Recently I've run into the idea of marbling. It's rather simple, and not very expensive either.
Things you'll need are as follows.
Pigment. 5 Color kit will run $17.95
Epoxy. Depending on the type/size, it will cost $11.00-$24.00
A mixing cup with graduated measurements. (Preferably disposable.)
Toothpicks.
An old ceramic tile, or tin foil will work too.
Small brushes.
Some type of rotating device either custom made, or purchased. I made mine out of an electric drill a few hose clamps, a vice, and other household/shop items.
First order of business is to acquire your device for rotation.
Second, mix up some epoxy. It's very important that you take your time and measure accurately. Pour slowly. I poured at least 5cc's of each, for a total of 10cc's.
Start mixing slowly. Not in a rapid motion. Mixing rapidly will create big air bubbles. Bubbles will form as you begin to mix, but will go away.
When mixed, the epoxy should be clear, and not cloudy or full of bubbles. It's hard to get all the bubbles out, but to make it easier, try heating up the mixture before mixing it. It should be clear, like this.
After mixing the epoxy, brush a thin coat on your rod. Make sure your rod is spinning from now on.
After a thin coat of epoxy is applied, you may now grab your scrap tile, or tin foil and pour a nickel size drop of epoxy on it.
After the epoxy is poured onto the tile/foil, grab a toothpick, and get a very small amount of pigment.
Place the toothpick with the pigment on it into the epoxy.
Mix well.
To achieve the color I desire, I added white to lighten the blue a little bit.
After your color is mixed correctly, apply small dabs/drops of colored epoxy to your rod.
Once you feel one section has enough color, proceed to "scrape" the epoxy along. You basically want to smudge it, drag it, pull it, push it. In every which way possible to achieve a totally random look.
This is how it turned out for me.
Once you feel you are finished, let the rod spin until the epoxy is dry. Then apply another coat of the epoxy, and let that dry. Do not worry about brush strokes, as they will work themselves out and leave you with a glass like finish.
You can also throw in extra colors. When throwing in more then 1 color, keep in mind. If you apply the second color before the first color dried, it will mix together, and create a new color. This may be what you want, it may not be. Keep this in mind.
Here are a few pictures from a gaff I built for Hotrod. 2 colors were used, and I did not wait for the first color to dry before I added the second color.
Marbling is very easy to do, and comes out with a complete custom finish.
Tips.
When mixing the epoxy, make sure to scrape the sides of the cup, and do not use Styrofoam or paper cups.
Common household items can be used to drag the colored epoxy. Try using a large sewing needle, a small screwdriver. Keep in mind to "feather" it, and not scrape hard. Light hands, light fingers, light movements.
This does not have to be painted onto a custom rod. This can be done on a store bought rod.
Make sure your rod is clean
before applying the initial coat of thin epoxy. Try using nail polish remover. Damp wipe the rod, then dry wipe the rod. Nail polish remover removes grease/oil from other cleaners and your skin oil as well. Try not to touch the rod after you clean it.
When applying the epoxy, it should go on with a thin consistency. If too thick, try either heating it up a tad (not much) or simply mix up more.
Before you apply the colored epoxy, make sure to look closely as the rod turns to look for spots you may have missed while applying the thin base coat.
If you would like to do this on a fully custom rod. Figure out what color you would like your base to be, and you can use spray paint as a base coat. Find the background color you prefer, and go with that.
Some of the pictures are a little blurry, but it's hard to get my camera to focus on the tiny rod and not the large background. Good luck to all who try this! It's surprisingly easy to do.
