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  1. #16
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    I have used one of these for ever to make the inserting of the tubes more efficient, great minds think alike.

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  3. #17
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    Mobyturns is offline In An Instant Your Life Can Change Forever
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    Cheap and very disposable "tube insertion tools" come in the form of "paddle pop sticks" readily available at the many $2 or now $5 stores. They come in a few sizes and usually in bundles of 100 to 500 or so. Actually any thin rips of wood will do the same task.

    I use a Stanley knife, small plane, or a chisel to pare them to a slight taper so that they fit the tube diameter. IF I'm really organized I place a few side by side in a Vee block and plane the taper with my trusty old Stanley #5 hand plane.

    Because I use 24 hr epoxy I find that I can do 20 to 30 tubes from one batch of glue, and also get many sessions out of a couple of "paddle pop sticks." Excess epoxy is wiped off with cotton buds (non plastic shafts ) dipped in metho. Simply wipe / scrape off the excess glue from the sticks then a quick wipe with a rag soaked in Metho takes care of the rest. Can't get much more "green" than that.

    I never use CA glue for the tubes, & only 24 hr epoxy which gives plenty of time to adjust tube placement in the blank. I can't see much benefit in CA glue over epoxies other than for very impatient wood turners.
    Mobyturns

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  4. #18
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    May 2009
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    NSW
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    I started out using "5 minit" epoxy but it seemed to go off too quickly (or I was just too bloody slow getting 2 brass tubes inserted in their blanks), then I went to CA glue to avoid, or at least minimise waste I was having with the epoxy. The CA is OK provided you are quick, he who hesitates is destined to failure with that stuff. So perhaps good old slow-set epoxy is the way to go. Just get things organised, get your blanks lined up, the brass tubes prepared and get to work at a relaxed pace. Good idea Mobyturns.

  5. #19
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    Feb 2016
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    Canberra
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    Have to be honest, I didn't really work all that fast with CA.

    I'd scuff the tube, circle a bit in the blank end, a bit around the beginning of the tube, twirl it in, clean it up.

    There was no rush or drama.

    It would be set aside for a while to cure. No need for a squitto of accelerator.


    The only drama I had was the CA on my forefinger and thumb! The chopstick trick is on the agenda for the next few



    I DID have one thought (...don't be rude!) is that if the end of the blank were to be given a little chamfer, just a smidge (2mm?), it would create a neat little dam for the excess CA to build up and smear itself over the blank as it's inserted. This was always a concern of mine, to have part of the metal or internal of the blank starved for glue, hence the twisting-insert-action. The little chamfer would alleviate this.

    One would naturally push the end of the tube jjuusstt past the end of the chamfer....

  6. #20
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    NSW
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    Aaah So, Grasshopper.....Chopsticks! That will teach me not to broaden my (culinary) horizons! And the little chamfer in the end of the tube to act as a well for the adhesive, what a good idea Mr. Pixel!

  7. #21
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    Well I will go against the super glue set. As I thought I would see," I use CA and never have had a failure yet". Yet. Your luck will eventually will run out and failures happen. First thing you really need to understand is when CA dries, what happens it goes hard. Hard is brittle, brittle cracks. You apply CA to the tube and twist it in. Will it touch every part of the drilled hole, no. That is one of the biggest faliures of pen blanks. Not 100% glue contact between the tube and drilled hole. CA is not designed for the shear force of a chisel cutting the blank. Once again it is luck over good gluing that prevented failure.

    2 part epoxy or clear non-foaming polyurethane glue by gorilla is the best option and wait 24 hrs to dry. This is my gluing method.

    Make sure you seal the end of the tube that you insert into the tube. Coat the inside the drilled hole first, then coat the tube. Push the sealed end in first, once the tube is in place wipe away excess glue and pop out the plug and set aside for 24 hrs. The reason that 2 part epoxy or clear polyurethane glue is a better option is that it allows some flexibility and movement when turning. Plus gluing up this way you get a 100% bond between tube and drilled hole.

    Sent from my SM-G973F using Tapatalk

  8. #22
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    I use CA glue on all pen blanks, and have had very few failures. A simple tool to aid in handling & inserting the tubes while keeping your fingers clear of glue is the plastic tips from tubes of silastic / caulking & similar. You can often grab a bundle of them from a box in the big green shed for next to nothing. Can re-use them many times, and then just throw them out. There's also a few different sizes available, depending on what you like.

    Screen Shot 2022-10-12 at 10.47.26 am.png

  9. #23
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    Since I wax plug both ends of the tube I can't use insertion tools but disposable rubber gloves do the job nicely no matter what the glue. The wax is sheets of bee's wax about a mm+ thick from craft stores, used to roll into candles. Dental impression wax is similar or the same. Cookie cutter into the wax and after the glue is dry remove the wax. Way easier than trying to get dried glue out of tubes.

    Pete

  10. #24
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    Feb 2016
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    Canberra
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    Spoze one could plug the end of the tube with a potato!

    Just like a spud gun

  11. #25
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    People do but fresh I think. Not a used French Fry.

    Plumbers putty also gets used by some too.

    Pete

  12. #26
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    I’ve tried the Potato trick, never seems to work for me, but I’m off too find some Bees wax sheet on the net.

    Cheers Matt.

  13. #27
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    Quote Originally Posted by Simplicity View Post
    Bees wax sheet
    Strewth. That's some fancy finishin'.

  14. #28
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    How the beeswax go? I guess unlike other items we need something that will last with constant touching by dirty fingers!

  15. #29
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    Quote Originally Posted by brainstrust View Post
    How the beeswax go? I guess unlike other items we need something that will last with constant touching by dirty fingers!
    I must be a little dense this morning. What exactly are you asking?

    Pete

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