WoodCraft Colored Pen Tubes...alternate thong tubing source?

[PIndelicato]

I never seem to have a whole lot of luck finding a variety of pin and tubing material locally in stores such as Home Depot, Lowes, ACE hardware, hobby shops, etc. I've found some things, but I always seem to come up short on something I'm looking for and I don't always want to wait to order something and/or pay shipping.

I was wandering around my local WoodCraft store for the first time a couple of days ago, scanning for anything that could be used for knife making, and stumbled across these 'Pen Tubes'. They were inexpensive, and they had a good assortment of colors and sizes, but they were not labeled with exact dimensions or material makeup. Anyway, I just was curious if anyone has used these by chance as it's always nice to know about another source of locally available materials.

http://www.woodcraft.com/family.aspx?FamilyID=20993

 

[James_Terrio]

At $4 for a set of 5, I guess it wouldn't hurt to try them. Let us know!

 

[Ed Caffrey]

I would assume the "color" is only some type of coating, which means that as soon as do any sanding on them, the base metal color is going to show through. (meaning the ends will likely be a different color when used as a thong hole liner and the knife is finished out)
The other issue might be finding the correct size drill bit in order for them to fit tightly in the hole. I make a lot of damascus pens, and can tell you that a 7mm tube does not fit tightly in a 7mm hole.....its intended to be that way in a pen application in order to have room for whatever glue a person uses.

 

[Burton Harruff]

The other issue might be finding the correct size drill bit in order for them to fit tightly in the hole.

This is what I was wondering. You can go to a local hobby store and find it for cheap. I have a shop nearby that does RC models and they have a huge variety of tubes and pin stock.

 

[PIndelicato]

I would assume the "color" is only some type of coating, which means that as soon as do any sanding on them, the base metal color is going to show through. (meaning the ends will likely be a different color when used as a thong hole liner and the knife is finished out)
The other issue might be finding the correct size drill bit in order for them to fit tightly in the hole. I make a lot of damascus pens, and can tell you that a 7mm tube does not fit tightly in a 7mm hole.....its intended to be that way in a pen application in order to have room for whatever glue a person uses.

Those were the reasons I didn't buy any to try out. The white ones I assume are painted, but the Ni and black nickel I wasn't sure if that was just a coating or the actual material...

Thanks for the input!

This is what I was wondering. You can go to a local hobby store and find it for cheap. I have a shop nearby that does RC models and they have a huge variety of tubes and pin stock.

I've tried the local hobby shop and all the other stores I listed above, and they just don't seem to stock much for whatever reason. Brass is readily available, but anything else like copper, stainless, nickel, etc. are more tricky.

Thanks gents!

 

[James_Terrio]

I'm all for looking for alternative sources, as I (sort of) mentioned above.

On the other hand, the pin and tube stocks sold by the usual suppliers are not that expensive if you order by the foot. You're limited somewhat in diameters (mostly on tubing, 1/4" seems to be the default), but you know what you're getting, and 12" is 12 pins. That's up to 6 knives' worth. The most expensive rod on the TKS site is $4.15/foot; that's $0.35 per pin. Even considering shipping... you get the idea. Order one of each type you think you'll use to make the order worthwhile. Use the wait-time to get some blades ready. That's what I did and don't regret it. Just be careful about browsing through the sites or catalogs and finding too many things that catch your eye

P.S. see here for a handy drill size chart; get your bits a couple/few thousandths bigger than the pins you order and save yourself the hassle of sanding down the 1/8" pins to fit with epoxy in a 1/8" hole. That's something I didn't do, and I do regret that.

 

[fod]

Carbon Fiber arrow shafts make nice tubing material, BTW

 

[PIndelicato]

James and fod, thanks for your input. I need to put in an order for some stuff. The carbon fiber sounds interesting as well...I wonder where I could find some discarded arrows?