monophoto
Member
Most of the suppliers sell a tube insertion tool intended to help avoid getting glue on your fingers when you put the tube into a pen blank. But you can easily make one.
I bought a high-density polyethylene cutting board at a 'dollar store' for raw material for various fixtures and fittings. The working end of my insertion tool was turned from a length of that HDPE. It is tapered from 1/8" at the tip to just under 1/2" where it joins the handle; there is a 1/4" tenon that extends into the handle. Glue won't stick to HDPE, so I turned some rings into the tenon so that when the glue dried in those rings, it created a mechanical bond between the HDPE and the handle.
The handle started out life as a brush for use in cleaning the gas grill. The brush wore out years ago, but I hung onto the handle knowing that it could be recycled into something else.
I bought a high-density polyethylene cutting board at a 'dollar store' for raw material for various fixtures and fittings. The working end of my insertion tool was turned from a length of that HDPE. It is tapered from 1/8" at the tip to just under 1/2" where it joins the handle; there is a 1/4" tenon that extends into the handle. Glue won't stick to HDPE, so I turned some rings into the tenon so that when the glue dried in those rings, it created a mechanical bond between the HDPE and the handle.
The handle started out life as a brush for use in cleaning the gas grill. The brush wore out years ago, but I hung onto the handle knowing that it could be recycled into something else.
