Trouble with my first project

[Subliminal]

I just set up my shop for penturning and purchased all needed stuff. My problem is I started with a 7mm pen kit. I drilled the blank, roughed it up glued the 2 halfs in place, cleaned up the ends with my new barell trimmer wit 7mm shaft and now my problem. The 7mm bushings that they sold me fit te #2 shaft perfectly but I can't get the 2 pen halfs to go onto the shaft. At first I thought maybe I bought the wrong # 2 mandrel but after calling the store they said tat is only one size. The only other thing I can think of is the pen kit has defectivelly small tubes. They did fit in te drilled holes after drilling with my 7mm bit but that was it. My mandrell measures 6.20 mm and the tubes measure 6.10 mm. I'm seeing the problem as I write but could a large retail store like Woodcraft carry a product line that is careless in their packaging of parts or am I not seeing something.

 

[beck3906]

Some mandrels have a set screw to allow you to adjust the length. Does yours have one?

 

[Subliminal]

It does but the problem isn't the lenth but the width. It as the brass knurled screw on the tailstock end. The halfs won't fit over the mandrell shaft.

 

[kingkeyman]

glue in the tubes?

 

[Argo13]

I was thinking the same. Sometimes glue can get inside the tubes while gluing up. I use a small file to remove.

Jason

 

[Dan Masshardt]

Glue in the tubes

Or the tubes need to be be deburred

 

[eranox]

I concur with the other guys. I've bought many 7mm pens, some from less-than-reputable places, and I've never had a tube that wouldn't fit over the mandrel shaft. Try this: if you have another kit that isn't glued up, try sliding the bare tubes onto the mandrel. New tubes=no glue, so that should shed some light on things.

 

[bcul01]

If you are a gun owner and have any small caliber cleaning brushes, I have used those to clean out tubes. It is likely glue.

 

[Marko50]

Yup, what he said!

If you are a gun owner and have any small caliber cleaning brushes, I have used those to clean out tubes. It is likely glue.

Yup,…. What he said. Gun cleaning tools come in handy and do more than pull / push GSR (gun shot residue) through a gun barrel. :wink:

Next time you do a glue up of tubes to blanks, plug your tubes with paraffin wax, or my favorite, Sculpey Clay. Michaels Arts and Crafts or Hobby Lobby sell it.

 

[Subliminal]

The inside is clean as a whistle and yes I do have small bore gun cleaning and tried that and there is no glue. So if the mandrel measures 6.20 mm and the inside diameter of those tubes measure 6.10 then in my eyes it can't fit. By the way they were glued in and cleaned out with the 7 mm plus end cutter to trim down to the tubes.

 

[Cmiles1985]

It seems the tubes are a little on the small side. A standard "7mm" mandrel is 6.27mm (0.247"). Is the O.D. of the tube really 7mm?

 

[beck3906]

So you have another kit to test?

 

[Subliminal]

I want to thank everyone for your help. The insides looked perfect but weren't. Now it fits and I'm a happy trooper thanks to your help.