Still Learning II, Crack in the 1st efforts @ a tenon

[Phillip Kelley]

I am not good @ photography either! You can't se it, but there is a 1/4' crack on the lower barrell, close to the ring at the nib. I don't know if this happened during assembly or later. I diidn't notice it until about an hour after I completed the assembly and was showing it ot my wife. Is it possible to dis-assemble, turn that section off & glue something else in? Any recommendations on what variety of wood to use?

 

[BeSquare]

I am not good @ photography either! You can't se it, but there is a 1/4' crack on the lower barrell, close to the ring at the nib. I don't know if this happened during assembly or later. I diidn't notice it until about an hour after I completed the assembly and was showing it ot my wife. Is it possible to dis-assemble, turn that section off & glue something else in? Any recommendations on what variety of wood to use?

A crack that small you should be able to take the pen components off, glue it together and refinish it. I've done that on a few pens. If that doesn't work you could part an equal amount off of both ends and glue some contrasting wood on to the tube and turn it down. Check out the segmenting forum if you need some ideas

 

[Hendu3270]

Like BS said. I would disassemble the pen and take it back to the lathe for a little segmenting. It's the perfect oppurtunity to learn something new and add a little extra to the pen at the same time. The pic below is a pen that I did a similar technique on. I added acrylic to this one and it was to simply add to the pen, not to fix a crack but it'll work in your case just the same. This pen ended up having acrylic segment on both end of each barrel before it was all said and done.

 

[plano_harry]

I have repaired cracks like that several times. Disassemble the tube. If you can't see the tube inside the crack, have a clamp ready and positioned, drop thin CA in the crack and tighten the clamp across the crack to close it. Sand and refinish.

If the crack is a little wider and you want to be sure and fill it, use the sanding trick of getting some wood dust on your sandpaper then a drop or two of med/thick CA to make a filler slurry that should conceal the crack pretty well. Sand and refinish.

Don't use activator, it could cause a spot in the crack.

Was the original assembly a little tighter than normal? When reassembling, make sure you have reamed the tube clean and maybe even a little loose so the component doesn't swell the tube when you press it.

Harry