Sierra tube doesn’t fit

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Califo

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Hi everyone, I turned a few Sierras for Xmas gifts and one of them I may have reamed it in a way that the inner diameter of the tube is slightly large that doesn't have a good tight fit on the kit. Have any of you been able to fix this situation? I thought about placing a dab of thin CA around the edge of the inner tube and see if I could create a better fit but eventually it will wear out. Any other ideas?

Normally, I'd toss it and make another but on this case I finished it with a personalized decal and CA. I hate to redo it all over.

Thanks
 
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jttheclockman

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Hi everyone, I turned a few Sierras for Xmas gifts and one of them I may have reamed it in a way that the inner diameter of the tube is slightly large that doesn't have a good tight fit on the kit. Have any of you been able to fix this situation? I thought about placing a dab of thin CA around the edge of the inner tube and see if I could create a better fit but eventually it will wear out. Any other ideas?

Normally, I'd toss it and make another but on this case I finished it with a personalized decal and CA. I hate to redo it all over.

Thanks

The answer to your question is yes. There are those that have used CA but you run the risk of having it get on the components and that gets messy and sometimes as it drys it off gases and this will cloud the components and ruin them.

What I do and use is Loctite. They make many versions for different strenghths but red and blue are the common. Red for permanent adhesion and blue for med. Depending on possibilities of needing to take the pen apart you may want to use blue or other wise red is the ticket. It is the stuff where you use many times in the automotive industry when locking nuts in place on rods or bolts. Works well.

www.mscdirect.com/browse/tn/Tapes-A...?searchterm=Loctite&navid=12108686+4294958674
 

mecompco

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There are many blanks (circuit board is one) that will easily crack if one doesn't ream out the tube first (a bit beyond just removing glue). I like to get them so there is just slight resistance when hand pressing the components. During assembly, use blue loc-tite (the HF version also seems to work OK). I've yet to have one come apart or crack using this method.

Oh, and I second the avoidance of using CA if possible--it does leave a film on surrounding parts that can be difficult to remove. Loc-tite easily wipes off while wet.
 
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Larryreitz

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Glad I took the time to read this thread. Never thought of Loctite for loose fittings. I'll have to pick some up. Thanks.

Also thanks to Mecompo for the insight on circuit board blanks. I bought one for a cigar pen a year or so ago. Turned great and went together easily. Looked good and in about a week or so showed cracking along the seam line. I'll have to try another sometime and follow his advice.

Larry
 

mecompco

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Glad I took the time to read this thread. Never thought of Loctite for loose fittings. I'll have to pick some up. Thanks.

Also thanks to Mecompo for the insight on circuit board blanks. I bought one for a cigar pen a year or so ago. Turned great and went together easily. Looked good and in about a week or so showed cracking along the seam line. I'll have to try another sometime and follow his advice.

Larry

Larry, yes, I make a lot of circuit board pens (Sierra and Cigar). On the Cigar especially, those $18.00 blanks crack all too easily. Ones blown up on the lathe can sometimes be repaired (by re-casting in PR, which can also fix blanks that somehow ended up with the wrong combination of the four different bushings), but I've never been able to hide a crack in one. And yes, I've seen the stress take a few days to crack the blank. Once I started sanding the inside of the tubes out to a very light friction fit (I chuck a punch wrapped with 320 grit in my drill and sand it as necessary), I've not cracked one. Of course, if you lose focus for a millisecond while turning them and get the slightest catch, they will still instantly fly apart.

FWIW, my EDC pen is a cracked green circuit board Cigar. :redface:
 

jttheclockman

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I have learned the exact method that Michael talks about and it saves those special blanks. Have had no returns so must work. :):)
 

mecompco

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I have learned the exact method that Michael talks about and it saves those special blanks. Have had no returns so must work. :):)

Knock on wood, neither have I, which surprises me as they don't they withstand a drop very well (as I have experienced with mine--added a few more cracks to it one day).
 

magpens

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I think the drift of this thread has gotten a little off course from what the OP intended.

With the Sierra (and some other twist pens), the nib end of the blank is designed to be permanently free to turn. I think it is that end of his blank that has been reamed overmuch. . I doubt you can correct that error with CA, loctite, or anything other than by gluing into that end of the tube a very thin piece of brass shim, carefully cut and molded without overlap to the interior contour of the all important brass tube which has been over-reamed. . I have never been in this predicament but have often contemplated that it might one day arise. . Consequently, I have no practical experience with the correction method I am suggesting !! :):biggrin:
 
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pturley

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It's just the back end cap needing press fit on a Sierra.

You can add a bit of interference by carefully knurling the barrel of the end cap with a sharp chisel or knife. Just tap the blade lightly into the brass, displacing the flanking material up a bit.

It helps if you can hold the cap firmly on a centering punch fixed in a vice. Work your way around the rim of the cap evenly to ensure a good fit up.

Sincerely,
Paul E. Turley
 

magpens

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I agree, Paul. . But it is not actually clear from the OP which end is the problem.


It's just the back end cap needing press fit on a Sierra.

You can add a bit of interference by carefully knurling the barrel of the end cap with a sharp chisel or knife. Just tap the blade lightly into the brass, displacing the flanking material up a bit.

It helps if you can hold the cap firmly on a centering punch fixed in a vice. Work your way around the rim of the cap evenly to ensure a good fit up.

Sincerely,
Paul E. Turley
 
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