Pen press-cracked barrel

[Marcopenturner]

Does anyone use any lubricant when pressing pen parts together. I recently cracked a pen barrel on assembly. I will watch more carefully to make sure the barrel was clean, however using a little lubricant seems like a good idea-is it?

 

[longbeard]

After cracking 2 of Marla's feather blanks, I learned to clean the tubes.

I use a dremel sanding drum in my drill press and sand the inside of EVERY tube to the point that I can almost hand press the pen parts together. Then I use a pen press to finish pressing things together.



Harry

 

[Super Dave]

I also use a reamer to clean up the tube before pressing in parts. It puts a slight taper on the tube. It seams to work for me .

Dave

 

[magpens]

You can buy a straight-sided adjustable reamer from Grizzly which does not taper.

I use this all the time with all of my kit pens.

After you ream out a couple of thou, there is nothing wrong with using a tiny bit of epoxy on the INSIDE surface in the case you reamed too much resulting in a slightly loose fit.

 

[Rolandranch]

After cracking 2 of Marla's feather blanks, I learned to clean the tubes.

Harry

Ouch. :frown:

 

[LMCunningham]

You can buy a straight-sided adjustable reamer from Grizzly which does not taper.

I use this all the time with all of my kit pens.

After you ream out a couple of thou, there is nothing wrong with using a tiny bit of epoxy on the INSIDE surface in the case you reamed too much resulting in a slightly loose fit.

Hey Mal, do you have a Grizzly part number by chance?


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[thewishman]

If you lube the parts, they will be much more prone to sliding back out. The top of the pen (finial) that holds the clip will not have a tight enough grip and the clip will spin.

You can dab some Loctite in the brass tube, that might help the parts slide together more easily, and it will definitely hold them together afterwards. I use the blue Loctite.

 

[randyrls]

Does anyone use any lubricant when pressing pen parts together. I recently cracked a pen barrel on assembly. I will watch more carefully to make sure the barrel was clean, however using a little lubricant seems like a good idea-is it?

Doug, it really isn't a good idea to use lubricant on the pen as others have said. Carefully examine the inside of the tube where the crack appeared check for ANY evidence of glue inside the tube.

Some materials are very brittle and tend to crack easily under stress. The thinness of some pen styles makes this worse. Corian and similar materials are prone to this. I sometimes expand the tube ends with a transfer punch used in a twisting motion until the fitting is a slip fit, and use polyurethane (Gorilla) glue on the tubes. The fitting is glued into the tube with a small amount of loctite applied to the inside of the tube. Then gently press the fitting in and allow to dry.

Hope this helps.

 

[wouldentu2?]

A small round tapered file (rat tail) is all you need to ensure the end is clean unless you are using an extremely weak material such as soap stone, then you would want a slip fit with an epoxy.

 

[MRDucks2]

Everything I have cracked has either been because of something inside the tube or alignment issues. I now spend more time prepping the tube inside before pressing and I slow down and pay attention while pressing. The parts let me know if alignment is an issue, so I stop and realign.


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[turncrazy43]

I use a reamer and or a 6mm round rat tail file to clean out the inside and ends of the tubes before press fitting them together. With a pen press gently begin to press the parts if there is resistance stop and check the tube for obstructions or burrs at the end of the tube caused by using a pen mill to square the blank. It is a shame to break one of Marla's beautiful blanks. Better luck on the next one.
Turncrazy43

 

[Woodchipper]

I use a rat tail file that about 5/16" in diameter to clean up the inside of a tube. I visually check each tube for excess glue.

 

[Marcopenturner]

Thank you for all the positive input. I will now pay closer attention to cleaning the barrels.

 

[chartle]

You can buy a straight-sided adjustable reamer from Grizzly which does not taper.

I use this all the time with all of my kit pens.

After you ream out a couple of thou, there is nothing wrong with using a tiny bit of epoxy on the INSIDE surface in the case you reamed too much resulting in a slightly loose fit.

Hey Mal, do you have a Grizzly part number by chance?


Sent from my iPhone using Penturners.org mobile app

Shop Tools and Machinery at Grizzly.com)

I little pricey. I'll stick with my HF tapered reamer.