Keeping glue off a tenon-fit component

[JimGo]

I made a Havana pen for a family member as my first official sale a few weeks ago, and mailed it up to him. He liked it a lot, thankfully, so much so that he decided to keep it for himself rather than give it as a gift (as he had intended). I forgot to cut a tenon for the CB, so I wound up simply gluing the CB to the wood with thin CA applied using a cotton swab. I managed to keep the glue off the front surface of the metal component and the wood, but not without great pains. Unfortunately, he E-mailed me the other day to say that the CB fell off, and I've asked him to send it back to me so I can repair it. I'm debating whether to disassemble the pen, turn the tenon, re-finish the upper barrel, and then put the CB in place, or to try simply re-gluing the CB without the tenon. In either case, I'm still going to have to deal with getting glue on/near the CB, and I'm not sure I'm going to be able to keep the glue off the pen and CB this time without leaving a visible mark. Does anyone have suggestions on how best to keep the glue from adhering to the top surfaces of the pen and CB, while at the same time allowing the glue to properly join the components? I am leaning toward trying either masking tape or Butcher's wax on both top surfaces, but would love some critiques of the proposed technique, as well as any other suggestions.

Thanks in advance for any advice!

 

[smoky10]

I would disassemble the top barrel and turn the tenon. If the tenon is turned properly you should need no glue or at least very little glue. If you're careful you may not even damage the finish on it.

 

[Rifleman1776]

Originally posted by smoky10
<br />I would disassemble the top barrel and turn the tenon. If the tenon is turned properly you should need no glue or at least very little glue. If you're careful you may not even damage the finish on it.

Ditto. Make it the way it was intended to be made. No offense intended. We all forget things like that now and then.

 

[JimGo]

No offense taken! Hopefully my tennon-cutting abilities (or lack thereof) will not necessitate glue, and the whole question will be moot. I'm still disappointed that the glue didn't hold in the first place though! []

 

[Thumbs]

I must be missing something here. If the barrel is small enough to slide the C/B on now, how could you possibly recut it with a tenon for the C/B. It would then be even smaller and the glue would have a larger gap to fill, being even less strong. Wouldn't you have to completely replace the existing barrel to cut a tenon that would fit properly with or without glue on the C/B.

And I thought you normally used a dab of glue on the inside of a center band anyway as a safety factor. You simply use somewhat less with a well fitted tenon. What did I miss or overlook in this discussion?[?]

 

[alamocdc]

Tuen the tenon, Jim. Otherwise you'll be faced w/the same problem again in the future.

 

[JimGo]

Good question Bob. The problem is, it wasn't small enough to slide the CB on. I tried to glue the CB to the end of the blank.

 

[wayneis]

If you don't turn the tenon and do it the right way it will come apart again and you risk loosing a customer for future sales. Just be carefull, use a sharp parting tool. When I do a tenon after a finish is applied I first use either razor or the parting tool turned sideways and score a line so that you don't rip or chip the finish.

Wayne

 

[JimGo]

Excellent tip, thanks Wayne!