# Pens without tubes



## aggromere (Aug 30, 2010)

I was thinking about trying a pen kit without the tubes.  I know I have seen some that used metal blanks, but was wondering if a very dense wood, like mallee or Amboyna would have the right characteristics to press fit pen parts such as couplers directly into them. (assuming I drill the correct downsized hole)  With that being said, do you use a drill bit of the size recommended by the kit, minus double the thickness of the brass tube, or do you go smaller to allow for expansion?

Just one more of my stupid questions.


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## mredburn (Aug 30, 2010)

Use a micrometer to match the hole and the piece and epoxie it in. It may not stand up to heavy handed owners though.


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## ldb2000 (Aug 30, 2010)

While it can be done , I would advise against it . Wood is not strong enough to take the stresses that can be applied to things like nibs and transmissions . There really would be no advantage to not using the tubes anyway . I know that there will be some that say it can be done but in my experience it's not going to last , BTDT .


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## BigguyZ (Aug 31, 2010)

Also, if you're not using stabilized wood, gluing the wood to the tube has the added bonus of sealing that inner part of the blank and locking it in place.  It can still move, but it will be stiffled some-what by the metal tube.  Kinda like thick veneer.  It can still move, but the substrate helps mitigate that.


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## mrcook4570 (Aug 31, 2010)

Acrylics can be made without tubes.  I have not had any problems with the commercial resins, however, polyester resin will warp in heat.  

All of the big name pens are made without tubes.


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## BRobbins629 (Aug 31, 2010)

Here's one I made a while ago. No brass tubes, but I did make an insert with a long tenon from ebonite or polyester (forgot which and I have used both) that functions like a tube. Using ebonite or pr allows me to cuts threads on a material that will hold them as well as providing support for the wood. 

http://www.penturners.org/photos/index.php?n=6584


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## cnirenberg (Aug 31, 2010)

I can't type worth a bucket of snot, see Bruces comment above.  I say try that.


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## MatthewZS (Aug 31, 2010)

*No photos but.....*

I've done tubeless pens in black walnut, texas ebony and some kind of brown wood I found on the back of the shelf once.  As stated above you have to be VERY careful to drill holes small enough to hold the press in parts, but large enough to not split the wood......  it can be a real balancing act.

On  the walnut I FLOODED the inside with thin CA just for a bit of extra strength.


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## DurocShark (Sep 2, 2010)

Tubeless works fine in most woods *IF* the wood is stabilized somehow.

I have lots of wood Pentel conversions out there. I stabilized with lots of soaks of thin CA. Works great. PR and metals of course work fine as well.


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## Willee (Sep 6, 2010)

BRobbins629 said:


> Here's one I made a while ago. No brass tubes, but I did make an insert with a long tenon from ebonite or polyester (forgot which and I have used both) that functions like a tube. Using ebonite or pr allows me to cuts threads on a material that will hold them as well as providing support for the wood.
> 
> http://www.penturners.org/photos/index.php?n=6584



Bruce ... you are killing me ... lol ... A tree hugger pen!


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## 1dweeb (Sep 6, 2010)

Willee said:


> BRobbins629 said:
> 
> 
> > Here's one I made a while ago. No brass tubes, but I did make an insert with a long tenon from ebonite or polyester (forgot which and I have used both) that functions like a tube. Using ebonite or pr allows me to cuts threads on a material that will hold them as well as providing support for the wood.
> ...



Is there a hidden knot hole hidden by that clip:biggrin::biggrin::biggrin:


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## DurocShark (Sep 12, 2010)

I tried my first tubeless using kit parts. There's no press fit of the parts.


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## ldb2000 (Sep 12, 2010)

I still stand by my original statement , a wood pen (a ballpoint with a transmission) without tubes won't stand up to normal use . First due to stresses and second because of wood movement . I have tried several and they all failed under normal use for various reasons . For capped pens like Don's there are fewer stresses and a wood pen is very doable but you will have to use some kind of metal or acrylic for the couplers (wood can't be reliably threaded) and glue them in as you would a tube . Stabilized wood , Acrylic and metal work for this kind of pen but plain wood , even a most dense woods , don't have the structural strength to hold up to the stresses involved and the wood movement will break any glue bond or press fit under use .


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