Tubes

[Bev Polmanteer]

I purchased a pack of 10 10mm tubes for replacing the ones that blew out and I find that they are not 10mm. I can't get the 10mm parts to go into them! On several occassions I have tried to no avail and ended up splitting the end of the pen and tube trying. Has anyone else had this problem? I haven't tried the 8mm and don't seem to have a problem with the 7mm ones, just the 10mms.

 

[fhinde]

Bev,

It sounds like the tube walls were to thick for your application. When you inserted the pen fittings you expanded the tubes causing the pen to crack.

All 10 mm, and other size, tubes are not equal. Depending on the manufacture, use designed for and just plan old quality dictate the wall thickness of the tubes. And to add to the confusion, some are sold by inside dimensions and some by outside dimensions. I purchased some tubes from a hobby store and had to ream them to the correct inside dimensions for my use. I would rather have them all sold by the inside dimension and just drill the blanks to accommodate the outside size.

 

[Scott]

Hi Bev,

I think Fred has some good points here. Don't count on all tubes, even from the same supplier, to be the same! Get a dial caliper, and check the sizes you need. If the part that fits inside the tube is .285 you know it isn't going to fit inside a tube that has an inside dimension of .275. You should have better luck buying tubes from the same supplier as the original, so you may want to do that to increase your chances. But you may also want to look into getting a set of metric reamers. This will assure you that your inside dimension is what you want. Harbor Freight is a place where youcan pick up both the caliper and the reamers, but I would suggest you also try Ebay.

You may want to start by seeing if you have a burr around the opening of your tube that is preventing what would otherwise be a good fit. Bill Baumbeck sells a neat little de-burring tool that I highly recommend. But you can remove a burr as easily as running the blade of a pocket knife around the inside opening of the tube.

But you really want to have a dial or digital caliper, and measure those tubes. Good Luck!

Scott.

 

[melchioe]

I've seen problems with different mfgrs having slightly different diameters. (I purchased tubes at Woodcraft to replace CSUSA tubes) What I've done to compensate is that now when I purchase a set of kits, I order (from the same dealer) replacement tubes right away. I also tend to stick to the exact same supplier, even if i find a slightly better deal - consistency is more important (to me) than price, generally.

 

[Guest]

Bev you jinxed me!
Up until I read your post I hadn't had a problem with using the longer tubes in different kits.
THe other day I needed to find a "match" for an antler pen I was making to get the pencil.
I was using a Woodcraft American Classic kit.
In my search for the match I realized this might take a while.
I turned a total of 9 tops and bottoms with no luck finding the missing pair.
The 8mm tubes I was using came from Woodturningz.
I finally got an antler from a taxidermist who gave it to me.(S.C. is one of the few states where antler cannot be sold I found out)
Excited that I had a matching set to fill the order I proceeded to put the pen together.So far so good.When I went to put the center ring on the pencil(press fir over the tube) the ring did not stay on and I had to glue it.
My luck could have been worse with results like yours but from now on I will check all components for fit.
I suppose that will take some of the challenge out of it.[]

 

[RussFairfield]

I learned the hard way that the 10mm tubes from the Craft Supplies kits are a larger diameter than those from Berea.
If you buy the tubes from a reseller, you will have to know the source of the kit.