extra tubes

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Roy99664

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I have noticed that the majority of people order extra tubes whenever there is a group buy. What do you use the extra tubes for? I am a newbie compared to most, but I don't think I've ever ruined a tube. Do you use them for casting blanks or what? I do have extra 7mm tubes for playing around with ideas, but I don't think I've ever actually needed one to salvage a botched pen. Just curious.
 
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I buy extra euro tubes cause I can't stand when I overturn at the center band, I don't assemble those pens. Then there are the blanks that blow up and you can't find the pieces to glue back in. Then there are the one you turn, stand back from the lathe and look at it and say what was I thinking, then there are those....

My wife bought me a closed end mandrel from BB for Christmas. I then ordered a doz. spare baron tubes just for practicing. Glad I did too, there were several that were never assembled.

Christian
 
I have been known to blow up a blank or two [;)] Sometimes its hard enough to start over than to start over by cleaning the broken wood off a tube.
 
Great question, Roy. I buy extra tubes so I can make a bunch of barrels that will eventually become pens. I typically only make one pen per kit style in any particular wood, but am ready to do a little assembly and replace many of my pens as soon as the first sells. By inventorying only tubes (and the wood, of course), I save myself from making and storing a lot of pens.
 
I have a "very good friend" who sometimes likes to glue the tube halfway into the blank. Sometimes he'll even blow-out a tube. I just like to have extras on hand to help "him" out.
 
Originally posted by DCBluesman
<br />Great question, Roy. I buy extra tubes so I can make a bunch of barrels that will eventually become pens. I typically only make one pen per kit style in any particular wood, but am ready to do a little assembly and replace many of my pens as soon as the first sells. By inventorying only tubes (and the wood, of course), I save myself from making and storing a lot of pens.
Click to expand...

Exactly why I always try to get extras. Plus, like with sierras, you get two pens out of one blank. If you make two barrels, then you will already have the next without the extra cost of having 2 or three of everything in stock.

FWIW, tubes are what ? $.50 and a kit can run $50 or more. I'll take the $.50 option every time.
 
I buy extra tubes for several reasons
- to turn several barrels ahead of time
- to use them to turn sleeves for my pen mill
- to use them as sleeves for my pen mill
- to replace shorter tubes with longer tubes, which results in a longer pen
 
Thanks guys, I knew there had to be an explanation, other than just botched attempts. After all it only takes 30 seconds or so to turn the wood off a tube. I have had my share of those, but I take the opptunity to practice my skew techniques or turn a bead, or something on the way down to the tube. You end up with a tube that is ready to be glued in a blank and a chance to try again.
 
Mikey,

I agree that you can get two Sierra pens from one blank, but you need two kits to make two pens. Each kit comes with a tube. Why do you need extra? I must be having a senior moment here, they are coming more frequently these days!
 
Roy,

"Need" is probably not the right word. I "Want" extra tubes so I can throw away an occasional pen without assembling it, cause SOMETHING went wrong.

On the high-end pens, however, it is a NEED. I turn the pen, then decide if it's worth $50 in hardware. If I wouldn't buy the thing for $100, it doesn't get assembled, since I am going to have to convince SOMEONE that it is worth that much. If I don't believe it, it just ain't gonna work! I only carry about 5 of each of the high-end pens, but even at that, there's a few bucks tied up there. BETTER be HAPPY with them.

FWIW
 
I often get an order from a customer for a kit style that I don't have on hand, but with the extra tubes I can get started on the pen right away while I wait for my kit to be shipped. So when I receive the kit, the pen is ready to be assembled and the tubes from that kit will now become the 'extras'.
 
Roy,

I find that it is easier to use a new tube rather than cut down a ruined blank. Also, if you "kiss" the tube both times you end mill it, you could end up with a pen that is just too short to work well with a Parker refill. Given how cheap the tubes are, it is very worthwhile to have some extras, IMHO.
 
You could also turn several blanks and have the customer choose which they like. Then all you have to do is assemble it for them. This way, you only have the cost of one pen kit but could have dozens of pen barrels to choose from.
 
Originally posted by Roy99664
<br />Mikey,

I agree that you can get two Sierra pens from one blank, but you need two kits to make two pens. Each kit comes with a tube. Why do you need extra? I must be having a senior moment here, they are coming more frequently these days!
Click to expand...

Lets say I order a dozen Sierra kits and 1 dozen extra tubes. Lets say I take 10 blanks and make 20 ready to be assembled tubes from each. Now, I need to take those Sierra pens and assemble. I can make 10 different ones for viewing. What happens if I make the 2 extra pens into blue colors, but the customer wants pink? By having multiple colors already turned, you can give the customer what they want quickly as long as you saved those two pens and haven't assembled them. Plus, if you get an order for more pens than you have, you can have the blanks turned and ready by the time the kits arrive from the supplier.

Also, as said above, the tubes can get screwed up. Last night I messed up 4 Sierra blanks. (way bad night) I was able to part off the bad stuff in order to replace the cracked part, but still left material so I could turn it into a segmented pen. Now, if I didn't have extra tubes, there would be one kit tied up in my experiment that I wouldn't be able to sell if someone wanted it because I didn't buy extra.
 
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