Thread: Stuck on the mandrel - acetone???

Stirlo, as for the stuck on the mandrel bit, get some soft cloth around the pen, then hold tightly and give it a twist, of course you will need to hold the end wheel so mandrel doesn't turn, usually the CA seal will break and it will come off the mandrel ok. As for the two sections being stuck together, I think great care may neeed to be used there or else you may split the blanks. Nail polish remover does contain acetone and helps dissolve the CA, but I am not sure what effect it will have on your blanks, Amos

No help with the pen, Stirlo, but you'll find acetone at any paint or hardware store.


Cheers..................Sean

Mate I would not do the acetone with a spider in it. I agree with Amos, Wrapp a rag around it then hold firmly with insulation tape and then hold firmly and tap mandrel a few time it willl come out
Toni

Amos:
no go with the twist and pulling. i tries it about a hundred times and another couple time today, tis a no go - its stuck tight.

Originally Posted by scooter

No help with the pen, Stirlo, but you'll find acetone at any paint or hardware store.

thanx sean

Originally Posted by lubbing5cherubs

Mate I would not do the acetone with a spider in it. I agree with Amos, Wrapp a rag around it then hold firmly with insulation tape and then hold firmly and tap mandrel a few time it willl come out
Toni

i rekon acetone is the only way to go. its stuck there pretty firmly. th spider is an acrylic inlay ( scroll saw cut filled with coloured resin ), i'm not sure that acetone would do anything to it except take away some colour??? any one had any experience with acetone and acrylic/resins?

cheers guys

Hey, Stirlo! If you're going to try the acetone thing, try dribbling it vertically down the mandrel and let it wick inside the brass tube. Hopefully it won't get on the outside of the pen at all.

Good luck my friend

Stirlo, before you bugger it up any more, mount it on a nice bit of wood & hang it on the wall near your lathe as a salient reminder.

Then buy a new mandrel & move on.

If anybody asked you what it is, you tell them 'experience.'

The benefits, apart from the experience, are...
1. You don't waste any more time/money on it.
2. You don't have to buy/store/mess around with a potentially nasty chemical.
3. It makes you a more 'interesting' (?) character.

Granted that you miss out on the experience of getting out of a muck up but, hopefully you won't ever make that same muck up so you won't need that experience.

Heat the mandrel, gently, gently....

DAMHIKT

Stirlo nail polish remover is basically acetone see if mum has some, might save you a trip to the hardwear shop .

Rgds

Bad luck Stirlo.

I'd turn a dolly out of hardwood (like a dowel) that is drilled to the dia of you mandrel rod. Try unscrewing the rod from the morse taper, then place the rod into another piece of wood with a small hole to hold the rod. Then place the dolly over the other end up to your blank and bang the end of the dolly.

If you can't get the mandrel rod out of the morse taper, hitting the blank with the dolly wont move it, but may be enough to break the seal.

All else fails, refer to Cliff's post. And remember to coat the new mandrel with EasySlide or wax to stop future sticking.

good luck

Before I say this, understand I know nothing Re: pen turning and have never used this solvent for the above mentioned purpose. Disclaimer out of the way; MEK (methyl ethyl ketone) is the universaly accepted solvent and main ingredient in CA remover. When patients come into the ER with CA mishaps, this is what we use to remove foriegn objects firmly glued into whatever orifice they've glued it into. Hope this helps.

Before trying acetone, try this:

Throw the mandrel in the freezer overnight. (Probably a good idea to put it in a plastic baggy to appease yer Mum... ) Screw the nut back on the end to protect the thread, grab it firmly by the blank and give it a short, sharp whack onto a wooden bench/offcut, sort of like an overhand stab with a dagger.

Freezing will cause the metal to shrink, slightly more than the blank. This in turn places stress on the CA bond, making it easier to shatter.

If it doesn't work, what have you lost? Besides risking Mum's displeasure... and possibly shattering the blank if it wasn't cast properly.

i'll try skew's idea first and if that dont work i think i will listen to cliff

thanx guys for your help

Give Neil's idea a go two (possibly even combine them) - as long as you can get the taper off. You need a 1/4" hole in the dolly for a standard mandrel. As for getting the two halves apart once you get them moving, the thing trhat works for me is simple. Move it so that one blank hangs over the end of the mandrel, and the other is still on the mandrel. A sharp snap sideways should then separate them. I've done this a few times with no broken blanks yet.

Peter

i might give neil's idea ago. i'll see what happens with skews idea first.

the mandrel and blanks are in the freezer now. i'll check on them when i get home from work ( 1130pm )

cheers