Brass tubing

[Graham Evans]

This is my first thread, so please bear with me.

I am looking for a supplier of the brass tube that is used in pen kits that I have been making for the last two years. Most kits, I believe come from China.
The sizes I have are: outside dia 6.8mm, inside dia. 6.25mm. So these are for use with the standard 7 mm drill bit pens. What I want to do is make things which are longer than the tubes provided but using some of the same 'press fit' components.
I live in the UK and have looked at various brass tube manufacturers, all to no avail.
Can anyone please help?
Bristolpenmanuk

 

[longbeard]

Woodturningz.com has 7mm tubes in 10" lengths


Harry

 

[robutacion]

If Harry information, doesn't resolve your request, let me know and I will look for a supplier that has any size/diameter and lengths you will ever imagine...!

Cheers
George

 

[mredburn]

exoticblanks.com, woodnwhimsies.com, and even pennstateind.com. Im sure there are others and I would use the first two if I had a choice.

 

[edstreet]

You will find that most of the tubes are extruded and most of the kits are oddball sizes. Sometimes I think those oddball sizes is for job security There are some that use standard tubing sizes, 7mm, 3/8 for example.

 

[lorbay]

William Wood-Write Ltd. is where I used to buy mine. Pretty cheap.
Lin

 

[fitzman163]

Penn State has them in packs of 10 at 10" long.

 

[monophoto]

Most of the major pen kit vendors also sell spare brass tubes in 10" lengths.

I have found that traditional hardware stores here in the US carry brass tubing in longer lengths. This tubing tends to come in the standard imperial sizes - 1/8", 1/4", 3/8", etc rather than the metric sizes used by the Taiwanese pen kit manufacturers. More importantly, the material thickness is different from that used in pen kits - I bought some kits that used 3/8" tubes, and tried to substitute hardware store tubing, but found that the ID was slightly smaller which meant that the components wouldn't press into the tubing (at least, not without forcing something such that the tubing expanded and cracked the turning).

 

[edstreet]

See my extruded comment before.

Sent from my iPhone using Forum Runner

 

[toddlajoie]

Another option I have used in the past is to drill the blank the length you want, cut the tube in half, and insert one part of the tube in each end. As long as your blank is relatively stable and you take care when turning, the small amount of extra support in the center is not the end of the world...

Plus, then you can do some unnatural things...

 

[Zulu]

In UK try Pencraft.

 

[Edgar]

Have you tried penkitsuk.com yet? Shipping would certainly be cheaper than any of the US suppliers mentioned in this thread. I don't see long tubes mentioned on his web site, but it wouldn't hurt to contact him to check on whether he has them or might be interested in adding them. I've ordered a few things from him that I couldn't find in the USA & have had good experiences.

Or similar to what toddlajoie suggested, you can use two standard length tubes butted up against each other without leaving a gap between joints and cut off the excess from one of the tubes.

 

[LouF]

I don't want to give a name but there is a major pen kits supplier that is sending out junk replacement tubes buyer beware.

 

[edstreet]

I don't want to give a name but there is a major pen kits supplier that is sending out junk replacement tubes buyer beware.

Which supplier would this be? May as well mention them and save everyone some grief.

 

[LouF]

Sure Ed have at it.

 

[skiprat]

In UK try Pencraft.

I knew there was a supplier of those 10' tubes here in the Uk and it's been bugging me all day trying to remember who.