Mosaic Pins

Fishing rod building epoxie is much thinner therefore easier to draw up into the tube. It is best mixed by putting it in a small cup and puting a ball bering in with it and rolling it aroung by tilting the cup by hand, add color at this time.This produces %100 bubble free mixed epoxie. I have not tried this with the regular stuff as it does not seem thin enough.
Cheers Ron.
 
This is good stuff, you guys may have reduced the amount of trauma I'll have to suffer next time I make a bunch of pins. What a freakin mess I make! I have a brake pump that did not work for me at all the one time I tried it but now it sounds like I was using too thick epoxy. I'll try West Systems or look for the flyrod stuff. Never thought of mixing it with a ball bearing! Great idea.

K&G has a great selection of sizes, shapes and materials of pin stock for making mosaic pins. The only downside is that you can't (well, I can't) tell what's going to fit into what ahead of time. You end up buying 10 of everything and that adds up pretty quickly. But at least you have lots of parts to play with! :D

Tracy thanks for the suggestion to use thick superglue to fill air bubbles; never thought of that either.

All this talk about epoxy seems like a good time to mention the danger again - epoxy fumes are carcinogenic, so don't sit hunched over a pool of the stuff in your basement, work in a well ventilated area!
 
Thanks Guys!!! I am going to try to post the pages from the Bob Engnath catalog that gives the sizes of tubes and wire and etc. for different pins.
If I can't just email me and I'll send it to you. It is also on line.:D
 
I got it here too. Plus the Pic's that John Andrews sent me.
http://albums.photo.epson.com/j/AlbumIndex?u=4349831&a=32075036&f=
Dan Gray said:
here you go IG :D
http://www.engnath.com/public/mosaic.htm

these will be on the knife making site too:D
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hello guys where do i buy the items to make 1/4" Mosaic pin stock i have never did this befoe so i would love any help you can give on wew to buy the items i need
thanks
Rich
 
George,
A friend of mine uses the suction pump off a penis enlargement pump, so your vacuum pump is a good idea. (I'm not going to tell you which friend)
Thanks,
Del
 
Wow, this thread has been resurrected. Del, IG is still trying to suck the epoxy up the tube like he is drinking a icecream soda :eek:
 
I've been playing with the idea of making mosaic pins but didn't know where to start. Thanks, guys! This is the closest I've found to a tutorial (please direct me otherwise, thx).

Let me see if I have this:
- decide on a pattern and "pre"fit to make sure everything goes in.
- This is where I'm going a bit different - please advise) mix slow cure epoxy but possibly thinned using lac. thinner or alc. Add dye now.
- Poor epoxy into plugged pin body tube.
- slowly/carefuly insert "inserts."
- place pin assembly standing on end where it won't be disturbed.
- wait for recomended epoxy's cure time plus a good 24 hours to allow for added cure time from thinning.

Please let me know if I need to change anything.

Thanks again!

Jim L
 
tmickley said:
Too complicated I think.
I never found air bubbles suspended in the epoxy to be much of a problem so I never bothered to rig up a vacuum chamber to draw them out. I trial fitted the mosaic pins until I found a pattern that was tight and then just sucked the epoxy up through the whole mess. If there are any voids that you might have exposed (slim chance), a touch of thick super glue takes care of it. Suck up the epoxy, jam the playdough in the end (a small chunk of it is sitting at the botom of the cup - in the epoxy), pull it out of the goop, wipe it off and stand it upright until it cures. Leave an inch or two of poly tube at the top (reusable, the epoxy won't stick to it) full of epoxy. You won't pull any epoxy into your pump unless you drop over dead during the process. West system doesn't like to be mixed up more than a half dixie cup at a time or it gets damn hot in just a few minutes from exothermic runaway. I scorched the top of my work bench one time from mixing a bit too much up one time - doing mosaic pins.
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Here is a method that I have been using for years and it has always worked for me. It is alot simpler than the other methods stated here. Im not saying it's the best way for everone, just that its the best way for me.

1. Pick up the phone
2. call a knife supply place like Pops or K&G
3. Order mosaic pins in the size and material needed
4. Pay for it with my wifes credit card (very important step)
5. Have a beer and eat pizza untill it arrives. (Usually about 5 days so you might want to pace yourself)


If there are any questions, please feel free to call.
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adammichael said:
Here is a method that I have been using for years and it has always worked for me. It is alot simpler than the other methods stated here. Im not saying it's the best way for everone, just that its the best way for me.

1. Pick up the phone
2. call a knife supply place like Pops or K&G
3. Order mosaic pins in the size and material needed
4. Pay for it with my wifes credit card (very important step)
5. Have a beer and eat pizza untill it arrives. (Usually about 5 days so you might want to pace yourself)


If there are any questions, please feel free to call.
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That's cheating.;) :D
 
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