To glue or not to glue, that is the question.

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D

DRAT

Member
Joined
Jul 8, 2011
Messages
74
Location
East Tennessee, Madisonville
Do you glue your components in, or do you simply press them in?

I have had the thread pieces break on a couple pens in which I have "glued in" the threads, and I have no way to fix them.

So, do you glue or press?

DRAT
 
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Some parts need help as they are put together. Also not all brass tubes are the proper ID. Generally 2 part pens easily comes apart at the nib coupler with very little work. Center bands typically does not move that much but the threaded plastic insert can. The cap also works loose from time to time and allows the clip to spin freely which is a sign of lower quality construction.

Using a bonding agent that has very high strength, i.e. loctite red. Cause more problems than good so you want lower strength agents that will allow you to disassemble the unit easier.
 
I press fit most wood blanks that i know i won't have trouble with. Casted blanks, (feathers, watch parts etc.) i like for the tube to be just big enough for the components to be hand pressed in,(so i don't crack the blank) therefore i like use gorilla glue 5 min epoxy.
 
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I test fit the components before I start. If they seem loose, I put the kit
aside or find another tube. If I don't find a tube, I return the kit. At these
prices, I'm not spending extra time to correct manufacturing errors.
But I'm a stubborn cuss...
 
A couple years ago i saw a post on IAP asking the same question. At the time I was simply press-fiiting everything except for the occasional loose fit ( usually due to an error, deconstruction of the pen and repair) which I would use CA glue on.

Several folks whose work I really respected posted replies that they use Loctite Red on every pen they make.

I learned soon thereafter never to use CA since it off-gases for several days and if you assemble the pen soon after applying the CA it will turn the refill white and sometimes the inside of the components white …a look that is less than professional if you sell your work.

I thought that adding the step of applying Loctite would be too much of a pain in behind….but soon thereafter I was at a show and had a sale of a $ 150 pen fall through when the cap fell out of the tube.

This was very embarrassing and I made sure it was the last time this ever happened. I have been using Loctite ( red not blue) on every pen since.

If you sell pens in the higher price range i would consider this an essential step.
 
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Blue Loctite. Epoxy if the fit is slide-in loose. Exceptions - Cigar upper centerband, Juniors cap centerband - both are very tight fits.

Found that several customer's pen clips were spinning, euros finials were loose and unscrewed. Since then, I add the extra protection.
 
I learned two things the hard way about this. I had to disassemble a Sierra Vista a while back...the reassemble from already pressed parts can cause a loose fit so that one received a drop of CA. The worst one was a commission bullet pen from CSUSA. I did the top in soap stone that has zero capacity for expansion. As the parts were being pressed, fracture fracture fracture all the way through. Had to coat with CA and re-sand with the parts assembled. Next time an attack of the stupids shows up...the parts will se sanded down and affixed with epoxy!!!!
 
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