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Post by Saberbelt on Dec 30, 2004 9:15:30 GMT -5
I actually got the 4 pack at staples for $6 - I wanted to get a small quantity so I could verify it was in fact the same. I have to hit up my online source to see if they can get them for me Another plus is they write better than the old ones Dave
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Post by Nova Darklighter on Dec 31, 2004 0:33:45 GMT -5
Yeah I got mine at Staples for around that price as well. And they do write nicely.
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Post by jaiven on Jan 1, 2005 9:26:08 GMT -5
I just picked up 4, 4 packs of them at Staples myself. Just need to pick up the buttons now, and put them together and spray paint them.
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Post by Leda EmBorr on Jan 1, 2005 17:18:59 GMT -5
I wired the buttons onto mine before gluing, just in case the glue failed, the button won't pop off. But I used the buttons that you get at the rag shop, not the plastic hemispheres that you get online. I don't think you can do that with those... nothing to thread the wire through.
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Post by Nova Darklighter on Jan 1, 2005 21:08:53 GMT -5
My bigger problem was the clips broke off a couple of mine.
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Post by Ani-Chay Pinn on Jan 1, 2005 22:37:01 GMT -5
I tried to find the right pens at Office Depot, but no luck. So, I just threw up my hands and used a dowel stiick.
I cut it into food-capsule sized lengths, with one end flat and the other end slanted. Then I used a rotary tool to round off the flat end. I was surprised; it only took a few minutes for each end. I smoothed any rough edges on the slanted end as well. I lined them up as I went to make sure they were all the same length.
Then I drilled a small hole in each slanted end. After spray painting them sliver and gold I attached strips of meta. to that end with very tiny, 1/4" screws. The metal strips aren't great, but with 3 or 4 of them together on the belt they seen to stay put. Spring steel strips would have made better clips, but have you ever tried to drill a hole in spring steel with a hand drill? Not happening. So I cut the strips from metal flashing, drilled small holes in the ends and smoothed the edges with the rotary tool.
Now I have food capsules made from nice, nutritious wood. Mmmmmm....
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Post by Syn-Kai-Jinn on Jan 2, 2005 23:18:06 GMT -5
Ani thats what mine are. If look back on this thread . wood dowel, but I glue mine to a flat plastic piece. That you can`t see behind them and used some velco thing that I got from mountain sports and there ya have it .
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Don Solo
Message Board Member
Posts: 341
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Post by Don Solo on Jan 3, 2005 1:38:35 GMT -5
well I've got 8 on their way from eBay now... shouldn't be long before I have another project on my hands I won't finish
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Post by Vek Eldar on Jan 3, 2005 2:47:02 GMT -5
Just noticed this thread. I got my pens from www.officequarters.comwww.officequarters.com and had absolutely no problems with them. I hadn't been able to find them in any of the big office chains here in the Dallas metroplex, so I had to spend the extra money on-line. Oh well... For adhesive, I just used regular old epoxy, as I wasn't anticipating them falling off of my belt. Really, the stuff worked pretty well. I just applied it with a toothpick, held it in place for a few minutes, then left it for a couple of hours. Then, I just sanded down the excess. Rust-Oleum has a line of plastics-only paints, and I really recommend them. You don't have to sand the plastic or anything, and once the primer is on, you can use pretty much any paint you want. The problem is that they smell terrible, and I'm sure that they are fairly toxic, so for heaven's sake make certain that you're in a well-ventilated area! The only problem that I ran into while making them was overspray. Just make certain that you are using light coats of paint, otherwise everything will start to run. The capsules look great when they are finished, but I need to redo mine because I ran into a garbage can at Dragon Con and scraped the paint right off across all five on my belt!
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Post by Saberbelt on Jan 3, 2005 22:50:58 GMT -5
see - I like the Testor's paint - it has a nice color to it I am soooooooooo glad I bought a tri-pod for my camera - I never could have gotten that detail without it ;D I am working on getting a supplier for the pens in a larger quantity - if there is enough interest I will go ahead and start up another run of them Dave
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Post by Jauhzmynn Enz on Jan 3, 2005 23:06:41 GMT -5
Those are VERY well done.:-)
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Post by Leda EmBorr on Jan 4, 2005 2:27:28 GMT -5
wow... nice finish! What kind of paint did you use? Is it that rustoleum spray for plastics? I just used plain ol acrylic paint for mine and I brushed it on with a soft brush. They came out good.
I just noticed the picure of the pen on the previous page. I'm gonna go look for the new ones... mine are yellow plastic, and if the paint chips, you see it well!
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Don Solo
Message Board Member
Posts: 341
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Post by Don Solo on Jan 4, 2005 4:15:10 GMT -5
Dave: what color is the far left capsule? you used fine grit sandpaper on those before spraying them also, right? Nice job man
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Post by Saberbelt on Jan 4, 2005 12:32:26 GMT -5
actually - no sanding - they come out "smoother" without the sanding
I use Testors model paint right out of the spray cans. From left to right:
1 - Testors Metal Master Titanium I think - I will double check tonight after work 2 - Testors Copper 3 - Testors Gold 4 - Testors Silver
I also make sure to prime them good with a good grey primer - usually 2 coats of primer, 2 coats of paint, and then 2 coats of Clear Coat to protect them.
They are very labor intensive to do - I usually do them in runs of 60 and that takes me a whole weekend to get done not counting the time to glue the hemi's onto the bottom of the cap
Dave
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Laryn
Message Board Member
Posts: 105
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Post by Laryn on Jan 4, 2005 13:41:50 GMT -5
What kind of glue do you use? I have yet to find a readily available glue that holds under anything other than casual wear.
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