Gluing Process

[flippedcracker]

So, I've been turning pens for nearly a year, but really only here and there. I've been getting more serious about it lately, so I've been turning a lot more. I hadn't turned acrylic very much previously, so it's still a little new to me. Anyway, last weekend I was gluing up some acrylic blanks, and I had tried tinting the epoxy instead of reverse painting them just to see how it would do, and I think it went well. But once I started turning the blanks, I noticed that I didn't have full glue coverage on the inside. I've never had a problem with a blank coming off the tube, or blowing up, so I've never thought my gluing process was bad, but now I'm wondering.

My process:
I generally stick the tube in one side, twist it around, and then put it in the other side, twisting and pushing in and out like I've seen videos of a hundred times. I do have a bit of squeeze out, but I kinda just figured it was good enough because I hadn't had a problem. Is this something I should be worried about? Obviously, no one really knows how their glue is on the inside of a wood blank, but I would hope there would be better coverage than I had.

The pen I turned turned out great and seems stable, but I can definitely see where the epoxy is and isn't since it's somewhat translucent.

Do I need to change my process, or not worry about it until something starts failing? Definitely going to have to reverse paint though.

 

[plano_harry]

Pretty standard practice on the tube/glue process. About the only way you could increase your coverage is to use a q-tip with epoxy to swab the hole before inserting the blank. For important balnks, I use oral swabs if I have them because q-tips are kind of wimpy against epoxy. I use scissors to cut them into a cylinder about the size of the largest tube, roll in the epoxy and swab the hole. Little more work but I like the security.

You have to paint the hole anyway.

Harry

 

[Ulises Victoria]

I just turned some acrylics and had to re make them. You could see the smears of glue inside the blank, even though I painted the insides of the blanks. So I decided that in my next acrylic turning I will paint both the blank and the tube. Also the choice of pen kit is something to take into account. These kits I was turning (Apprentice Anaheim) left almost nothing of material over the tube at the ends, so the thinner the material, the harder to hide glue smears or tube inside.

 

[commercialbuilder]

I use a small dowel rolled in the epoxy to coat the inside of the blank from both ends then twist the tube in the epoxy to get about a 1/4" on it then slowly twist the tube into the blank from one end. You should get epoxy dripping out the other end once the tube is fully inserted.