Thread: Pen brass tube glue

Yes

I usually use the medium CA to glue tubes in as it fills any gaps a bit better than thin and it also takes a little longer to go off. If your tube is a tight fit in the blank, sometimes the thin will set before you get the tube inserted all the way in.

Joe, Kurt Hertzog's many articles on pen turning may help you Articles, Demos & Classes by Kurt Hertzog

100% using CA works.

I've had not a single failure of the hundreds I've made.

Ensure the tube is scuffed well. Medium CA on the entire tube and a little more at the begining of the blank. Once inserted, wipe the inside of the tube with a cotton bud dipped in acetone. Set aside to dry.

Mobyturns, that Hertzog link looks like an Aladdin's cave

same same nothing but medium super glue used for lots and lots of pens I got mine from Timberbits but in no way have affiliate links to them.

Originally Posted by woodPixel

Mobyturns, that Hertzog link looks like an Aladdin's cave

It is and you could not meet a nicer, more knowledgeable bloke than Kurt. Plenty of helpful info in that list, pen turning, through to most wood turning topics.

I prefer epoxy (techniglue) for my Celtic Knot and various segmented blanks, purely because it gives me plenty of time to adjust the position of the tube centrally within the blank.

Like any product we use it pays to understand a little about how it works. Medium CA is fine for your typical pen making, as it does have some gap filling capacity, but it also has limitations.

CA glue needs some moisture to initiate its relatively very fast cure (to other glues). It is a good glue choice for gluing dissimilar materials i.e. glue brass to wood. The longevity / shelf life or chemical stability of CA in the bottle is extended by the use of (acidic) stabilizers which prevent (actually slows) the monomer from polymerizing (curing) in storage over time. The purity of the CA also determines how it cures, its cured strength etc.

Certain woods due to their naturally high acidity; "oilyness"; and other natural extractives found in them may inhibit the CA glue curing process, i.e. cocobolo, and many of the dalbergias (the true rosewoods), Pennyleaf or Indian Rosewood etc. For that reason CA is not a good choice as a pen finish on "the rosewoods" and some other woods.

"Accelerator" helps to initiate the CA glue to cure when there is insufficient moisture present in the material to be bonded; or the materials are naturally acidic; or to simply speed up the cure. Controlling the rate (or speed) of the cure is important. To much accelerator = to fast and the cure becomes exothermic which causes foaming (or a white haze in a finish) and makes the bond brittle, or initiates crazing in the finish.

Thanks I will have a bopeep

As woodPixel says, be sure to completely cover the entire tube!!!!

Polyurethane glue works well too and as it expands and foams up while curing it will squeeze itself into any cracks or voids that are present on the inside of the blank. Extremely useful for burls!

To avoid glue (any type) getting inside the tube take a 1/4” thick slice of potato and push both ends the tube into it, as if you were using it as a punch.

I found both CA and 5min epoxy to work well but the CA is fast so you need to be organised, you can't change your mind half way through the insertion. Well, you can. You just need to split the blank off the brass tube, clean the adhesive off and start again. The other thing is the brass needs to be clean and rough. Clean all the lacquer off the outside of the brass tube with some coarse sandpaper then wipe with acetone. The acetone can help getting the brass tube off your fingers when you accidentally put your finger on the wet superglue you just put on the tube while you were trying to line the tube up with the hole in the blank.........After that happened I made this tapered wooden thing to go into the tube and keep my fingers out of the glue. Have fun.

Old Hilly, I like the idea of a tube inserter stick. Its a messy enough job.

Yes, it's a bugger of a job and the wooden probe thing (we used to call them "podgers"[used to line up the holes in multiple cable lugs] when I was a cable jointer but they were made of steel back then) made glue application to the tube easier, then, holding things sort-of horizontal you line the wooden bit up with the brass tube and slide it in. Depending on the taper of the wooden pusher thing it will push the brass tube slightly (or more than slightly) below the surface of the wooden blank. I apply some sort of wax polish to the pusher so that the inevitable glue squeeze out won't glue the pusher into the tube and/or the blank. Have fun!