Brass tubes?

[g.alemy0218]

Does anyone make there pens WITH sanding/roughing the brass tubes before they glue them??? Just curious is all....


THanks
Gregg

 

[LostintheWoods]

I always rough the tubes w/120grit paper prior to gluing or epoxying the blanks.

 

[les-smith]

I always rough up my tubes before glueing.

 

[leehljp]

From a discussion a couple of years ago on this forum, IIRC most do something along that line, but some do not. It does not hurt, can or does help increase grip of the glue. OTOH, some that do not sand the tubes claim never to have had a problem.

It will be interesting to see the comments this time.

 

[Firefyter-emt]

FWIW, I lightly hold the tubes between center and flip the lathe on. I lightly scuff them with 150 grit while on the lathe. 100% scuffed in seconds! [] I glue mainly with gorilla glue and have never had a tube failure.

 

[Johnathan]

I almost always sand, the few times I skipped the step (not paying attention), I didn't have any problems.

 

[Ligget]

I always sand too![^]

 

[rherrell]

I just lay the tube on my knee and sand away. Not too good on the old blue jeans but I only make 2 or 3 pens a week.

 

[wood-of-1kind]

"sandman" here, I always scuff up the brass tubes w/ 150 grit

-Peter-[]

 

[Rifleman1776]

Yep. Standard procedure. 60 grit.

 

[jrc]

I have a 1" Delta belt sander and put 12 tubes on a dowel and lightly sand them. It only takes a few munites to do a 100

 

[louisbry]

Always sand using whatever sandpaper handy. Usually 220 grit or courser.

 

[arioux]

Hi,

At one point, i stopped doing it. Never add a problem until the day i wanted to disasemble a pen. I add to smack a little harder on this one and the tube just came out of the barrel with the part. Since them , i sand my tube again, just takes seconds.

Alfred

 

[PenPal]

I always sand the brass,holding the brass on a nail punch.I believe the punches were almost perfect for me,made a purpose built brass holder and now use that.Mostly do them in batches of a hundred at a time. A guy I know makes high quality pens and has never sanded a brass sleeve,never had one come apart,another never glues the timber on buys his drills custom by the hundred,presses the timber on the blanks.Horses for courses.
The sanding task is a bit mindless like churning butter,milking cows.polishing shoes,all for a reason.For me it is essential,just another part of to be sure to be sure,must be the Irish in me.
Peter.

 

[rhahnfl]

I use a six inch disk sander with 80 grit and just let them roll lightly around while keeping a little pressure on them. Seems to work pretty well. I also really like to use Gorilla glue and let them set at least 24 hours although I have used CA on occasion.

 

[Fred]

I have found that a cleaned tube allows a better bond with whatever glue is used. It also helps to eliminate the onset of corrosion due to handling. The crud produced from corrosion can eventually appear through the wood and is impossible to remove short of re-doing the pen. It only takes a second to do and makes me feel better about the life of the pen. I also dip the brass in a small jar of alcohol and wipe with a clean rag to avoid any oils from my hands that I may have gotten on the tube while handling them during glue-up. I use a long drift punch to hold them while I do this. []

 

[bitshird]

I alwasy sand the tubes,with what ever coarse grit I have handy,then glue with Gorilla Glue, I tried epoxy and wasn't that happy with the results,

 

[papaturner]

I always sand.........I use 120 grit on a sand o flex works I a champ.

Perry

 

[johncrane]

60 80 120 file what ever is close too me at the time![]

 

[hughbie]

yeppers.........add me to the 'always sand with 150 grit before glueing up' list!
just makes sense to me

 

[stevers]

Always ruff.

 

[rickstef]

small strip of 60 grit is in my pen box, rough each tube, only had one pen lose it tubes when I disassembled it, because I didn't rough it up, and it was one of the pens I gave to my mother

Rick

 

[thewishman]

Does one sand with the grain or against the grain?

Chris

 

[Firefyter-emt]

Against.. Think of what would give the best holding strength. The force applied to make the tube fail would be pushing it out of the blank. This is where the side to side scratches give it the best grip.

 

[Pompeyite]

Yep I always abraid too. I use one of the wifes green kitchen scratcher pads, it only takes seconds.[]