CA Question from newby

[tony0778]

[?]I have received my shipment from LV and I'm ready to attempt making a pen this weekend. I purchased the Special T CA which is thick with a slightly longer set time. When I read the directions tonight, it stated that you should NOT thinly spread the glue. So....am I to place several "dots" or "dabs" all along the brass insert or am I misunderstanding something???[?] Please let me know your thoughts...I anxious to get started!

 

[DozerMite]

I use the Super T. Just put a bead the length of the tube and insert it while twisting. Just need a even coat.

 

[cd18524]

I have always just slopped it on. I try to cover the whole tube.
Make sure you give the brass tube a quick sand to rough it up and when you insert the tube into the blank twist it around to spread the glue.

Chris

 

[jtate]

I gather that you are asking how to glue the tubes into the blanks.

I'm assuming you've already drilled the holes in your blanks.

I wouldn't use CA for this gluing application for two reasons: 1. The stuff's damned expensive and 2. It sets quickly.

I'd use Five Minute two part epoxy.

But some people have to do their own thing. At any rate, this method works for CA or Expoxy.

Get a potato. Punch your tube through the potatoe so that the inside of the tube is full of potatoe. You want potatoe all the way through it. This keeps the glue from getting insde the tube because the tube is full of --- you got it -- potato. As new penturners we all got glue inside our tubes at one point or another and had our tubes get stuck on the mandrel. Maybe you'll be the one person who pays attention, uses a potato, and doesn't go through this trauma.

With your potatoe in your tube, scratch up the outside of your tube with 60 grit sandpaper. This is to give more surface area for the glue to work on.

Using a bit of plastic wrap or plastic bag between your fingers and the tube, squirt out a line of adhesive on the tube and spread it all over the tube (or roll it in the two-part epoxy which you;ve mixed up on a paperplate). More plastic wrap helps here. CA will (eventually) hurt your fingers if you spread it with your bare finger.

Now comes the tricky part. Press the tube into the hole in the blank in one rapid, smooth, continuous, twisting motion.

If you're using CA and you press too slowly, the glue will set up and you won't get the tube all the way in the blank.

If you press it in part of the way and then pull it out a little ways, you'll get glue in front of the leading edge of your tube and will most likely end up with glue in your tube. This would be where you'd be grateful that I insisted on the potato.

Once the tube is in place and not sticking out of the blank at all, set the blank aside and let the adhesive set up thoroughly. Then use a pen mill (or some other method) to square up the edges of your blank, cutting just until you 'kiss' the brass of the tube.

Then mount that puppy on your lathe and turn a pen!

 

[gerryr]

I agree with Julia. Since this is your first pen, I highly recommend you use either epoxy or Sumo glue, a polyurethane. I know some people who use CA all the time to glue in tubes, and I do if and only if I'm really in a hurry to start turning something and never if it's the only piece of wood I have of that kind. More than a few times, I have had it set up hard before I can get the tube all the way in and I use thick CA which they claim gives you 30-40 seconds of working time. Make your first experience with this as simple and painless as possible, don't use CA to glue in the tubes.

 

[Jarheaded]

I started using CA in the beginning and will continue to do so. Use thick gap filling CA, drill your hole in your blank, make sure the glueless tube goes into the hole smoothly. Take the tube out and rough it up with sandpaper. put a coating of glue all the way around the tube on the bottom 1/2 inch, insert the tube into the blank using a twisting motion. Let sit for a half hour or so to fully setup. Be careful not to glue yourself to the blank or the tube or anything else---- yes it does happen.
Good luck and have fun,
Johnnie

 

[Cecilia]

Skip the CA and go for Gorilla Glue or epoxy. Gorilla Glue is messy, but you have time to get it off your fingers before you get stuck to anything. It takes longer to set (overnight), but it fills gaps and holds on for good. I've had CA give way on me during turning. It either separates the blank from the barrel or separates part of the barrel from the rest. Either way, not good. It's very embarassing to have a customer come back with a pen because the barrel separated from the wood when they tried to replace the cap after putting in a new ink refill. Just remember to put something (we use big rubber bands, stretched lengthwise) to keep the Gorilla Glue from pushing out the barrel as it expands. Because it *will* expand, and if it isn't held in place, the barrel *will* push out.

 

[ahoiberg]

everyone's got their own method, but i've always used med or thick CA, just put a few beads on the tube, rotate it as i put it in and use a qtip to wipe any that gets into the tube (this avoids having to mess with candle wax, potato, whatever). after a while, you figure out exactly how much glue you should use so it won't get inside the tubes and have it drip out, etc. this method hasn't ever caused me any problems, but you could probably just as easily use epoxy or sumo or gorilla, whatever. they all accomplish gluing the tube inside the blank and between all million members here, everything has worked at least once.