# Minimum tube length for a Sierra pen tube



## allenworsham (Jun 24, 2008)

I had to make up a bunch of Sierra's for gifts and used some recycled tubes from some previous blanks that I turned down to the brass. I have the finished blanks (well, almost finished as I have to do the final sand & such before assembly today now that the CA has cured) all sitting on my table saw and noticed that 1 of them is noticably shorter than the others. I know the Sierra is pretty forgiving with it's sizing as I have used recycled tubes before with no problems, but this one is noticeably shorter and is in some nice BOW which I would hate to lose.

So does anyone know the minimum legth of the tube to make the sierra work without doing any funky modifying? If I do have to modify it, how would I go about it?

Thanks.


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## fiferb (Jun 24, 2008)

I don't know what the minimum size would be but I think it would be a simple process to assemble it to see if it works. The Sierra disassembles pretty easily. You could even check to see if it will work before you turn it.


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## Mudder (Jun 24, 2008)

I have used tubes that were 1/8" shorter without problems.


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## allenworsham (Jun 24, 2008)

To follow up.

I had to do 13 Sierras and pulled some of my old blanks that didn't turn out well and turned them down to the brass to recycle them. I had a variance in sizes up to 3/16th" from the standard tubes, but everything went just fine. I was doing 11 of those Sierras in Bethlehem Olive Wood and it seemed that the best blanks were on the shortest tubes. The other 2 were done in Cocobolo. So all in all, things worked out well. Especially since my wife finally gets her Sierra in Platinum and Black Titanium with  BOW blank. My wife's pen is the last one on the right.


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## PaulDoug (Jun 24, 2008)

Those really turn out nice.  I would not have though of using BOW on a sierra but now I will.  It looks like a natural for that kit.  Nice job!


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## Stephen (Jun 26, 2008)

Allen, The pens look fantastic. Very nice pens. Would you be willing to share information on the finish for the BOW's? Thanks.
Stephen


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## allenworsham (Jun 26, 2008)

> _Originally posted by Stephen_
> 
> Allen, The pens look fantastic. Very nice pens. Would you be willing to share information on the finish for the BOW's? Thanks.
> Stephen



Stephen,

Thanks for the kind words.

After turning and sanding the wood, the finish is CA (2 coats thin, 3 coats thick, 2 coats thin). Then they are sanded smooth both directions with 400 grit prior to being buffed with Tripoli and then White Diamond.


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## Stephen (Jun 26, 2008)

Thanks Allen for the quick response. Appreciate  sharing your method. I will give it a try.
Stephen


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## Boz (Jun 26, 2008)

Those are some great looking pens!  The photgraphy is very good too.
I am new to this and am only familiar with a few sources for pen kits.  I have seen these Sierra pens referenced in many of the posts but don't know where to get them.  Any help out there.  Thanks


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## Randy_ (Jun 26, 2008)

> _Originally posted by allenworsham_
> 
> .....So does anyone know the minimum legth of the tube to make the sierra work without doing any funky modifying? If I do have to modify it, how would I go about it?



Allen:  I know this is a little after the fact; but the information may be useful to someone in the future.  The tube length on the Sierra Twist kit is about 56.1 mm.  I just got out a kit to measure up and it looks like you can shorten that by 6 mm. and the kit will still function properly.  However, that is really pushing it and if you got a tube that was a little short, taking off another 6 mm. might be a disaster.  To be on the safe side, you should stay away from tubes that are more than 5mm short of normal length.  To say that another way, tubes shorter than 51.1 mm. (2.012") should probably be avoided unless you like to gamble!!  On paper, you should be able to go down to 1.972"; but you have to like to live dangerously.  

Scott told you that 1/8" short would work and you have already discovered that 3/16" short works.  It looks like 15/64" Â± a few thousandths is the extreme limit so you still had a little wiggle room.

Nice looking pens, even though they are a little short for my taste.


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## allenworsham (Jun 26, 2008)

> _Originally posted by Boz_
> 
> Those are some great looking pens!  The photgraphy is very good too.
> I am new to this and am only familiar with a few sources for pen kits.  I have seen these Sierra pens referenced in many of the posts but don't know where to get them.  Any help out there.  Thanks



Boz,

The Sierra at Arizona Silhouette is also called by other names as well. The "Gatsby" at Penn State Industries. The "Wall Street" at Woodcraft to name a couple off hand. You can find them online here:

http://arizonasilhouette.com/
http://www.pennstateind.com/
http://www.woodcraft.com/

Also note that you will run into the "Sierra Vista" at "Arizona Silhouette which looks the same but is actually a bit larger in size than the regular Sierra, so you need different bushings. You can also buy the Sierras at your local Rockler Woodworking Store if you have one in your area. I find personally that whenever I happen to be driving in the area of one of my local Rockler stores that I will always stop in and see what they have in stock. The price pretty much breaks even or a bit less if I happen to buy them there and pay tax verses paying shipping and no tax online. I do this especially with the Patriot (also called the Carbara) as I can get them a bit cheaper and I make many of these for gifts. But with the cost of gas these days, it only works out if I don't have to make a special trip as it is 18 miles one way to one store and about 26 one way to the other so the gas adds up.


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## allenworsham (Jun 26, 2008)

Randy,

Thanks for that information although a little bit late 

That's pretty much what I came up with as I started putting the pens together and figured on anything less than 1/4" difference should work out ok.

Sorry that the pens were too short for your taste. I'll try to do better next time around.


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## Boz (Jun 27, 2008)

Alan,
Thanks for the infomation.  I have noticed that the same pens are marketed by different sources under different names.  I too have a bit of a drive if I want to stop by my local Rockler store.  I do get 46 MPG on the motorcycle and pen kits and blanks will fit ina pocket if you don't go overboard.


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## TBone (Jun 27, 2008)

Ernie has the Sierras on sale currently at Bear Tooth.
http://www.beartoothwoods.com/onsale.


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