9mm pen kits?

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Redneck

Member
Joined
Jun 20, 2017
Messages
11
Location
Massachusetts
Does anyone know of any pen kits that use a 9mm tube? I got some material I wanna try out but 8mm might be too small for the predrilled hole in it.

Thanks again everyone!!!
 
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Jason, you appear to be at the rough edge of pen makers size convention. That is the nominal size thrown around is the bit diameter commonly specified, which has passing relarionship to the tube outside diameter, let alone the tube inner diameter.

So if you have a candidate tube, it is calipers and the tube/bushing tables.

There are tubes that slide into other tubes, making adapter bushings, etc.

So think and communicate like a machinist to get a really detailed discussion going.

(I don't think I have used a 9 mm drill bit for drilling blanks)
 
9mm = 0.354"
23/64" = 0.359" .... that is the closest size match for a kit that I know about

There are two pen kits which use a 23/64" tube ....
the Aero kit from Craft Supplies USA ... woodturnerscatalog.com (can buy from ExoticBlanks.com)
the Diablo kit from William WoodWrite ... penblanks.ca (does not ship to USA)

You still have to bear in mind what Ken said about tube size versus drill bit size ... the two are not the same.

[as an example, a common size for pen kits is 27/64" (=.421") drill for a tube which is about 0.41" ... this is the size for Sierra, Gatsby, Zodiac, Monarch, and similar]
 
Jason,

Welcome to IAP from another Mass-dweller!

You said you've got some material that's already drilled, do you know what the actual diameter of the bore is? (One quick way to find out is to see what size drill bit will just slip into it -- or get one of the Harbor Freight transfer punch sets and find the largest one of those that fits the hole. These come in very handy for other things too.)

And what's the outer dimension of the material?
 
As long as the hardware covers the 9 mm hole could you just beef up the diameter of the kit tube and epoxy it into your material?
 
Sorry for the delay in my messages, been a crazy week. I have some material and it's already thinned down on the outside so it's basically going to be a cut to length and glue and assemble type of job. The ID of the tubing is .36 So I was trying to find the closest tube that would fit without being off by a lot.
 
Jason, a round file or a sanding mandrel can be used to gently open up a hole just a bit for clearance. Will not take much to successfully fit a 23/64 or similar tube.
 
I have the same idea. I think I may try a 9 mm bit for a snug 23/64 fit. I bought some excellent quality split mandrels to polish the inside of barrels.
 
Jason, if your 0.36 inside diamerter is dead on, you might start with a rethink of the nominal 8mm tubes.

The bushing and tubes tables advise the outside diameter of an 8 mm pentube is 0.311

The math says there is about 0.05 inches of space, and that is on 2 sides so well centered is a glue line of less than 1/32 of an inch. That is more than minimums, but not unreasonable to accept. Epoxy is a better glue here to help keep tube centered. Toothpicks can help assure centered tube.

If the blank is fragile, I start with reinforcement of the blank. One of the easiest is a wrap or two or three with gauze and saturation with CA glue. The gauze turns away.
 
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