Chipped CA Finish when pressing

[mfarr79]

Good afternoon. Several different times as I have pressed some pens together, I have had happenwhat you see in the attached photo. I just wanted to reach out and see if anyone had a good method for avoiding this. I have gone to pretty good measures to try and make sure that I don't have a buildup of CA on the end of my pen when I get finished polishing it, but apparently it's not quite good enough. I've also attempted to not press too hard so as to cause this. It just seems to reoccur at different times. I have lightly sanded the ends before and sometimes that has helped but sometimes it has caused a different problem. Just wanted to reach out to some of you guys and see if you had any good advice for me. Many thanks for any help.

 

[Woodchipper]

There is an excess of CA that overlapped the end of the blank. Pressure pushes against it and crack! I lightly rub the end of my blanks in a circular motion on 120 sandpaper. Never had any problems with this method.

 

[Gregf]

I like the results I get with Rick Herrel's Sanding Mill, listed here in the Vendor's Forum.

 

[jttheclockman]

There are many threads on this topic here and various ways people try to avoid this. to sum a few up there is a person here that is promoting a tube stretcher tool that it's main purpose is to enlarge the end of the tubes to make a slip fit onto the components and you then glue them in. It is one way. Another way people here do this is to take a round rat file and file the inside of the tube a small amount to again just relieve the pressure when pressing. File too much then you have to glue parts in as above. You will find many woods just do not like to be stretched and the same goes for CA glues. They become brittle and hard when cured. So trying to help ease the pressure when pressing is a way to go. others will chime in with their methods too. Good luck and this problem has hit many pen makers here so do not be alarmed.

 

[mfarr79]

I appreciate all the tips, suggestions, and help pointing me on the right direction. I'll dig into some of the older threads and check out that sanding mill. I guess I can take a little comfort in knowing others have had this headache also. It's just been a little frustrating….Thanks again!

 

[jcm71]

I regularly use a sharp pen mill by hand to slowly shave excess CA off the ends. Works great. A tip that I learned from this forum.

 

[mfarr79]

That's a great thought! Thanks for sharing!

 

[fernhills]

I sand the ends with a jig on the disc sander, small amount of wax on the part to be pressed in. use a deburring tool on the tubes before pressing in. Now that all that has been done, some woods like ebony will still crack, days later. Like mentioned, some woods just do not like to be pushed around. That is the challenge we must face.

 

[Mean Gene]

sometimes when you push the parts in they are a slight bit crooked & that will cause cracking I have used a Step bit to ease the inside of the tube a bit so they go together with less force.