Quickly Scuffing Lots of Brass Tubes

[Wmcullen]

I know lots of people don't scuff their brass tubes.
I do because it seems to me the only times I had problems with tubes coming out was when I didn't scuff them before gluing. YMMV.

However, when I buy 300 kits and have 600 brass tubes, I really don't want to scuff them all by hand with sandpaper.
Here's my new and improved process.

I use a long, threaded rod from HD to hold 9 or 10 tubes and use my belt sander upside down.
Holding the rod at 45 degrees, the entire sleeve of tubes rotate and scuff in about 5 seconds.

Loading the tubes onto the rod was taking longer than I wanted. Then I discovered the tiny earth magnets I use to hold bushings on my lathe create an easy way to hold the rod upright while leaving both hands free to load tubes onto it.

Thanks for looking
- Cullen

 

[KMCloonan]

Cool suggestion Cullen! I don't work in the quantities you do, but I do see scuffing tubes as a tedious task. Simply loading a mandrel with the tubes I am using at this moment, and using my belt sander to scuff them will make the task go faster. Thanks for sharing

 

[Alan Morrison]

Very clever, Cullen.
I don't scuff, I only glue tubes with 2-part epoxy and have not had any problems.
But, wow .......600 tubes at the one time!!!

 

[derekdd]

Great idea, Cullen, thanks!

Luckily, PSI and others send out their kits with scuffed blanks but not all.

 

[Pebbles]

Don't know if this will be of any use to anyone but great if it is—
I use a small plastic bag, -(one you get pen kits in)-place a doubled up sheet of sandpaper the width of the bag and the height of the brass tubes- abrasive sides facing inwards- you then put as many tubes as possible - maybe 8-10 depending on the width of the bag, in between the doubled-up sandpaper and rub the bag between your palms as if you were trying to warm up your hands and job done!!- well after a few minutes anyway. Bag and sandpaper can be used again. Sorry I don't have a picture- on hols at the moment.

 

[Wmcullen]

Don't know if this will be of any use to anyone but great if it is—
I use a small plastic bag, -(one you get pen kits in)-place a doubled up sheet of sandpaper the width of the bag and the height of the brass tubes- abrasive sides facing inwards- you then put as many tubes as possible - maybe 8-10 depending on the width of the bag, in between the doubled-up sandpaper and rub the bag between your palms as if you were trying to warm up your hands and job done!!- well after a few minutes anyway. Bag and sandpaper can be used again. Sorry I don't have a picture- on hols at the moment.

That's the kind of innovative solution I love coming across on this site. Thanks for sharing it!

 

[egnald]

Thanks Cullen,

You always have such cool solutions. I always have a stock of 1/4-inch ready bolt, "D" drill rod, and 1/4-inch shelf pins on hand. It is amazing how handy they can be at times. If I didn't already have a compact storage solution for my bushings I'm sure I would be using 1/4-inch bolts to make something.

Regards,
Dave

PS Have you ever designed and 3D printed any kind of storage solution for bushings?

 

[Wmcullen]

Thanks Cullen,

You always have such cool solutions. I always have a stock of 1/4-inch ready bolt, "D" drill rod, and 1/4-inch shelf pins on hand. It is amazing how handy they can be at times. If I didn't already have a compact storage solution for my bushings I'm sure I would be using 1/4-inch bolts to make something.

Regards,
Dave

PS Have you ever designed and 3D printed any kind of storage solution for bushings?

Dave:
Thanks so much for the kind words. I haven't designed any storage for bushings but that's only because I only ever use 7mm bushings... so I keep them stuck on a magnet on my lathe.
Obviously, many turners like yourself have lots of sizes to work with. What would be the design criteria? Would ease of accessibility be key? If I were to think through this quickly, the solution might look like a "hat rack" I'd keep stuck to my lathe with magnets so I could reach them quickly.

 

[egnald]

Dave:
Thanks so much for the kind words. I haven't designed any storage for bushings but that's only because I only ever use 7mm bushings... so I keep them stuck on a magnet on my lathe.
Obviously, many turners like yourself have lots of sizes to work with. What would be the design criteria? Would ease of accessibility be key? If I were to think through this quickly, the solution might look like a "hat rack" I'd keep stuck to my lathe with magnets so I could reach them quickly.
View attachment 354587

I saw a post from a fellow, Del Hilburn, on the Woodnet.net forums of a printed system he came up with a couple of years ago. It was essentially little drawers, kind of based on the PSI bushing storage rack. I thought it was a cool approach. Here is a link: WoodNet Bushing Storage. - Dave

 

[Wmcullen]

That's an organized setup. I like it a lot.

 

[jrista]

Thank you for the tip! I've been scuffing so many tubes the last week, my eyes are gonna bleed. Like you, I only seem to have problems if I forget to scuff (which I did recently, on a set of pens...haven't turned them all yet, so I don't know if any are going to separate or not). So I ALWAYS scuff. Been wondering about ways to make this easier. Even been considering designs that might be 3D printed...but I really like your simple yet elegant solution.

I am going to pick up one of these threaded rods today. I've already got a ton of magnets floating around.

 

[RunnerVince]

If I'm doing more than a few pens at a time, I just load the tubes onto my pen mandrel and turn the lathe on, then hit it with a bit of 150 grit.