Nail Varnish

[JollyJim]

Hi everyone,

It's come to my attention, and I'm not going to say why.....,
that there are the most amazing colours, finishes, patterns
etc in the nail varnish market.

I was wondering if anyone had thought of a good way
of using them for pen decoration or finishing or whatever.

Thanks for reading

Regards - Jim

[fuzzyturns]

I have indeed used some nail varnish on some of my work. They do provide interesting colours, but can only be used for small areas (unless you can find a bulk supplier). The major drawback is their high viscosity: they either need to be diluted down, or you have to work with something that provides a substantial layer of varnish, which then generates some texture of its own. Can be incorporated into the overall design, but needs thinking about.

[JollyJim]

Thanks Fuzzy......

.....food for thought eh......

regards - Jim

[Derek]

Personally I remove it before turning as it gets chipped 

Seriously would be interested at some answers that you get as always looking for different materials to work with

[JollyJim]

Derek, that was excellent, thanks....gave me a very good chuckle !!!!

best wishes - Jim

[The Bowler Hatted Turner]

I did have some minor succes using bright red nail polish as a form of inclusion when I was experimenting with cloisonne type work. I had been to see the Staffordshire hoard and was interested to see that they laid their garnets over textured gold leaf. So I applied gold leaf over a textured ground within a "field"and then put a couple of layers of red nail varnish over the top. It was OK but not spectacular, it was also very slow as you can only do the vertically pointing "field" at any one time.

[JollyJim]

Hi BHT,

Thanks for replying.

I must admit, I did'nt understand most of your post, so, googled
'cloisonne' and 'Staffordshire Hoard' and then it made sense.

I'm still not sure what you mean by 'it was also very slow as you can only
do the vertically pointing "field" at any one time.' (unsure as to 'vertically pointing'....)

I think you must have the patience of a saint !!!!

Do you have any piccies you could post ? I'd
be really interested to see....

Thanks again

Best wishes - Jim

[Derek]

Just a thought would nail varnish by its nature of being quite a thick consistency would it be worth just trying it on a textured area so that it filled the texture.

Does anyone know what it can be thinned with.

[JollyJim]

I'd guess acetone would thin it ?

[Bryan Milham]

Nail varnish is normally has one of 2 bases.

Not sure about one of them but the other is Acetone. Go to the Cheep shops and you can but a bottle of Nail Varnish remover (acetone) for £1.

Which by the way, you should always have close to hand as it is also the solvent for Superglue.

[JollyJim]

Thanks both

I'll give it a go later

cheers - Jim

[Derek]

Nail varnish is normally has one of 2 bases.

Not sure about one of them but the other is Acetone. Go to the Cheep shops and you can but a bottle of Nail Varnish remover (acetone) for £1.

Which by the way, you should always have close to hand as it is also the solvent for Superglue.

Now why did I not realise that when I asked the question. I have acetone in my armoury already for various other jobs

[The Bowler Hatted Turner]

Jim basically because the nail polish is a liquid it tends to run downhill even when you think it is finally setting(depending on how thickly it is applied) and you can end up with it slumping, which is not nice to look at (unless you want it to slump in which case that is an entirely different thing)so the fields that I fill in are the uppermost ones that can be kept the most level until it has fully cured. I tend not to take too many pictures  so don't have any of this, sorry.

[The Bowler Hatted Turner]

Forgot to add that patience are learnt after rushing and ruining work that has taken a long time to make, better to take your time and produced good work rather than rush it and spoil it.

[JollyJim]

Thanks for the explanation BHT...

s'all interesting stuff  !!!!!

top class forum this......

regards - Jim