. You could be getting resin all over the inside of your vessel and ruining your casting and not know it. You can also see at what point the bubbling stops and the vac has reached it's goal. This is just a personal thing for me, but with vac'ing I like to see whats going on in there.

You dont great amounts of force with a vacuum, so a big pickle jar will work fine. You can also build a vessel easily from an old cooking pot (dont get caught heading out the door with it [B)]), a piece of lexan ( hardware store)and some rubber for a gasket. Put a few fittings in the lexan and off you go.

As with anything, wear protective gear, test things in small increments and from a distance.


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## its_virgil (Jan 8, 2006)

I don't understand how PR can be used to stabilize...it cures so quickly. But, as I say, I've not tried to do any stabilization. But yes, I would think the vacuum would be the start and then pressurized it to drive the resin into the wood...but I'n not for sure. Maybe if Johnny Wooten reads this he can offer some advice on stabilization...how about it rtjw?
Do a good turn daily!
Don


> _Originally posted by TomServo_
> <br />Don: excellent summary! I've been following the vacuum/pressure casting threads because it's an interesting subject to me - and for stabilizing wood, wouldn't it be better to pull a vacuum for a couple minutes and then pressurize? It's my understanding that this is more in line with the commercial process (but with thinner stuff than plain PR).
> edit: I found a thinner for PR - Styrene
> Thinner for polyester resins and gelcoats. When combined it allows for easier spraying and also achieves better penetration of porous surfaces. We recommend thinning at about 10 to 15% by volume.
> ...


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## TomServo (Jan 9, 2006)

Don: I didn't neccesarily mean with PR - though thinned PR *may* work (with less hardener or a slower setting resin). But even the plexi-acetone stabilizing could benefit from having the air removed and then the mix forced in. I seem to remember one of the problems was a lack of penetration in some woods? It would certainly be interesting to try.


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## Mudder (Jan 9, 2006)

> _Originally posted by TomServo_
> <br />Don: I didn't neccesarily mean with PR - though thinned PR *may* work (with less hardener or a slower setting resin). But even the plexi-acetone stabilizing could benefit from having the air removed and then the mix forced in. I seem to remember one of the problems was a lack of penetration in some woods? It would certainly be interesting to try.



Point to ponder......

From doing vacuum impregnating of sintered bronze bushings for years. If you place something in a liquid and place it in a vacuum something has to replace the air that bubbles out. one trouble that we have is that everything has a type of carrier that flashes off and therefore we cannot have a full wood pore. While your ides is extremely good and merits some investigation I doubt that the 50 or 60 psi that we can get into a pressure vessel will be enough to fully saturate the blank.

I have had fairly good results by drilling the blank and turning it to about 1/16" or more larger than final size and then using the Poly or the acetone plexi.


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## penhead (Jan 9, 2006)

Very interesting topic, and after I looked 'sintered' up in the dictionary it made even more sense.  However, I'm still not sure what you mean by "carrier that flashes off and therefore we cannot have a full wood pore"..

Would it make a difference if the wood to stabilize were soft/punky as opposed to a nice green hard blank where a lot of water would need replacing..??.. (does that make sense or am I in the wrong ballpark?)




> _Originally posted by Mudder_
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## Mudder (Jan 9, 2006)

> _Originally posted by penhead_
> <br />....  However, I'm still not sure what you mean by "carrier that flashes off and therefore we cannot have a full wood pore".....



When most finishes dry it is because of a carrier flashing off and leaves the solids behind. With the acetone and Plexiglas mix the carrier is acetone. Shellac has a carrier of alcohol. If you have 50% acetone and 50% Plexiglas you can fill the wood pore 100% but then the acetone will "flash off", Evaporate, Dry; whatever you want to call it and leaves the Plexiglas behind. Therefore you have a wood pore filled 50% with solids.

Most of my stabilizing has been done on corn cobs, spalted punky wood, or wood that is very porous. I don't know id wet wood could be stabilized using a vacuum method because it would be hard to remove the water. I am far from being an expert on the subject. Perhaps another member will have a better explanation than I.

Hopes this helps a little.


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## penhead (Jan 9, 2006)

Thanks Mudder, that makes sense what you are saying, just takes a while for it to sink in for me [^]



> _Originally posted by Mudder_
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