Blank and Tube Problems

[rmiller]

Hey there everyone. As most of you know, I am still really new to this pen making. I began making my first pen and a couple of keyrings the other day, but I ran into a problem and have a question for y'all. While gluing the tube into one of the blanks for my Slimline pen, the tube shifted just a little. But it shifted far enough for the tube to be sticking out of the end of the blank a fraction of an inch. Probably less than 1/64 to be honest.

My question is this; Can I turn the blank off of the tube in order to save it, or should I just not bother and call it gaining experience? I would order some new tubes, but the shipping cost more than 10 7mm tubes. So I am curious as to what y'all would do if you were in the same situation.

Thanks in advance.

God Bless and Stay Safe

Rodney

 

[bsshog40]

I would just turn it. I always cut my blank at least a 1/8" longer than my tube so I can square the ends to the tube.

 

[Ted iin Michigan]

To answer your question, yes, you can mount the offending tube and turn off the naughty wood. Been there, Done that. Got the t shirt to prove it. Only thing is to be real careful as you get close. When I am in that mode, I usually turn it till i just barely begin to see brass and then sand the rest of the way.
On a Slimline, if it's really just a wee bit sticking out, you can just turn it like Bobby says and make up the difference as you assemble. On other pens, tube length is super important and turning off a protuding end wouldn't be recommended.
Good luck, Rodney. Share a pic when you are done!

 

[Fuzzy63]

Been there several times also. I just turn the blank off till almost to the brass tube and then sand the rest of the way. At least you save the pen kit this way. This has always worked for me. Hope this helps.
Gary

 

[Fuzzy63]

Also try using a two part expoxy. I use a 15 minute set time. This way u have more time to insert the tube in the blank and I have never had a tube to come loose.
Gary

 

[magpens]

If it's only a 64th ... that's only about 0.016" ... I think you can just ignore and carry on, but you will have to carefully make little adjustments at pretty well every stage so that the refill does not over-extend when you are finished.

Of course, you have to take off the tiny bit of brass tube that is sticking out. . If you can, make that the end (at the top of the pen), where the finial piece goes in and holds the clip on (this is the end which has the most stress and you need the brass tube to go right to the top.

In the middle of the pen you will have the blank end which has a short portion (1/64th") unsupported by brass. . That will slide over the steel end of the twist transmission ... the very short bit of wood unsupported by brass will not matter there.

Note that you are not shortening the barrel material at all (just the brass tube bit sticking out). . Therefore, your finished pen will be the correct length, as designed.

Hope this helps.

 

[More4dan]

I believe the OP was stating the brass tube extends past the wood a bit. Two options. Just sand the brass off till flush if it's a tiny amount. If too much is sticking out, you can turn the wood to the brass a 1/4" or so on each end and add a contrasting band of material. My suspicion is many pens with bands were corrected mistakes but I really like the look.

Danny

 

[EricRN]

Hey there everyone. As most of you know, I am still really new to this pen making. I began making my first pen and a couple of keyrings the other day, but I ran into a problem and have a question for y'all. While gluing the tube into one of the blanks for my Slimline pen, the tube shifted just a little. But it shifted far enough for the tube to be sticking out of the end of the blank a fraction of an inch. Probably less than 1/64 to be honest.

My question is this; Can I turn the blank off of the tube in order to save it, or should I just not bother and call it gaining experience? I would order some new tubes, but the shipping cost more than 10 7mm tubes. So I am curious as to what y'all would do if you were in the same situation.

Thanks in advance.

God Bless and Stay Safe

Rodney

Yeah. At 1/64, just trim it down and turn it. I've tried to get one to many glue ups out of a mix of epoxy once and had the tube get stuck halfway in. I let it dry. Cleaned out the hole of any dried epoxy from the other end, inserted a new tube there (which was cheaper than wasting the blank), and then glued it up and trimmed it down. Good as new. There was a gap in the middle of the tube of course, but was buried inside the blank and no one was the wiser. As far as mess ups go, having the tube stick out is a relatively easy fix.

 

[mmayo]

A level place after you insert the tube helps. I look back at the newly tubed blanks helps too. After 2 minutes most non-Gorilla glue adhesives are set.

 

[wolf creek knives]

Like Danny, More4dan, said. You should be fine with the brass tube sticking out a bit, just sand it flush with the wood blank. The thing to be aware of is depending on which blank you use it for, upper or lower, you might need to make some adjustments i.e. the transmission if the offending blank is used on the bottom. It's an easy adjustment and I would suggest that you check the transmission with the refill installed to make sure you don't push the transmission in too far.

 

[mick]

Don't turn the wood off the brass. Even if you trim the brass flush and then trim the wood down to the brass on the other end you've only changed the total length of the pen 1/32. Your lower length won't matter for the transmission as you'll still set it to the proper depth regardless of the length. I've done many pens this way and customers never thought anything about the slight length difference. Good luck.

Sent from my SM-G955U using Tapatalk

 

[WriteON]

call it gaining experience? So I am curious as to what y'all would do if you were in the same situation.
Rodney

Welcome aboard. The best learning experience is when you try to resolve, fix, modify. Execute and adjust. Mistakes are learning experiences. Make them. Understand what happened. When situations come up again you'll know what to look for and how to handle it.

 

[qquake]

I have fixed this problem with the barrel trimmer in the past. I trim the extending tube flush on one end, but don't trim the blank all the way to the tube on the other end. Trim it until the blank is square, but leave 1/64" (or however much it is) of the blank proud of the tube. This way the blank is the correct length, and there should be enough of the tube to press the part into. I hope this makes sense.

 

[KenB259]

Lots of good advice given my only advice is to order some spare tubes when you order pen kits. Shipping will be about the same and spare tubes are relatively cheap.


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[More4dan]

What Ken said, always good to have spare tubes.

Most glues will come unglued at about 200-250 degrees F. For wood you could probably heat up a close fitting punch, insert and heat the tube till it can be pulled free.


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[pshrynk]

One thing to keep in mind is that you are going to be making a lot of slimlines. If you plan on selling them, they are the best sellers. So, if you screw up on one, use the tube from another kit. Slimlines are cheap, relatively. You will be accumulating lots of spare parts from similar circumstances, no matter how careful you try to be. Bottom line: Don't sweat it. If the protrusion is small enough, sand it off. If too big, punt and get a spare. Eventually, I ended up getting some extra tubes as Ken recommended, since most disasters happen with the tubes and blanks. Enjoy your new hobby!