Hi I am new to this form and new to pen making I have blanks that came with my kit and the 7mm tube are nice and slip in snug when I try to drill my own holes with a 7mm bit with a brad point the hole seams to be to big the 7mm tube fall right through.
I was woundering if this ia a common problem or is there something I am doing wrong
thanks

You could have bent drill bit or you have not lined the blank up correctly when drilling.
A more detail's of your drilling procedures will help understand what is going on and pics.
You can get away with the hole being slightly over size but not to much. I you use epoxy resign for the glue you will have a higher success rate than super glue.

But I think if you want good advice and help give us the full run down on how you are drilling your blanks and as I said pic will help

Good luck and hope to hear from you soon

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Cheers Rum Pig

It is easier to ask for forgiveness than permission.

The drill bit may also be slightly over sized ..... Although it is a 7mm it may be 7.1mm. A single flute pen making drill bit would be a handy addition when you next place an order for new kits.

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You could just have a cheap and nasty drill bit which is only 'nominally' 7mm, and in actuality quite a bit more than 7mm.

Have you used calipers to actually measure the bit?
Is it a good quality, name brand bit?

Cheers,
Andrew

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You may have runout on your drill press, which would do it. I started out by using a hand drill in a drilling stand. There was enough play in the stand that I had to be very careful or I got too large holes too.

Peter

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I used a 7mm 5 1/2" HSS Brad Point Drill Bit from penn state Indsutries I purchased the large kit with all the supplies do it right type deal ha ah aha I have a new drill press
with a jig to hold the pen blanks the drill is new only drilled 6 to 8 pcs.

Thanks for all the fast response very impressed

Don't know how true this is but I have seen somewhere on a video or read somewhere, just can't remember for sure, that if the timber you are using is completely dry then it is normal for the tube to slip through the timber blank with a 7mm hole and is not a problem.
The tube will not slip through if the timber is not completely dry. Someone correct me if this is wrong. Apparently this will glue up okay and the joint will not fail.

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Cheers John

Slipping through is not a problem. All of my tubes slip through if I've drilled them right. I don't want it jamming, or it'll either be glue starved, or worst case even, if using CA, will glue itself in place when it jams, before you get the tube all the way in!! As Rum Pig says though, Epoxy Glue is a better option.

Now one the other hand, if you mean it slips through AND wobbles side to side because the hole is too large, THEN you may have a problem. Check the sideways wobble first.

Russell.

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i had the exact same problem once. Swapping to a standard twist drill fixed the problem. I have used the viper bits and now have a set of aeg bits which drill very true.

I think brad points can have a tendency to wander a bit. But certainly check all the things mentioned above first as they are very common causes of the problem.

i had the same problem by using different drill presses. I have bought a chuck for my lathe. Now i drill all my plastics in the lathe chuck. no wobble and straight every time. i have 7mm , 8 mm and 10mm kits works well on all

Did the same and replaced all the dodgy bits with dewalt extreme2's and I'm happy as a pig in

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Cheers and Happy Turning
Glenn

Use polyurathane glue... when it reacts with moisture (dry wood still has enough water in it to activate) it foams and the expansion will fill any small gaps nicely. I like it when they drop through smoothly, as Russell said... better to be a little loose than too tight

Corbs

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What brand of glue do u use. I have been using 5 minute 2 pack araldite. super glue is too quick or doesn't hold sometimes, other brands when i am cutting the blanks down on the lathe to round they come loose.

Bunnies sell a polyurathane glue called 'vise'
seems to work ok - cept I don't use it on acrylics

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regards
Nick (I really don't need a Stubby!)
veni, vidi, tornavi

I purchased my hole kit from pen state and they sent out PSI Mid-Cure epoxy and that is a 2 part / 15 minutes Epoxy I also just purchased on my last order from Woodturrings a insta-cure CA Glue I was told from a old time pen turner that I know who said all he uses is the CA Glue I just set up some last night with the CA glue will have to see how they turn. I have used the 15 min Epoxy on the pre order pen blanks from Penn State when i started to drill my own that is when we started haveing trouble with the hole and the tube falling through where the dident with the pre order ones but there is so much help here so many great people on this site and others with mor experiance than me hope this helps

P.S make shure give enuff time to dry

Mike