Types of Glue

[GregMuller]

I was reading through the thread about newbie supplies and saw the post about useing glue other then CA and was woundering what other types of glue can be used and how are they applied. I too am new to turning pens and too this site. Thanks in advance.

 

[darbytee]

Hello Greg, and welcome. Try checking this link. If you have any more questions after that just ask.

http://www.penturners.org/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=77&SearchTerms=glue

 

[Rudy Vey]

In principle there are three types of glues used here in pen turning.
Epoxy, Polyurethane (Gorilla Glue) and Cyanoacrylate (CA) glues.
As with so many things in life, different people have different preferences. I will tell you mine.
For gluing in the tubes in all types of woods and burls and all my stabilized (BB) blanks, I use polyurethane, i.e. Gorilla or Titebond.
Reason is that these glues foam and expand a bit and fill gaps and voids very nicely (example is that I drill all my flat top pen blanks with a "P" instead of an "O" drill bit, which can be sometimes a bit tight). In the past I used Gorilla glue, but switched to Titebond (half the price of Gorilla, a bit thinner and spreads better and also sets faster, although the created foam is not as dense as Gorilla's). I make a lot of pens during a year and had not one so far fail because of the glue (like tubes coming loose). Sometimes the foaming effect can push a tube out a bit, but this maybe happens in one of 30 pens or so. For me the use of PU glue makes sense since I always make at least a batch of 10-20 pens at a time (cut, drill and glue in the tubes one night and start turning the next evening).

CA I use sometimes for finishing pens, but must say that I am not really happy with the reproducebility, some times it works fine, the next time not. Ca is also used for gluing in tubes in acrylic blanks.
The glue is colorless and does not discolor my painted brass tubes (one must color the brass tubes for acrylics, if not the brass will shine through on the lighter colors), and it seem to bond well with the acrylic material.

Epoxy glue I use for gluing in tubes in metal pens (Aluminum and Titanium), and the reason here is that the glue is a bit more flexible than CA and PU needs humidity for a good cure.

Was a bit long, but I hope it helps you making your decision on what glue to use.

Rudy

 

[Guest]

"The glue is colorless and does not discolor my painted brass tubes (one must color the brass tubes for acrylics, if not the brass will shine through on the lighter colors), and it seem to bond well with the acrylic material".


Rudy,
What type of paint do you use on the tubes?
I have shyed away from painting tubes due to the fact I am perfectly happy with Ca glue for gluing in the tubes.
The down side is CA has a dissolving effect when I've finished some pens with alcohol based paint,which leads back to the question, what type of paint for tubes?
TIA

 

[GregMuller]

Thanks for the suggestions. The link and rudy's answer was really great.

 

[Scott]

Hi Eagle,

I'm sure that Rudy will jump in, but I have been painting my tubes with just a spray enamel. I like the fancy little cans of Testors (model paint), but I also use the cheap stuff from WalMart. I actually bought the big colored set of Sharpie markers to try using them to color the tubes, but I haven't tried them yet, except on tinting wood, and it seems to work nicely for that!

Scott.

 

[Rudy Vey]

Originally posted by Scott
<br />Hi Eagle,

I'm sure that Rudy will jump in, but I have been painting my tubes with just a spray enamel. I like the fancy little cans of Testors (model paint), but I also use the cheap stuff from WalMart. I actually bought the big colored set of Sharpie markers to try using them to color the tubes, but I haven't tried them yet, except on tinting wood, and it seems to work nicely for that!

Scott.

I used either Sharpies or Uni Paintmarkers from Sanford (the ones you have to shake for while).
Rudy

 

[dw]

Question for both Scott and Rudy...

Doesn't paint...even the spray on kind...make the tubes a bit bigger around? Do you have to drill your blanks a bit larrger? And does epoxy stick to the paint?

I'm very interested in this subject....


Thanks

 

[Scott]

Hi DW,

If you use a Sharpie, it shouldn't affect the size of the tube. But a paint will. And yes, I have had some times when the tubes are too big for the hole I drill after painting. Drill a little bigger to accomodate. I've never had a problem with the glue sticking to the paint, particularly with epoxy, which sticks to most everything. The biggest problem with painting the tubes is having the glue dissolve the paint, leaving streaks or patches of brass showing through. I have no answer for this. Maybe somebody has done enough experimentation to have found the perfect paint/glue combination, but it's not me - not yet anyway!

Does this help?

Scott.

 

[thostorey]

Painting tubes..I'm lost...why?

Tom

 

[pen-turners]

Originally posted by thostorey
<br />Painting tubes..I'm lost...why?

Tom

Tom,
You have to paint the tubes when you are turning some acrylics so they don't show through the finished product. They shiny brass surface will show through if you don't paint them before glueing.

Chris

 

[tipusnr]

You could always NOT paint the tubes and call the "Sutter's Pens"...look Amos...there's GOLD in them there blanks!!

Sorry, I always get silly when I'm tired!!!!

 

[Fred in NC]

Ok... do we have to paint the tubes?

Could we just add some pigment to the glue? That would be very easy when using epoxy.

 

[Daniel]

Fred,
I've sen past conversations about coloring the epoxy. seems to me that several people tried it out. I don't remember hearing any problems with it. the color selection was a little on the shy side but still worked out.
and the biggest reason to stay with paint seemed to be the cost of all the epoxy colors. other tha that I didn't follow the thread all that closely.
this looks like anouther good reason for an article though. anyone care to take that hook???

 

[Tom McMillan]

I purchased some pigments for epoxy at Woodcraft some time ago---can't remember now what colors they had---I have brown and white and it doesn't take much (was fairly expensive $6.99 for a 2 ounce jar) ---also, in the hardware store I've seen some coloring for epoxy for boats. I've also used a very small amount of black Tempera with epoxy which seemed to work ok---but only did it a couple times. What I have works well with the epoxy to color the tubes when I do a glue up. Haven't done a lot though.

 

[Scott]

Coloring the epoxy is easy to do. The problem with coloring the epoxy as opposed to painting the tubes is that so little epoxy is actually used in gluing the tubes into the blanks that it still allows the brass to shine through. Coloring the brass tube assures better coverage.

One other thing I've noticed is that if you allow the paint to cure properly before gluing, insted af trying to glue the tubes in five minutes later (like I do), that the glue doesn't dissolve the paint as much! ;-)

Scott.

 

[wayneis]

I've found that if I use the Rust O leum spray paint and letting it dry overnight, then using opoxy glue works good. I just use a light spray and have not had a problem with the tubes being to large, I do not drill the holes larger. I got this idea from soneone on the Yahoo group and I've done probably 20 or 30 like this with no problems. One additional tip though, after you let the tubes dry, don't play around with them much or the paint will scratch off easily. I also sand the tube and then wipe it clean with paint thinner to cleaner to get any grease from fingers off. I also use a lot of water when drilling so I do believe that helps to keep the holes from expanding and shrinking from the heat. I use a 30 cc syringe and squirt water into the hole just as soon as the drill bit leaves the hole filling it up. The bit does not get hot and the acrylic cools right away. I have never measured but I think that maybe doing like this may expand the hole just a tad. I also do this same thing with stabilized blanks and do not have any more problems with overheating and cracking.

Wayne