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Barrel Trimmer Pulling Out Tubes

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Aug 3, 2020
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Hello,

I'm in the process of making my first pen. I thought I had read and watched enough to give it a go but I am doing something wrong. My current issue is when I barrel trim the ends of the pen blanks, as I am pulling out the barrel trimmer my tubes are partially coming out with it. The barrel trimmer is not a really tight fit so I do not understand why this is happening.

My steps:
- cut pen blanks. These are walnut - roughly 3/4 by 3/4 and about a quarter inch longer than the tubes
- with a good quality 7mm bit I purchased, I drilled the holes on my lathe. The holes look good. The tubes fit in easily, but without much play. Looks similar to videos I have watched.
- I roughed the tubes with sandpaper and get some good surface scratching for the glue to adhere to. I used 80 grit.
- Using medium CA I bought at woodcraft, I put a generous amount on 2/3 of the tube, inserted it in and out and roll it around for about 5 seconds. I added a bit more and do the same to the other side. I inserted the tube, make sure it is in past the surface and let it cure overnight.
- The next morning I put a blank in a vice, verified I have the correct bit for my barrel trimmer ,verified I could easily push the bit in and out of my tube. Then I drilled. I needed to get rid of about 1/8th of wood, maybe a bit more. This took a few minutes. When i pulled out the bit, the tube came partway out with it, and I need help understanding why. This happened on 3 blanks. Any thoughts/advice would be very much appreciated. Thanks - Scott
 
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I prepared mine the same as you, but I always used thick CA. However I quit using CA and started using 5 minute epoxy. I would get an occasional failure with the CA, but almost never with the epoxy. It also gives ample time to position the tube before setting up. I had also used gorilla glue, but the foam was always a mess.
 

hockenbery

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The glue is failing.
You can probably get away with re-gluing with the medium CA
That will get you back to turning with these.

Like @William Rogers said switch to a quick setting epoxy.
or gorilla glue it’s messy and takes longer to set but the barrel trimmer will clean up the ends.
 
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The barrel was probably heating up from friction with the trimmer and making the CA release. A little wax on the trimmer shaft will help that, as well as the use of better glue.
I was thinking the barrel was likely heating. What kind of wax do you recommend?
 

Bill Boehme

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If you were using the barrel trimmer in a drill press or power drill then that is probably the cause of the problem. I have a wooden handle on my barrel trimmer and I do the trimming by hand. Also, I think that the CA bond will be stronger if it isn't "worked" as much ... just push the tube in while giving it a slight twist and then leave it alone. to let it cure.
 
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Thank you all for your replies. I glued up some blanks using 5 minute epoxy this morning. I have some wax for the barrel trimmer bit, and will use the bit at a much slower speed this weekend and see how things go.
 
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Well, I bought 5 minute epoxy, glued up and had the same thing happen. The tube pulled out while barrel trimming. It was then I noticed fairly dramatic run-out. The 7 mm shaft is not dead straight - I should have noticed that before. So I used carpet tape and sandpaper on a piece of wood and used my lathe to sand down the ends of the blanks. That worked fine. That allowed me to make my first pen. Now I can work on more pens, getting better technique and try some different finishing. Not having an active local group because of COVID-19 is a challenge. The video people have taken time to create and forums like this are a big help.
 

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Following up in case it is helpful to someone else viewing the thread. I found the sanding technique too slow since such a small area of the sandpaper was being hit. While in the process or returning the first barrel trimmer, I bought one from PSI. Night and day difference. Very minimal runout, barrel trimmer much sharper out of the box. This was important because I have no way to sharpen it until my diamond sharpening card (backordered) arrives. So the summary is that my problems were largely created by a poor quality barrel trimming set and resolved with a higher quality set.
 
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