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
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