CA wood breakage

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EdwardS

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May 22, 2007
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Littleton, CO, USA.
After applying a CA finish, the tip of the pen broke off when I snapped off the bushing (which the CA glues to the end of the wood). I've only done a few pens and this is the first time this happened. Is this infrequent or should I be doing something before breaking off the bushing? Thanks!
 
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It's not infrequent. Yes you will run into it more. I just use a very sharp striate edge razor to carefully cut around the area where they meet.
You will have many other and probably better ideas come soon. Use the one that works best for you and good luck.

Oh, and how bout some pictures of the CA finished pens of yours.[:D][:D][:D]
 
it happens on almost every pen i finish with ca. particularly if you use a smooth transition to the bushing. if you have a wicked curve or something, i've found that they don't stick as much then.

steve's idea has been employed by myself a few times when it's really thick but most of the time, i just tap the bushing with a hammer (while still on the mandrel) and it comes off pretty quickly and hasn't chipped once. sometimes there will be a little extra ca film on the end of the blank, but you can just use your barrel trimmer to flush it down with the end of the blank.
 
Apply wax between the bushing and the wood/barrels before you mount and start turning. [;)]

I personally use Johnson's paste wax.
 
Hi Everyone,
Thanks for the good advice! I just finished another CA pen tonight and did try to clean up the edges between the wood and the bushings with a small parting tool before separating things. Holding my breath when breaking them apart seemed to help also!
Ed
 
I use a razor and cut the CA. Then I sand the end on a piece of 400 sandpaper that is glued down to the bench. I stopped using the barrel trimmer due to it chipping the ends.

I also seal the ends of my blanks with a coat of CA (after turning), this is to help keep them from cracking. Been lucky so far, not sure if this is a solution but I do it anyway.
 
tom, i've done the thin coat of ca on the ends also with a q-tip. seems to help.

just to clarify, when i use the barrel trimmer to get the extended ca off, i only do it by hand, VERY lightly to prevent the cracking you're talking about. because i learned the hard way! [:p]
 
Edwards, i knew I was missing something, next time, it's HOLDING MY BREATH time [:)]

Pet Turner John, I would almost bet that sealing the end might make matters worse than making it better, but that is my initial thought.

I think the breath holding is the key!
 
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