# Gluing pen blanks



## Big Shiny (Oct 27, 2015)

I am really green to turning. I am having a problem with my brass tubes staying stuck to my pen blanks when I'm milling them with my barrel trimmer. Any advice guys? 
Thanks


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## hwebb99 (Nov 27, 2012)

Did you glue them with anything or you working with a press in fit? CA glue works well.


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## Big Shiny (Oct 27, 2015)

I am using a gel ca glue. I squirt a little in the hole and put a little on the tube before I insert it. I twist and turn it inside the hole to try and get the glue all over the inside of the hole. Then I spray an accelerant inside the hole.


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## robert421960 (Dec 9, 2010)

i use med CA and put like 4 lines the length of the tube then twist while i insert it
other like epoxy best but I personally have never had a failure


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## Big Shiny (Oct 27, 2015)

How long do you let it set before milling?


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## robert421960 (Dec 9, 2010)

Big Shiny said:


> How long do you let it set before milling?


30 min minimum
I would kinda think that jell might be to thick to cover good
try the medium


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## Big Shiny (Oct 27, 2015)

Robert. I had actually thought that about the gel. I'm going to try the medium. Maybe thick?


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## robert421960 (Dec 9, 2010)

Big Shiny said:


> Robert. I had actually thought that about the gel. I'm going to try the medium. Maybe thick?


its up to you but I always use medium


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## Big Shiny (Oct 27, 2015)

I'm going with what you say Robert. Surely You've been turning longer than I have. I'm going to get some tomorrow. Have you ever used anything other than ca? I've heard of people using tite-bond instant and getting the same results.


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## robert421960 (Dec 9, 2010)

Big Shiny said:


> I'm going with what you say Robert. Surely You've been turning longer than I have. I'm going to get some tomorrow. Have you ever used anything other than ca? I've heard of people using tite-bond instant and getting the same results.


most of my buddies use epoxy but like i said med CA has always worked for me


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## Joeb41 (Jun 23, 2012)

I agree with the medium CA glue. If the brass tubes that come with your kits are shiny you have to scuff them up with fine sandpaper so the glue can adhere to them better. I buy my kits from Penn State and they come pre-scuffed. I recently read a gluing tip that I am going to try, squirt some CA glue on a piece of wax paper then roll the tube in it for a nice even coat then insert it in the blank.


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## Big Shiny (Oct 27, 2015)

I can see what y'all are talking about with the med ca. Come to think about it every time I put the gel ca glue in the hole before I insert the tube I look at the other end and there is quite a bit being pushed out. Plus the gel that i put on the tube too. Very little glue actually goes into the hole. 
Joeb. That sounds like a very good gluing tip. I'm going to try that tomorrow.


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## thenodemaster (Jun 14, 2015)

I, personally use 5 minute epoxy applied to the entire inside of the blank and a glob all the way around the first inch or so of the brass tube. I have tried various methods of preventing epoxy on the inside with mixed success, but have the best luck with a pipe cleaner from the craft store dipped in denatured alcohol which I then use to clean out the epoxy the moment after the tube is inserted. I give a decent scrub then pull the pipe cleaner out with the clean end being the trailing end through the tube.


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## Big Shiny (Oct 27, 2015)

I received an email from WWGOA the other day that was saying what tite-bond glue is best for what application. So I clicked into it and it gave several applications to choose from. Inserts for pen turning was one of the choices. It recommended the tite-bond instant. That was why I was asking you about it earlier Robert.


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## Big Shiny (Oct 27, 2015)

I also have noticed on the last three pens that I have turned that when I apply my first coat of ca when finishing that my eyes start to burn just about 15-20 seconds into applying. They burn pretty good too.


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## Bill Boehme (Feb 9, 2014)

Big Shiny said:


> I am really green to turning. I am having a problem with my brass tubes staying stuck to my pen blanks when I'm milling them with my barrel trimmer. Any advice guys?
> Thanks


Just about any kind of glue should work, but I spotted several problems:



Big Shiny said:


> I am using a gel ca glue. I squirt a little in the hole and put a little on the tube before I insert it. I twist and turn it inside the hole to try and get the glue all over the inside of the hole. Then I spray an accelerant inside the hole.


If you use CA, go with medium. You might also consider epoxy and polyurethane glue. Two problems I see with your method besides using gel glue:


Don't put glue down the hole ... that's just asking for a mess because most of the glue will wind up inside the brass tube. First sand the tube lightly and then put glue on the outside of the tube only. Very quickly insert it into the hole while giving it a half twist.
Please don't tell me that you are spraying accelerator down the hole after the glue has been "smeared around". It sounds like you might be pulling the tube out and spraying and then inserting the tube again. Forget about messing with accelerator because you might be causing the glue to set up before the tube is inserted. Accelerator just makes the glue weaker. Also, forget about wasting time smearing the glue around because there is no need to try to completely cover all surfaces.
Medium CA will set fast enough on its own. If your pens are wood, you can even use PVA glue. The only glue that I would advise against is hide glue. ​


Big Shiny said:


> I also have noticed on the last three pens that I have turned that when I apply my first coat of ca when finishing that my eyes start to burn just about 15-20 seconds into applying. They burn pretty good too.


