When to give up?

[rraming]

I baited you in with my title

So I have a kit, Vesper click, that every time I press the threaded nib screw thing in it cracks the blank.
It has happened with 3 different wood blank species and three different tubes.
I just call it a bad part or what? Kit is inexpensive and I have made like 10 of them but never had this happen again and again.
What say ye?

 

[Darios]

6 sigma double digit precision manufacturing is expensive. A $7.95 kit is probably not created that way. My first thought would be to chuck it as a defect.
My 2nd thought would be to go back and fish the kit out of the garbage and slap some calipers on that thing and see how it compares to other kits you have to either verify if it is a manufacturing defect or if you need to explore further.

 

[d_bondi]

Several Thoughts...

1. If you are using a CA finish, are you flushing up the ends of the blank after CA and before assembly? If it is not perfectly flush with the tube, the CA sticking out can cause this.
2. If the fit is too tight it is expanding the tube too much for the wood and causing the crack, Use a small fine round file to file the inside of the tube a little bit. I use this inexpensive set from Harbor Freight. Don't worry, if you file it too much, you can always use a drop of Loc-Tite during assembly to hold it in.

 

[rraming]

Several Thoughts...

1. If you are using a CA finish, are you flushing up the ends of the blank after CA and before assembly? If it is not perfectly flush with the tube, the CA sticking out can cause this.
2. If the fit is too tight it is expanding the tube too much for the wood and causing the crack, Use a small fine round file to file the inside of the tube a little bit. I use this inexpensive set from Harbor Freight. Don't worry, if you file it too much, you can always use a drop of Loc-Tite during assembly to hold it in.

. I used ca, first try. Next two were export. All tubes filed and nothing inside tubes causing this.
I also have a five piece harbor freight file set along with 20 other files.
The common sense stuff I tested. Just didn't know how often you get a "bad" piece in a set.
Only thing I didn't try was to put blanks in a humidifier. It's dry in Minnesota now

 

[egnald]

I had one particular kit that was giving me problems like that, so now I use a chainsaw file and a chamfer tool before I press things together, especially if they seem really tight when I push on them by hand. (I know it might be a little lame trying to gauge things on how they feel, but It's what I do). Then just a dab of loctite as has already been mentioned. - Dave

 

[duncsuss]

. I used ca, first try. Next two were export. All tubes filed and nothing inside tubes causing this.
I also have a five piece harbor freight file set along with 20 other files.
The common sense stuff I tested. Just didn't know how often you get a "bad" piece in a set.
Only thing I didn't try was to put blanks in a humidifier. It's dry in Minnesota now

If the tube is already glued into the blank, file/sand the inside until the part is no longer a compression fit. Then use Loc-tite or medium CA to glue the part in.

If you are starting a fresh blank (not yet glued in) you could use a tube expander to size it up until the parts slip in, then you'd have to use a slightly larger drill bit to bore the blank - and of course glue that fills the gaps properly (not thin CA - maybe foaming Gorilla Glue or good quality two-part epoxy) to glue the tube into the blank.

 

[egnald]

If you are starting a fresh blank (not yet glued in) you could use a tube expander to size it up until the parts slip in, then you'd have to use a slightly larger drill bit to bore the blank - and of course glue that fills the gaps properly (not thin CA - maybe foaming Gorilla Glue or good quality two-part epoxy) to glue the tube into the blank.

On some of mine I've pressed the parts in the tube and punched them back out before gluing them into the blank. Sort of a poor man's tube expander. I especially do this with simstone because it is so brittle after being turned down. - Dave