Tried Poly Glue for Pen Blanks

[Dennis Peacock]

I know there is another thread going along this same line, but I wanted to share in regards to gluing up the brass tubes in pen blanks with poly glue. I used the Elmer's brand and had very good success. It is much, much cheaper then the super glue that I was using and they seem to hold better. I was getting a few failures when I went to turn the blanks with the super glue and I just turned twenty-five perfume pens with no failures at all. I really liked using the poly glue. The slower set time made it a little easier and I wore rubber gloves so there was no mess when I was done. You do have to wait over night to let it dry but the trade off was worth it. I wet the inside of the blank with water using a q-tip, then put the glue on the blank and slid it in using a twisting motion. It worked very well.

Ray....

I don't wet the inside of the pen blank before gluing. I use the exact same glue as you....Elmers brand poly glue. Yes, the cure takes a little longer but there is a LOT less foaming at the mouth when water is NOT applied. I use this glue for every single pen I make. Never had a failure since switching from epoxy and super glue to poly glue.

[Ray Dockrey]

Dennis, I will give that a try. I am getting ready to turn a bunch of pens and not having to wet the inside of the blank will save some time. Thanks for the tip.