Newbie question here I'm sure but here it goes. I've made (I should say attempted) three celtic knot pens. The first one I did came out great (by my newbie standards). It was mahogany with maple veneer inlay. Tubes and veneer were glued with thick CA. Bolstered by my success, I decided to make two more (Gatsby style) as Christmas gifts. I did them in African blackwood with maple inlay, and pink ivory with maple inlay. I was out of the thick CA but used medium CA (changed brands but the viscosity seemed pretty close). I drilled the blanks without difficulty. When turning them, the pen blew out at the knot....large chunks down to the brass tube. (Sorry, no pics...I used my parting tool to turn them back down to the brass tubes.) I attempted to glue the pieces back in, but needless to say, that didn't work....they blew out again. This happened to both pens, an apparent glue failure. So my question is, what do you use to glue your tubes to the blanks and to glue the inlay in. My obvious first answer is to stick with the thick CA since that worked before. When turning pens without a knot, I've never had difficulty and have used both thick and thin CA to glue the tubes. I'm assuming the veneer compromises the strength of the blank so I need something stronger.
Would a two part epoxy be better for gluing the tubes in the blanks and the inlay. Seems like that may add a bit of strength, but I like the fast dry time for the CA, which allows me to do a blank and turn in the same evening.
Thanks in advance for your expert advice. Happy Holidays to all.
Would a two part epoxy be better for gluing the tubes in the blanks and the inlay. Seems like that may add a bit of strength, but I like the fast dry time for the CA, which allows me to do a blank and turn in the same evening.
Thanks in advance for your expert advice. Happy Holidays to all.