Robert McGowen
03-13-2007, 11:45 PM
I thought I would pass along a tip even though it will probably earn me the "Mr. Obvious" title. :o
I was trying to seat several pen tubes into the blanks tonight. The glue was a little cold and stiff and it was very humid and while I could get the tubes started with no problem, I couldn't seem to get them past the top of the blank so that they were just past being flush. I wanted a little extra wood for the barrel trimmer. I tried just about everything, while not pushing so hard that I would bend the top of the tube in. (past learning curve for that one) It then dawned on me that the drill bit obviously (insert "Mr. Obvious" here) fit inside the blank, but would not fit inside the tube. I turned the bit around in the drill press so that the non-cutting end was up against the tube and seated the tubes exactly where I wanted them with the drill press. The drill bit end is even slightly chamfered so that you can't damage the tubes. I was using polyurethane glue, but I could see this being especially fast for centering tubes with CA.
I was trying to seat several pen tubes into the blanks tonight. The glue was a little cold and stiff and it was very humid and while I could get the tubes started with no problem, I couldn't seem to get them past the top of the blank so that they were just past being flush. I wanted a little extra wood for the barrel trimmer. I tried just about everything, while not pushing so hard that I would bend the top of the tube in. (past learning curve for that one) It then dawned on me that the drill bit obviously (insert "Mr. Obvious" here) fit inside the blank, but would not fit inside the tube. I turned the bit around in the drill press so that the non-cutting end was up against the tube and seated the tubes exactly where I wanted them with the drill press. The drill bit end is even slightly chamfered so that you can't damage the tubes. I was using polyurethane glue, but I could see this being especially fast for centering tubes with CA.