OK....Really? (Rant)

[Mike Cruz]

So, I had a bunch of cut offs from some SUPER spalted maple that was good and dry. I cut pen blanks out of them. After ruining two pens (they blew apart when I got down close to the barrel...no not slimlines), I decided to soak them in a glue and water mixture to stabilize them.

Put them in a couple of days ago. Went to go get them out...ALL stuck together. Got a few apart okay, but one broke (end grain/cross grain however you want to put it) in two. I have two other "pairs" that are stuck together. Granted, when all dry, I can probably cut them apart on the band saw, but really? Glued together? Ugh...

Rant over.

[Jim Burr]

Awww crap...send them to me and I'll stabilize those with the rest of the bunch. Life is to short to waste on bad wood...unless you know a guy with a stabilizing set up! Remember that pressure or vaccum is required to move the agent into the blank. Soaking is just that, so it moves into the surface...maybe a 1/16" and you're done. We can do this right...see how mad we get over pen blanks?!

[Mike Cruz]

So, glue soaks, even for 2-3 days are useless? What am I supposed to do with 2 gallons of glue/water mix? Pooh!

Jim, I'll give them a couple of days (maybe more) then cut them to 3/4" x 3/4". I'll see if they look like the glue did anything. If not, you'll be getting a small flat rate box in the mail...

[Faust M. Ruggiero]

Don't drink it. It constipates.

[Roger Chandler]

I think somebody is having a bad day.........I hate those! .....sorry Mike........I have not done that particular thing, but I do empathize! Thanks for the PM by the way!

[Mike Cruz]

Thanks, guys. Honestly, I was expecting a bunch of apathy...but then again, Tony hasn't chimed in yet!

Yeah, kinda a bad day, Roger. And yup on the PM.

Faust, I just had a Strawberry/Blueberry Daquiri...had enough to drink. I'll hold off drinking the glue!

[David DeCristoforo]

"... I was expecting a bunch of apathy..."

You must have a really exciting life if your biggest problem is how deep glue will soak into a pen blank. Big deal.... Ho hum... Boooooring... Couldn't care less.

Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

Howzat?

[Wally Dickerman]

You soak a bounch of sticks in a pot of glue? And you wonder why they're glued together? I have senior moments but hey you're just a kid.....

[Mike Cruz]

DD, thanks, but YOUR apathy is obviously forced.

Wally, I didn't look at it that way, but yeah...I guess I did and I do. Maybe I need to smack my head against a wall...but then I'd probably wonder why I have a knot on my forehead!

Thanks, ya'll. You are making me feel better. And BTW, I've done this soak before with pen and bottle stopper blanks without the...stickyness. So that is why my panties were in a bunch. That and they were glued together.

[David DeCristoforo]

"...YOUR apathy is...forced..."

Forced apathy? Is that not an oxymoron? Besides, I was just trying to help out....

[Barry Elder]

My sympathies! I did the glue soak one time with pen blanks, but I had turned them down to get the corners off. Being as how they were drilled, there wasn't much to soak and I figured if they started looking bad after I started turning them again, there's always CA glue. Anyhow, every coupla hours I would go out and stir them up by hand and go wash the junk off my hands. I got tired of that when it go dark and hung the suckers up on re-bent coat hangers overnight. Let them dry for a week (I'm lazy) and they turned reasonably well. Just blew one up but the other five survived. End of story, and I'm stickin' to it!

[Mike Cruz]

DD, I don't about an oxymoron, but the root of that word is pretty much how I felt when I saw them stuck together! Your help is always appreciated...

Thanks, Barry. I thought about that, too...turning them down first. But at some point, I have to think about whether or not it is "worth" all the trouble. Glad to hear it worked for you, though. After they've had a chance to dry, I'll cut them down a bit and see what they look like. If there is no change, they might be sent to Jim!

[Faust M. Ruggiero]

Hey Cruzer,
A blueberry strawberry banana foo foo drink doesn't count as drowning your sorrows. I hope that drink isn't what you refer to when you say, "I drink therefore..... You will have to change it to "I drink dessert therefore I drink dessert".

[Mike Cruz]

Oh, boy, here we go again... How far is Bangor from Hagerstown? You'll have to come by, and I'll change your ways. Keller used to give me the same hard time... 'til I made him a fresh peach daquiri. He even bragged to me that when he got home, HE started making them! Let's plan a time, Faust...

BTW, I'm a scotch man, love rum and coke, and am a beer guy, too. I'm sure you know Troeg's, a PA beer. They make some fantastic stuff.

Just checked and you are about 4 hours away (assuming you are about 2 hours from Harrisburg). Hey, Jeff just drove 15 hours to get here a couple of weeks ago!

[Faust M. Ruggiero]

Mike,
Hagerstown is just a short jaunt. No where is too far to have a bit of fun, especially if it involves woodwork. We'll work something out when my season slows down.
faust