Lanyard tube help

[gudspelr]

I just put a handle on a full tang hunter and decided to put in a lanyard tube. This is the first time I've ever tried this and I ran into a few issues that I was hoping to get some help with.

I used African Blackwood for the scales and shaped them after they were epoxied/pinned. I epoxied in the tube and found as I shaped the handle, I was getting pretty rough edges on the tube. This continued towards the end when I decided to try and take a countersink on a drill press to it, which at least helped some. The sharp edges and burrs were all gone, but it was still slightly proud of the wood and didn't have that same finished look I've seen on others. The tube is 416 ss if that helps with any answers. So, what's your process and how do you get the tube looking and feeling right?

Thanks for any help.

Jeremy

[Lin Rhea]

Jeremy,
        The obvious question is, what grit are you finishing to? Have you tried buffing the lanyard tube ends and resanding to your over all finish?

As for being too proud, it sounds like you may be using a soft backing stick where you should be using a hard backing, then lightly finish with a firm but not soft, not hard backing.

[Bladepeek]

Doesn't sound like you had this problem, but you might run into it. I've found that stainless tubing sometimes causes the countersink to chatter, giving an uneven cut. I don't have a single-flute countersink, which would probably eliminate the problem, but if I use moderate down-pressure on the drill press and then rotate the chuck by hand, I usually get a nice, smooth champfer of the tube end. I also fill the tube with modeling clay before epoxying it in the handle. Makes it easy to clean up with no epoxy stuck inside the tube.

[gudspelr]

Yup, I think that might be my culprit. It was the first time I tried a sculpted handle and dished out the back half on a contact wheel. Fearing I'd go too far, I went to hand sanding after hogging out the main portion with a pretty rough grit. That would've left the big burrs and not using a stiff sanding block ended up leaving the tube proud....duh.

And thanks for the info on chattering, I'd heard from another guy that can be an issue. The clay is a great idea. I hadn't thought far enough ahead and realized quickly the tube got filled with epoxy and had to do some quick work with q-tips and acetone to make sure it remained a tube...

Thanks for your help-amazing how the answer can sometimes be staring you in the face and still miss it. With a little more attention to details, the one on my bench should turn out better than the first.

Jeremy