Last Ligero.

Signed-In Members Don't See This Ad
See more from WoodChucker

Status
Not open for further replies.

WoodChucker

Member
Joined
Sep 30, 2004
Messages
1,799
Location
Mi, USA.
Last of the five I bought in the group purchase and ran into a problem when drilling the blank. (Masur Birch). The bit was just coming through the end of the blank and it exploded, broke into two separate pieces. The matching pieces broke apart pretty clean so I glued them together and stuck them in the vice over night. The next morning I drilled them out again and went ahead and glued the tubes in and finished making the pen. I can't even tell where the splits are so I was pretty happy.

I'm not real sure why it happen, I didn't have a scrap piece of wood under it when drilling so I guess that was at least part of the problem, but that's the way I always do it and it never happen before, so who knows. This ever happen to any of you? Thanks!

MasurBirch.jpg


R.T.
 
Signed-In Members Don't See This Ad

Gary

Member
Joined
Sep 10, 2004
Messages
1,371
Location
Texas, USA.
I've had it happen, R.T. I attributed it to drilling too fast and with too much pressure. It still turned out really nice for you...good job!
 

tipusnr

Member
Joined
May 15, 2004
Messages
1,692
Location
Reynoldsburg, OH, USA.
Good looking pen! Nope, I haven't had that one happen yet but then a lot of things that haven't happened before are trying to squeeze into 2004.
 

woodpens

Member
Joined
Feb 15, 2004
Messages
894
Location
Webb, AL, USA.
Your pen came out beautifully! The larger the hole you are drilling, the less material remains for strength as the drill bit tears out of the bottom. I have stopped drilling all the way through my blanks unless the pen blank is absolutely too short to have any option. After drilling deep enough for the tube, I cut the closed end of the blank off using my tablesaw. It gives me a clean edge and completely eliminated the blowouts I used to have.
 

WoodChucker

Member
Joined
Sep 30, 2004
Messages
1,799
Location
Mi, USA.
Thanks everyone!

Jim, thanks for the tip, that's a good idea and the way I'll start doing my bigger blanks. Appreciate the info!

R.T.
 

PenWorks

Member
Joined
Aug 18, 2004
Messages
5,186
Location
Scottsdale, AZ
Very nice RT. Masur Birch is another favorite. They sell good. Can't see the split, so you did a great job. You sure your not hiding it under the clip? Anthony
 

WoodChucker

Member
Joined
Sep 30, 2004
Messages
1,799
Location
Mi, USA.
Randy, I've never seen the pen your talking about so I'm not really sure.

Thanks Anthony,

No, the split is in the lower barrel, not the top. So there! [:D]

R.T.
 

tipusnr

Member
Joined
May 15, 2004
Messages
1,692
Location
Reynoldsburg, OH, USA.
I was rereading this thread (topic) while waking up to take the truck to Goodyear for new rubber and got thinking. I stopped putting sacrifice wood under the blanks with the centering jig as I rarely had anything like a blowout. (I do almost exclusively slimline kits.)

Leaving them long and drilling part way through would mean marking the bit for depth somehow as I need to reposition the blank due to insuffficient quill travel. That could be done. I could also go back to using sacrificial wood by cutting strips to slide between the bottom of the jaws on the centering vise but that would mean having a couple of different widths for the different blanks...again doable.

What about cutting plywood squares and gluing them to the bottom of the blanks then parting later? Would that be too much truoble to save more expensive blanks?

Sorry folks. I just realized that I'm "thinking out loud" with my fingers! Still I'd be interested in your opinions of the pros and cons. Feel free to move the discussion to a different topic or forum - if appropriate.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Top Bottom