Sanding Tubes Quickly

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Wmcullen

Wmcullen

Member
Joined
Dec 1, 2020
Messages
400
Location
Fairfax, Virginia
I'm not sure if this process is right or wrong; unique or common. But it works for me and I want to share in case it's interesting.​
05: Sanding Tubes Quickly
last post: 04- Bingo Chip Laminates
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Placing occasional large pen kits orders with PSI gets me a discount, I save on shipping costs by ordering less often, and I always have supplies for pen projects.
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The Problem
Extracting all the pen parts from their individual bags takes forever. I definitely waste time and create a lot of garbage.
Another tedious part, for me, is sanding 200 tubes. But I figured out a shortcut for this.
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Here's my process
(Not rocket surgery, just how I do it.)
1. Turn my portable belt sander upside down.
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2. Load an old mandrel (or better, a 36" long 1/8" rod from HD) with lots of tubes.
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3. Holding the rod diagonal to the direction of the running belt, the tubes turn themselves and get a good scuff.
4. It takes no time to fall into a rhythm and work through all the tubes in one sitting.
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Summary
I appreciate PSI offering "bulk" pricing but wish they could arrange to provide "bulk" packaging. In my ideal world this might include a deeper discount due to using 520 fewer plastic baggies per 100 count. In the meantime at least I found a way to easily sand large batches of tubes.
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You sure must make and sell alot of pens to go into this type of production line. There are a couple members here that do things like this because they sell 1000's of pens a year. Good job. Many pen manufacturers have gone to presanded tubes and hopefully all will. Good luck.
 
I sand mine using my pen insertion tool and my disk sander. The taper on the insertion tools allows you to place the tube on without going too far down it. I sand it a few seconds in one direction, lifting the tool to about 45 deg, then reverse the tube on the tool. Takes like 20 seconds per tube max.
 
Great idea on sanding all the tubes quickly.

I pre-sand most of my tubes too and even have a pile of blanks that are cut, drilled and have the tube glued in.

When I want to turn I don't always want to muck around doing all the prep work, I would rather put a blank on the lathe and crack on. I save a fair amount of time preparing blanks in batches too.


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I thought that most PSI pen kits were now supplied with pre-sanded brass tubes.

But, as Tim said above, there may be no need to sand if you use a good epoxy glue and apply it to the tube properly. .
I have never sanded brass tubes and have had no problems ... none.
 
I just want to touch on this because this debates comes up alot about sanding or not. First let me say an ounce of prevention goes a long way. But my important point is this Depending on the type of pen you make most, there is a good chance you will never see a problem with any adhesive you use or weather you sand or not. This is because most cap pens are not twist pens so there is no outside stress from twisting the body or cap after the kit is put together. On the other hand kits that require a twisting motion such as cigars and sierras and many more, now there is a outside force on the body and the kit parts because too much twisting can break that bond between tube and blank and thus problems such as cracking or just loose blank can become a problem. Think about it. So whatever floats your boat, sand do not sand, CA the tube, epoxy the tube or gorilla glue all comes into play more-so on certain kits. Happy Turning.
 
Like a few other people mentioned, I believe I have found the fastest way to deal with sanding tubes. I don't sand them!
 
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