Don't use accelerator. I prefer super thin CA for finishing. It sets really fast so I recommend putting CA on a paper towel, making a very fast wipe and then toss the paper towel. Don't try to get all the goody out of the glue in the paper towel. Use the glue and paper towels like somebody else is paying for it. If you try to wipe until the paper towel starts to smoke, it leads to all sorts of finishing problems and produces noxious fumes. So, just a quick wipe and toss ... that's it. Then after the CA has set repeat ... just one quick wipe ... not two wipes and not a slow wipe. I think that you will like the results.


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## Big Shiny (Oct 27, 2015)

I have both thin and gel ca. I will be getting me some medium. I appreciate all this information and input. Very valuable. 
I have another question. I know this is a personal preference to everyone here. When finishing I have been using the thin ca. Putting just a couple coats on. Then switching over to mylands friction polish and putting a couple of coats of it on. Then I wax and polish one time. And done. I know I'm going to get bombarded with different ways to do this. Am I doing this right??


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## hwebb99 (Nov 27, 2012)

If you ask 100 woodworkers the "right" way to finish something you are going to get at least 100 different answers. Whatever you do don't ask what the best table saw is.


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## Bill Boehme (Feb 9, 2014)

Big Shiny said:


> I have both thin and gel ca. I will be getting me some medium. I appreciate all this information and input. Very valuable.
> I have another question. I know this is a personal preference to everyone here. When finishing I have been using the thin ca. Putting just a couple coats on. Then switching over to mylands friction polish and putting a couple of coats of it on. Then I wax and polish one time. And done. I know I'm going to get bombarded with different ways to do this. Am I doing this right??


I believe in picking one kind of finish on a project and not mixing things up by layering a bunch of different things together. Layering, in my perspective can only degrade the overall result. Decide which you think is best and stick with it. at least for that one pen. If you want high gloss, nothing beats CA. Mylands give a good medium gloss, but I wouldn't apply it over CA. Wax give a soft sheen. I generally do not use wax unless it is used with nothing else. Sometimes I use it over a drying oil finish. A hard wax like carnauba can be used over other types of finish, but it will lower a high gloss down to a softer gloss.


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## thenodemaster (Jun 14, 2015)

Thick CA all the way for me. I have backed my car over pens and the had maybe a scuff mark.


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## mikeshoops (Apr 3, 2014)

I have had more than my share of tubes spin in the blank when using a pen mill. With wood blanks, I started using Tite Bond polyurethane glue and ended the failures. I pretreat the drilled hole by loading a Q-Tip with water and applying liberally to activate the glue. It sets up brittle to make milling easy. Gorilla poly makes a gooey mess and the brass may spin and even come out adhered to the mill; I do believe it is better for most other construction purposes, just not pens. Medium or thick CA works better in materials that don't move (wood moves). For two bucks, you can get a years supply of silly putty at Walmart or Dollar General (where you don't have to dress up) to stuff the ends of the tubes, keeping the CA or epoxy out; makes milling much more reliable. I don't know about others, but I switched to Whiteside mills and like the precision. 

The downside of poly glue is you need to let it set overnight, though I don't mind. 

LOL, tablesaws: I have reviewed hundreds of accidents in trauma reviews (a former technical advisory position) and almost all involved the lack of a splitter or riving knife, often with experienced craftsmen. I have used an old Craftsman saw and can still count 10.0 digits. We all know about finger saving (and, often, a lifetime of pain) technology. I continue to see these accidents in my ER, and have to admit, it's time.


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## Big Shiny (Oct 27, 2015)

I never would have thought about Q-tips. Good tip (no pun intended). Using Q-tips brings up another sticky situation I get into. Gluing my fingers together. I have seen the tools on WCraft, Rockler and other websites that starts on one end at about 1/2" and taper down to almost nothing on the other to help you get your tube in the hole without a huge mess. I just can't see spending 10-12 dollars on this when I've got a pencil or even a small center punch that I could use for the same job. I've actually pulled the tube out of the hole with my center punch. Then I was trying to hurry up and get the tube off of the punch before the glue dried and of course I had already squirt some accelerant on it. Needless to say, it wasn't good. Any suggestions on this or do I just keep doing hand-to-hand combat? So to speak.


