Thank you for the reply. I am very impatient (which is an improvement because I used to have negative patience). But being impatient in my case has its advantages. Because there is no way that I want to waste time, I:
Paint the tube and the barrels unless it is wood only AND let dry for at least 12 or more hours.
Use epoxy, unless is wood only
Use bee's wax to plug the tubes before gluing
Gently clean the wax residue from exterior of the tubes with a little DNA
I can name another 12 steps which I "hated" doing, but I really hate doing something over, repairing, disassembling or hiding defects behind clips, etc.
As I always say, I know folks that turn beautiful pens and sell them for a very good price that don't do many of the things that I do. I just can't get away with it or would really regret the error/mishap if I didn't do it. And even after I do all of the steps, I still have failures - but they are less frequent.
At the end of the day, I am a stock penturner, the least I can do is turn one or two "2-inch" cylinders and make a pen (as opposed to what the custom guys/gals do, bowl turners, "exotic" finishers, and all of the other advanced turning skills and professions).
Thanks again for the reply.