A little help please.

[fitzman163]

I had 3 failures last night on the drill press. Reverse painted the blanks, glued up with epoxy(5min) let sit over night, used the pen mill to clean up the blanks and 3 of the 8 tubes pulled out of the blanks. I never had a failure with Gorilla glue tried epoxy for the second time and problems again. Can the paint be causing my issue? I let it dry over night. Maybe the mix of the epoxy wasn't exact? Any help would be greatly appreciated.

 

[David M]

is the glue sticking to the tube and the paint not sticking to the blank , or is tube coming out slick / smothe like the glus is not sticking to the tube .
was the tube sanded before it was glued in ?
the more info we get would narrow the cause , problem down
David

 

[GoatRider]

There might not be enough airflow inside the blank for the glue to dry completely. Last time I did this, I lined up my blanks side-by-side and pointed a fan at them to get some airflow through, and left it for a whole day.

What kind of paint are you using? I use delta ceramcoat acrylic paint, with a touch of "glass and tile medium" to get it to stick better. This turns any color paint into a primer. Remember that when you reverse paint the blank, you're not gluing to the blank anymore, you're gluing to the paint. So it might be the paint that's letting go, not the glue.

I've had gorilla glue release from an acrylic blank. It doesn't stick to plastic very well. Never had epoxy or CA release.

 

[Tom D]

It may depend on the quality of the epoxy (it's not all created equal) I normally buy mine from Monte and I have never had any issues with that. Lately I ran out and went to my local hardware store, purchased some 5 min epoxy mixed up as the directions said. It took two days for the epoxy on the outside to harden so it was not tacky, I waited another week before I turned the pen. It came out OK, but I promptly canned the epoxy. I am back to using CA until I get some more epoxy from Monte.

 

[renowb]

If you reverse paint and paint the tubes, too, you may need to drill the hole slightly larger.

 

[PenMan1]

What kind of paint did you use? Acrylic blanks (especially PR) don't like the mixture of epoxy glue and enamel paint. If the tubes that pulled out are mostly "clean" brass, it sounds like enamel paint adhereing to the blank and releasing from the tube.

Acrylic paint with epoxy glue works nicely for me. In fact, it holds so well that a pen mill will snap the blank rather than mill the ends. After "snapping" a few thousand blanks, I threw away the pen mill and learned to sand the ends square.

 

[Akula]

if your hitting the brass with the pen mill, you could be breaking it loose (just a thought) but I'm thinking the paint is too thick and not allowing a good bond (if the hole is wrong size, the paint will not make up the difference, so I would double check to make sure the correct size)

I get all my CA and epoxy from Monty and don't have problems

like stated, I don't use the pen mill

 

[fitzman163]

I'm using a 7mm bit thats what the kit calls for. The tubes are rough/ sanded. Using gloss paint ( I was thinking this could cause a problem) paint is Lowes brand American Tradition. the epoxy is Loc Tite. I had some a few years ago from one of our guys on this site and thats where my first failure came from. I hope this answered all the questions and thanks for all of your great info.

 

[JRay8]

let your paint dry overnight before gluing

 

[IPD_Mr]

Here is a neat little trick I learned along the way. I use air-brush paint that you get at Michael's. I don't paint the tubes because now you are relying on the paint as the bond between the glue and the tube. Think about it, you can scratch the paint off with a fingernail. Try scratching dried epoxy with a fingernail. Anyway, I put a couple drops of the paint in the epoxy as I mix the two parts. Now the glue is tinted and it is the glue that is holding to the tube and the blank not the paint. Doing it this way saves you the step of painting the tube and waiting on it to fully dry.

 

[Xander]

I use testors enamel paint on the blank and epoxy glue and never had an issue. Let the paint dry overnight, the epoxy is good to go in an hour.

To paint I use the disposible glue brushes. Dip in paint, insert brush into blank, twist brush as you pull it out. Do this from both ends making sure you get the middle of the blank.

My technique for gluing... put epoxy on the tube making sure there is glue the full length and all around, pay special attention to the end you insert into the blank.
Push the tube into the blank and rotate as you push. Push the tube OUT the other end of the blank by about 1/4" and put more epoxy on the tube sticking out. This replaces any glue wiped off when inserting. Then push the tube back in and let dry for an hour... or longer if you can.

Works every time

 

[thewishman]

Jim, if your epoxy is a few years old, that may be part of the problem. When it is cold in the shop, I bring the epoxied blanks in the house to cure in a warmer spot. My epoxy does not seem to set up well in the cold.