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First total failure

hawkeyefxr

hawkeyefxr

Full Member
Joined
Jan 8, 2015
Posts
373
Location
Yateley Hants
First Name
ken
Well i have just had my first total failure, i was making a pencil kit with the big pencil lead. I prepared the tubes sanding with a coarse grit to give plenty of adhesion. I use thick CA and leave it for 24hrs to go off and cure. I am not sure what the blank was made of but it smelt like chewing gum ans was kinds soft. It was very prone to chipping, at first i thought it was porous as what i thought were holes were very shiny.
I have to admit i gave up using gouges and the like when i eventually got it to a rough round shape. Now you will all cringe, i used a dreadnought file which worked extremely well removing the majority of the excess material. When i go to about 2mm of finish size i switched to a brick grit paper, then 80 grit then 100 grit emery cloth strip.
This is where the failure occurred, it just delaminated from the tube, it was soft so i guess it was my fault for letting it get to hot though it did not feel hot in the least. I then set about trying to remove the blank from the tubes to see if i could use them again, it came off really easy the CA seemed not to have taken to the blank?
I did reclaim the tubes though getting the CA off of them was no easy matter, i am now back to square one with about 2 hours of wasted time.
I will not use those blanks again thats for sure.....a learning curve.
 
Bill Mooney

Bill Mooney

Blind old git
Grand Master
Joined
Aug 16, 2014
Posts
11,096
Location
County Durham
First Name
Bill
hawkeyefxr said:
I did reclaim the tubes though getting the CA off of them was no easy matter, i am now back to square one with about 2 hours of wasted time.
I will not use those blanks again thats for sure.....a learning curve.
Click to expand...
It's a shame it failed, join the club.
When this happens to me I just leave the blanks on the mandrel & turn down to the brass tubes. This gets rid of the glue easy. I then give the tubes a quick sand with 100 grit. Job done.
 
Dalboy

Dalboy

Executive Member
Joined
Mar 20, 2014
Posts
7,708
Location
Kent
First Name
Derek
Even though CA glue does the job most of the time if there is a large gap between the tube and blank they do not bond together properly, the best thing is use epoxy glue which is a better gap filler. Where the glue has not joined the two together then becomes a week spot and that is where the failure will normally occur first.
If the blank is chipping out then that will cause the clean bubble like appearance especially if it is a polyester blank. In which case it sometimes needs a gentle touch to prevent it chipping as you stated
 
Penpal

Penpal

Grand Master
Joined
May 26, 2013
Posts
25,342
Location
Canberra AUSTRALIA
First Name
Peter
Why I love timber and we form favourites plastic is great but requires a whole new approach, when you buy cast blanks thats another world.

Peter.
 
B

bigbob

Graduate Member
Joined
Oct 31, 2014
Posts
557
Location
Inverness
First Name
Bob
If I think the tube will not stick or the tube is a bit loose in the hole I block each end of the tube up with blue tack dampen the inside of the blank with a cotton bud and use Gorilla glue and leave over night then take the blue tack out (you can reuse it) then use a disk sander to square and get down to the tube.
 
hawkeyefxr

hawkeyefxr

Full Member
Joined
Jan 8, 2015
Posts
373
Location
Yateley Hants
First Name
ken
I have been looking to see where i bought the blank but have not found it yet. I bought it because it was bright colours ( i wear Hawaiian shirts as well).
The CA i have is in quite large bottles, i will use them up then try an epoxy, are there any recommendations on that.

I do have another of these blanks but i wont be using it, if anyone wants it just say i will post it. The colour is orange with random black stripes, i think it was called tigers eye.

Gorilla glue, i have used on other type of wood projects but it is bloody strong thats for sure.
 
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