7 mm or 6,9 mm, for drilling blanks, slimline pens... your opinian

[LaurentDH]

Hallo hallo

who has experience not to drill the wood blanks of the slimline pens 7 mm but with 6.9 mm
Here in Flanders , there are many who do that and recommend
The copper tubes are 6.8
so a whole of 6.9 could be better closes as possible better ???
less glue .. ??? - Idea , comments, your opinion ???
second question: who is using what glue to secure tubes ??? curious
best regard
Laurent

 

[Buckeye]

I generally use 6.9 and alway glue with CA, never had a tube come loose.

Peter

 

[Woody]

Well I have only ever drilled at 7mm and never had a problem with fit and to be honest there has never been a gap that needs filling with glue quite the opposite I use Med ca and have never had one come lose and have never seen copper tubes only brass

 

[yorkshireman]

7mm drill bit and polyurethane glue. Never a problem

 

[Terry Q]

I always use 7mm and use Gorilla glue.

 

[Phil Dart]

I always use 7mm and use Gorilla glue.

So do I

 

[Penpal]

7 mm Poly glue I like to think that a close fit with 7mm works best I always double check my brasses (they vary) and I discard the too tight ones before they give trouble.They get 7 checks on the way. What happens in Flanders with whom mate expand a little I use DeWalt Extreme 2 drills. What common timbers around Flanders mate?

Peter.

 

[wm460]

I always use 7 mm and only use epoxy.

 

[Tephy]

When I first started pen making ( last Sept ) this debate of what to use was taking place. I use the best fit drill possible to match the tube that gives a slide ,not sloppy fit. With regards to which adhesive to use I brought some spare tubes and drilled some scrap wood and glued up as normal when dry turned the wood off on the lathe, the most difficult one to turn to bare brass was the one I use now ... done the same with resin for PU and PR. this gives me the best adhesion for a given combination of materials. Beware some woods are open grain and some closed they give different results so at some point you do have to generalize or get very anal about the whole process... best advice ..use what you have the most confidence in.
Right that's my 2 peneth I'm off

 

[silver]

I don't believe that pen making is all that critical to a 0.1mm tolerance, I believe its all down to the materials and the way you drill the hole rather than tight tolerances.

I tried both the 6.9 and the 7 mm drills and don't see a benefit, as the 7 mm drills are accessible in longer lengths I chooe to use 7 mm drills all of the time.

I use epoxy glue... but have been known to use others if I run out of epoxy.

 

[Grump]

When I first started making pens, iwent with Vinny's advice and purchased a set of small penturners chisels from him 3pce Pen Making Set - Crown Woodturning Chisels - Woodturning Tools - Shop among other things he sent a set of penturners drill bits.
I don't see them on his site anymore but they were 6.8, 6.9 and 7mm extra long bullet tipped I still have them still use them, they have never needed sharpening and done a lot of work.
I simply pick up whichever one comes to hand first and never noticed any difference between them.

 

[Neil]

7mm, normally a de Walt extreme 2, and epoxy, or pu for acrylic and punky wood

 

[Jim]

I was given 5 6.9 Dewalt drills almost two years ago now by a member here and have used these for all the 7mm pen tubes ever since, but even with a 7mm drill i never had any issues .. Medium CA, but sampled some Gorilla glue a few weeks ago with good success ..

 

[paulm]

I used a 6.9mm drill until I broke it and now use 7mm with ca... no problems at all.

 

[Penpal]

Similar returns on the IAP.What do they say in Flanders mate?.

Peter.

 

[Vic Perrin]

When I first started making pens I brought the Rotour Mandrel Kit that included a 6.8,6.9 and 7mm drill bits. Never used the first two yet

 

[Maddley]

I use 7 mm and CA but I also use 80 gsm coloured paper to wrap around the tubes depending on the colour of the blank so 7 mm is perfect to give that wee bit of extrea space I need. The paper sives it a nice solid base colour on Polyester blanks which can be a wee bit tranlucent. Not sure if anyone else uses this technique.

 

[Walter]

I use 7 mm and CA but I also use 80 gsm coloured paper to wrap around the tubes depending on the colour of the blank so 7 mm is perfect to give that wee bit of extrea space I need. The paper sives it a nice solid base colour on Polyester blanks which can be a wee bit tranlucent. Not sure if anyone else uses this technique.

Interesting idea. Never heard of that one before. I prefer to paint the inside of the blank rather than colour the tube. I use a 7.0mm drill and epoxy.

 

[chas_41_uk]

Always used a 7mm drill bit

 

[donwatson]

Always used a 7mm drill bit

+1 with Poundland 2 part epoxy