Glueng Blanks

[jhawth25]

When gluing blanks, do you use wood glue or CA?

 

[alphageek]

Glueing blanks to tubes, I use CA only (some use epoxy)...

I assume your asking about segmented wood blanks, in which case I use both. CA for simple glue ups or ones that I want done faster. Wood glue for more complicated glue ups where I want the time, or If I'm doing a bunch in batch and don't mind waiting.

 

[soligen]

You will get varying opinions, but I dont think wood glue will stick to the brass. The 3 common choices, in my order of preference are:

Epoxy
Gorilla Glue
CA

Gorilla glue foams out, and you need to put a clamp over the ends so the foaming action does not push the tube out.

CA can sometimes sets before the tube is properly positioned in the tube.

5 min epoxy works well, and you should be able to turn in a hour or so. But, if you have multiple blanks to glue up, mix seperately for each pen, or use a slower setting epoxy.

 

[Kevin Cacioppo]

Glueing Blanks

I do use CA glue on some segmented and laser cut blanks - however my go to glue for most of the wood/stone/acrylic pens I make is the Gorilla Glue that expans. Meaning - put the glue on the tube, put your blank in water for a few seconds - take the blank out of the water and insert the tube. The glue dries slower than CA glue so you have a little time to work with it. As it dries the glue will expand into a foam - filling any voids in the blank and really reducing the likelihood of blowing the blank out when it nears completion.

Enjoy!

 

[soligen]

I do use CA glue on some segmented and laser cut blanks - however my go to glue for most of the wood/stone/acrylic pens I make is the Gorilla Glue that expans. Meaning - put the glue on the tube, put your blank in water for a few seconds - take the blank out of the water and insert the tube. The glue dries slower than CA glue so you have a little time to work with it. As it dries the glue will expand into a foam - filling any voids in the blank and really reducing the likelihood of blowing the blank out when it nears completion.

Enjoy!

I would not recomend putting the wood in water. Increasing the moisture content of the wood can cause later problems with the finish.

There is enough residual moisture in wood that you dont really need to add any for gorilla glue to set, but if you feel you need to add water, a damp q-tip inside the hole will add the moisture in a much more controlled way.

For the various acrylics, yes, I wet them down first.

 

[Mac]

When gluing blanks, do you use wood glue or CA?

Segmented or wood on wood, I use wood glue.

Glueing tubes in, I use thin CA in the drilled hole to soak in the blank let dry, then med CA to glue in tube. Some woods will soak up all the CA. CA does not expand to fill voids.

 

[studioso]

I had not had good results from gorilla glue with acrylic. I spray the inside of the tubes with water ( and it leaves a nice and even coat of droplets), put a nice amount of glue, let it dry overnight, and I had several tubes come loose on me. also, the foaming action turns the glue yellowish/white, and it shows through translucent blanks. So you'd have to paint the onside of the blanks.
I love gorilla glue for glueing wood, but for pens I never had a reason not to stick (ah ah) with CA.

 

[jhawth25]

Thanks for all the help. I should have been more specific when asking my question. I meant segmented blanks not gluing the blank to the tube. Thanks once again, I appreciate the clarity from a vague question.

 

[soligen]

In that case, the answer depends on the kind of joint.

If doing a segmentation with lots of little pieces that need to be individually glued, and are difficult to clamp (like a 360 herringbone), then CA

If glueing larger clampable pieces face grain to face grain, wood glue works great.

For anything else, like end grain, or a joint involving plastic or metal, I use epoxy in the fastest set I can feel comfortable using and still get the clamps on before it thickens.

 

[Jeff Barnett]

I do use CA glue on some segmented and laser cut blanks - however my go to glue for most of the wood/stone/acrylic pens I make is the Gorilla Glue that expans. Meaning - put the glue on the tube, put your blank in water for a few seconds - take the blank out of the water and insert the tube. The glue dries slower than CA glue so you have a little time to work with it. As it dries the glue will expand into a foam - filling any voids in the blank and really reducing the likelihood of blowing the blank out when it nears completion.

Enjoy!

I would not recommend putting the wood in water. Increasing the moisture content of the wood can cause later problems with the finish.

There is enough residual moisture in wood that you dont really need to add any for gorilla glue to set, but if you feel you need to add water, a damp q-tip inside the hole will add the moisture in a much more controlled way.

For the various acrylics, yes, I wet them down first.

Agreed, (IMO) I wouldn't dunk my blanks in water. Just wetting the inside of the hole is all that is necessary. Not sure why you would wet an acrylic blank though?? The purpose of wetting the wood was so the GG will be slightly absorbed into the pores. The same principle is used with wood glue.