Poly Glue Question for Penturners

[Pete Fox]

Whenever I used Poly Glue in the past, I've had issues with the glue expanding and pushing the brass insert partly out of my blank. For those of you that use Poly Glue, how to you keep the insert securely in your blank??

Thanks!
Pete

[Stephen Massman]

I use epoxy for all mine but i have heard of people using rubberbands to keep the tubes inside.

[Stan Cook]

Some people use a rubber band to keep the tube from peeking out. I just check on the blanks every few minutes during the first hour and push the tube back in if it is sticking out. I usually have 3 or 4 out of each batch where the tube will creep out. It usually takes me a coupe of hours to glue a batch of tubes, so it is not a problem for me to keep checking on the previously glued blanks.

[Scott Velie]

Why poly glue? I ues thick Cyanoacrylate.
If you coat the tube and put it in the blank. Then hit it with a shot of accelerator while you are holding it. It is ready to work with in seconds. I have never had one come loose.

[Pete Fox]

I usually use 2 part epoxy, but I will use the gap filling poly glue when the brass tubes don't fit as snuggly in the blank as I would like. This really only seems to happen for me when working on the Gentleman Jr. kits (the orignal Jr. kits, not the newer ones. I've still got a supply of the older kits I'm trying to use up).

Pete

[Stan Cook]

I have never had one come loose.

Better knock on wood

[Larry Gottlieb]

I've heard other pen turners complain about that problem.
I use polyurethane and drill the blanks 9/32". The tubes are fairly loose and I have not had any creep out of the blanks. That may be the answer. (or I have been lucky)

Larry.

[Bernie Weishapl]

I use thick CA on wood and only epoxy on acyrlic's.

[RL Johnson]

I wait about 20 minutes and recheck the tube. I push it back in if necessary and usually by that time the worst of the expanding glue is over.

[Jeff Nicol]

Pete, I bought some poly glue that expands less than most others. I think Gorrilla and maybe locktite make a version like that. I think the one I bought is gorrilla and it is clear not amber. That might so the trick. I have not tried it yet on a pen blank but it works on other projects.

Good luck!

Jeff

[ron hossack]

I use an old ratcheting clamp from HF for singles and if I feel energetic and do more I just line them up on an old chuck of 2x4 with wax paper and weight..

I switched to PU because the thick ca and epoxy I was using I ended up with blowouts.

While I've never had a blowout with PU I'm sure it will happen someday.

[Gary Herrmann]

I use Gorilla glue for all my pens. I haven't had a problem with creep or blowout. That said, I do make my blanks about 1/8 - 3/16 longer than the tubes to avoid any problems. I don't drill the holes oversize.

CA is faster, but I tend to do pens in batches, so I don't mind letting the glue set overnight. Besides, furniture glueups can be stressful enough without worrying about a 15 sec open time.

[Chris Stolicky]

I use Gorilla glue for all my pens. I haven't had a problem with creep or blowout. That said, I do make my blanks about 1/8 - 3/16 longer than the tubes to avoid any problems. I don't drill the holes oversize.

CA is faster, but I tend to do pens in batches, so I don't mind letting the glue set overnight. Besides, furniture glueups can be stressful enough without worrying about a 15 sec open time.

This is pretty much what I do. I just sand the excess on the ends afterwards. After having CA break loose on me a couple of times, I usually use 5-minute two-part for non wood, and gorilla glue for wood. I think I may try the 7-minute or longer two-part next as the the 5-minute tends to stiffen up too quickly on me when I am doing a batch of tubes. Its like the old finish mantra, it really comes down to having patience if you really want to do a good job. Oh, I also leave them all over night.