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## robert421960 (Dec 9, 2010)

i just hold the tube with my fingers and apply the glue then slide it into the blank by hand pushing it in with the one finger or on the workbench
like said above every one has a different method:yes::yes::yes:


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## dartman (Oct 12, 2012)

I use epoxy for acrylic and CA for wood.Get yourself a drill chart and use the closest size drill.Sometimes a letter or number drill is closer that what the kit tells you to use.


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## thenodemaster (Jun 14, 2015)

dartman said:


> I use epoxy for acrylic and CA for wood.Get yourself a drill chart and use the closest size drill.Sometimes a letter or number drill is closer that what the kit tells you to use.


I have actually had some woods that shrank just enough after the drilling was done to make it an almost impossible fit without going back and sending the bit through one more time. Thankfully, I have one of those self centering vices for my drill press. Haven't done it on the lathe in a few years as my old lathe never aligned completely. Not a problem with my current one, though.


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## Big Shiny (Oct 27, 2015)

I have a centering vise. Its a pretty nifty little piece of equipment. Comes in handy. I've been looking at buying a drill chuck for my lathe. Just to have it in case I need one. I have done most of my purchases from penn state and a couple at rockler. Any other websites for accessories and kits that I could look at. Good experiences bad experiences. Just like every other person in this world, I look for a great deal but I don't want to sacrifice quality. I know its a double edged sword.


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## thenodemaster (Jun 14, 2015)

I have Penn State's key-less 1/2" tailstock chuck and it works great.


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## Tool Agnostic (Aug 13, 2017)

It seems that I am resurrecting old threads lately. Sorry. This thread is about gluing the brass inserts into pen blanks, although some people discussed CA finishes. 

I had problems with my first pen blanks. I used medium CA glue and let the pen blanks cure overnight in the garage with overnight temps dropping from high 70s in the day to the high 50s at night. I did not use activator. I roughed up the tubes with sandpaper before gluing them, and rotated them as I inserted them in the blanks, to spread the glue evenly around the insert. 

I ran into the problems the next morning, when I went to clean and mill the pen blanks. I put them on the drill press to clean and mill them, but some of the brass tubes rotated and/or pushed out slightly from the pen blanks. The medium CA glue didn't hold as well as I'd thought. I also wonder whether the cleaning rod in the pen mill kit might be slightly bent, but it doesn't appear so, and it worked okay on other pen blanks. 

I have a friend who teaches pen turning, and he suggested using activator the next time. He told me to spray each end of the pen blank with the activator. I bought some activator, and also bought a small container of Gorilla glue (polyurethane). I have some fresh pen blanks to try. 

I will try medium CA glue with accelerator on some, and Gorilla glue on others. Stay tuned.

Any hints about the best products and methods that you use to glue inserts into your pen blanks?


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## Pineknot_86 (Feb 19, 2016)

I use Tite Bond thick CA for my tubes. I turned a piece of some kind of plastic for an insertion tool. I'll see if I can find a photo. So far, I haven't had the problem of a tube turning in the blank. My grandson and I took penturning classes at Woodcraft at different times. Bill used the thick CA glue and started squaring the blanks and turning within a few minutes. No accelerator was used.


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## Bonedoc (Jan 14, 2013)

Big Shiny said:


> I am really green to turning. I am having a problem with my brass tubes staying stuck to my pen blanks when I'm milling them with my barrel trimmer. Any advice guys?
> Thanks


Big Shiny, I had a similar problem, it really does not matter what type of CA you use, you need to take 80- 100 grit sand paper and sand the barrels length wise from end to end, this gives the CA something to grip and end to end resists spin out. It will also help prevent chip out when turning as well as assembly cracks when pressing the parts together.
Hope this helps. Since I have been sanding the barrels end to end, I have not had the problems you describe with Wood, burl, or acrylic pen blanks.
Doc


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## Dylan Buffum (Dec 2, 2018)

Can someone tell me what “CA” is? Is it just superglue?

I was using a 2-part epoxy, and then switched to whatever superglue they sell at Home Depot. I have had some problems, but mostly because I think I wasn’t really mixing the epoxy well. I was considering trying good old fashioned Duco Cement, but can’t seem to find it in the stores.


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## Pineknot_86 (Feb 19, 2016)

I use Titebond thick CA. I have never used accelerator. I also let the blank sit for at least 30 minutes although the instructor at Woodcraft started turning the blank in a few minutes without any problem.


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## Bonedoc (Jan 14, 2013)

Dylan Buffum said:


> Can someone tell me what “CA” is? Is it just superglue?.


The Chemical name for Super glue is Cyano Acrylate. Thus CA is just super glue. Good Question though.


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## Dylan Buffum (Dec 2, 2018)

Bonedoc said:


> The Chemical name for Super glue is Cyano Acrylate. Thus CA is just super glue. Good Question though.


Thank you.


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