I had a great/terrible idea. As such I'll try it on a dowel rod first but my ideas tend to get better when I bounce them around here first. I wanna make a black hole in epoxy on my black hole rod. I know it's the company name and the Suzuki special is far from their flagship rod, but dang it it sounds cool. My astrophysics background makes this even more appealing. The concept won't be too far off from marbling, just more directed less random.
I figure the existing flat black is a good space background. Then I'll put down a coat of epoxy with some judiciously applied glitter stars mixed in, then a bit of epoxy with maybe some silver pigment with a dollop of yellow in the middle that I'll drag out in a swirl pattern. After that dries I'll put down a dot of black in the middle then maybe a very thin wisp of a white but that's hard to describe how im doing it and I might leave it out entirely Then the black hole USA logo next to that of course.
My concern is that this blank is very narrow. It's a very small canvas.
Thoughts? Does this sound feasible?
maybe, build your layered image in reverse order on some clear synthetic
(better modern version of celluloid?), then transfer to rod
also, maybe go split-grip & put your art on fattest bottom part
best place for extra-heavy final clearcoat to preserve art AND blank action
Quote from: philaroman on May 03, 2021, 02:33:51 AM
also, maybe go split-grip & put your art on fattest bottom part
best place for extra-heavy final clearcoat to preserve art AND blank action
That ship has sailed. Full length cork is already epoxied in place.
Interesting idea about building the image in reverse.
I also thought about going lazy with some hubble nebula shot that I'd scale down cut out and epoxy on. I kick around a lot of ideas.
This is what i want to add to a stick some day . As you say the hard part is to keep it to scale on a small diameter stick.
Quote from: oldmanjoe on May 03, 2021, 01:38:26 PM
This is what i want to add to a stick some day . As you say the hard part is to keep it to scale on a small diameter stick.
I'm thinking about an epoxy version of a decoupage type application, perhaps with one of these below. Yes i know they are artist renderings not hubble pics like I mentioned above. The idea of making my own is very appealing but a quality end result is also appealing.
Being a 2 piece rod, I can build the rest of it and get it functional, then come back and do this.
And we are talking about like maybe 6" of the blank above the grip. If that. I would hope that would not mess with the action too much.
I can't wait for the test results and the finished product. Keep it going. Dominick
at the rate it's going, Jason's gonna end up w/ a
bas-relief cameo of the wife, in mother of pearl
Quote from: philaroman on May 03, 2021, 03:56:13 PM
at the rate it's going, Jason's gonna end up w/ a
bas-relief cameo of the wife, in mother of pearl
Finally, a project she'd appreciate.
I'm thinking this would be the pic if I don't do it manually, rotated a bit so the galactic plane is flat along the rod:
Also couldn't I just paint it in model paint, wait for it to dry, then epoxy over it? I know people get that stuff and pour out the solvent to use the pigment in epoxy, so.i know there's something there.
How does the classic testors model paint hold up in the sun?
Yes you are on to something, :D. After a day of sitting many enamel paints generally will settle, the pigment much like yeast to ales . I've used the pigment In marbling rods. It's much more available and less costly than tube pigments. Pouring off the clearer binder allows you to get some thicker stuff. It works quite well. But this is using rod finish as the medium to dilute the pigment. You can do the same with adhesive types of epoxies, the 5 minute types are generally thicker and yellow tinted so acetone or more paint should be used to thin To brushing consistency.
The longer cure epoxies are seemingly thinner before mixing pigment, butt still expect longer drying time than without other solvents added.
It's fun to be creative, have fun and show us what happened. :)
I decided to go with a hubble pic. My hand is not steady enough to produce anything worthwhile on a canvas that narrow. I printed some black hole renderings as well, but again due to the small space none looked very good. I did 5 minute epoxy behind the photo and flex coat over it. The edges lifted a bit and that's really unfortunate. If i do this again I'd wrap it super tight with thread or mono while drying and leave it a lot longer before coating. I might even consider wrapping with mono and epoxying right over it. But other than that I'm really happy with the end result. The video doesnt show the guides but it's just a gold band on each.
https://youtu.be/hr2uQwXtBsk (https://youtu.be/hr2uQwXtBsk)
Given that it's 5min epoxy behind, i may try warming it up, piping more epoxy into the gap, and then wrapping super tight and see if it holds.
You can use scotch tape or the like over it to hold the corners down, just make sure to burnish the bubbles out as you're laying it down. Works fine with flexcoat
Quote from: Swami805 on May 20, 2021, 02:40:50 PM
You can use scotch tape or the like over it to hold the corners down, just make sure to burnish the bubbles out as you're laying it down. Works fine with flexcoat
Are you saying I could have just taped it down and epoxied over the tape? God dang it that woulda been super easy.
what kind of print / decal paper did you used?
Quote from: steelfish on May 20, 2021, 03:57:13 PM
what kind of print / decal paper did you used?
Regular photo paper. $0.39 print at Walgreens. If I were to do it again I'd use regular printer paper.
regular photo paper is too thick and stiff, you might have better luck with some sheet size sticker paper, its not that shiny but with the epoxy applied all the colors on any stickers have a more vivid shine.
I havent tried that out yet but you might want to do some tests on broken blanks first.
This is what i use spray adhesive .
And have a look at this , there is some great things to be seen. https://www.facebook.com/groups/1610286019254936/
thanks JOe, Im already a member there ;D ;D
Cool There is a nice write up on January 28 for the G-URUSHI Technique
Quote from: JasonGotaPenn on May 20, 2021, 11:49:21 AM
I decided to go with a hubble pic. My hand is not steady enough to produce anything worthwhile on a canvas that narrow. I printed some black hole renderings as well, but again due to the small space none looked very good. I did 5 minute epoxy behind the photo and flex coat over it. The edges lifted a bit and that's really unfortunate. If i do this again I'd wrap it super tight with thread or mono while drying and leave it a lot longer before coating. I might even consider wrapping with mono and epoxying right over it. But other than that I'm really happy with the end result. The video doesnt show the guides but it's just a gold band on each.
https://youtu.be/hr2uQwXtBsk (https://youtu.be/hr2uQwXtBsk)
Given that it's 5min epoxy behind, i may try warming it up, piping more epoxy into the gap, and then wrapping super tight and see if it holds.
A little late response but you could use either white nylon or silk wrapping thread. Both will turn clear when you apply the flexcoat so you can see right through it. Just wrap over it like any other wrap you do for guides, ect.
It's funny how time and increased skill changes opinions. I used to be super proud of this rod. Then i got better at building, and I started to be embarrassed of this early project. And frankly the fish didn't like it either. I've never caught anything but catfish on it, save for one lizard fish. So on many levels it's a failure.
But this is still by far the most expensive collection of components I've put into a build. And I realized frankly if I'm willing to put the time into stripping and refinishing a wallyworld rod, why am I too lazy to fix this?
So i stripped all the guides, cut off and sanded smooth the area where I sloppily glued on a printed picture. I dreaded doing it but with a bit of mild heat it was finished in under 20 minutes.
I redid the artwork (original Jason art this time) Guides are getting repositioned and rewrapped next.