Tubes oversized

[Fish30114]

I recently built 3 kits and learned when I began to assemble them that the tubes included in the kits were slightly oversized. It's just shy of a press fit in two ends of the tubes, and on the third there is quite a bit of 'slop' I am looking for advice on how to salvage these kits tubes, all 3 I was fortunate to have done a nice job on the turning for all 3 of the tubes, and I do want to save them--2 nice acrylic blanks and one nice piece of Cocobolo.

I don't know if CA will fill enough on the one that has the most slop, it would probably build up enough for the other two.

Thanks for any insight/advice.

 

[jimm1]

Find a kit for the tubes. If you use CA to "fill" the gaps, no guarantee the inserts will be centered, unless you can fit another tube inside the oversized ones.

 

[zig613]

Sometimes you will find that the tubes are larger and don't allow for a "press fit" of the components. I normally use thick CA to correct the issue. For all my press fit joints I use a little blue Loctite to make sure they do not loosen later but, if required the components can just be disassembled.

Wade

 

[brownsfn2]

Red Loctite works great as well.

 

[Fish30114]

Jim, thanks for the feedback, but if I had replacement tubes, that still doesn't get the oversized ones out of the turnings I have already completed!

Zig that's good attack plans I think, I was just wondering is there was something other than CA people used in this case--I've thought about filling the last 1/2" or so of the tube with epoxy, and then choosing a drill bit that is just smaller by a fraction than the ID of the current tube, and drilling out the epoxy 'plug' from the other end with the tube centering the drill bit.

 

[Ed McDonnell]

I would not use CA to glue loose fittings into a tube.

When I make metal blanks for myself I do them "glue fit" instead of "press fit". I use epoxy to glue in the fittings and I have not had one fail yet. As a matter of fact, it's almost impossible to disassemble them so keep that in mind.

5 minute "syringe" epoxy from the big box or high performance epoxy will both work fine for keeping pen parts assembled.

What I do is mix up small batches and I don't try to glue up the whole pen at once. I do one end of each blank at a time and stand the blanks vertically while the epoxy sets. It's improtant to make sure you have things aligned correctly 360 degrees. Wipe off any excess epoxy before it cures. It doesn't take a whole lot of epoxy to hold in fittings. Don't go crazy with the amount you use.

Takes longer than a press fit to assemble, but it allows you to confirm you have the parts turned just right because you can test them in the blank before you glue them in.

Good luck.

Ed

 

[Monty]

Red Loctite works great as well.

Except the red is "permanent". With the blue, the pen is easier to disassemble if need be.

 

[KenV]

White vinegar makes it easy to clean up epoxy BEFORE it sets up.

If you decide to epoxy and redrill use a size drill bir that allows you to glue in the components. Thin epoxy breaks easily when streached.