Flag Inlay Pen Problem

[nblong]

I'm working on a flag inlay pen but the white stripes did not fit tightly in the red barrel. The brass tube has been glued in but there are visible gaps between the white inlay and the red barrel, at least one of which is wide enough that you can see the brass underneath. I called Woodcraft corporate, who I got it from, and they were very nice (offered to send me a replacement if I can't get it to work) but had no real advice beyond trying to capture some sanding dust in the crack and secure it with some CA. I doubt my ability to capture only white dust and I'm not going to make a red and white barrel with pink accents!

Does anyone have any bright ideas about how to fill that gap before I start turning it? I thought of trying to wet the maple inlays and hope they expanded but I'm reluctant to screw this thing up any more than it already is. Is there a glue or epoxy that will dry white?

I appreciate any suggestions.

 

[CarvedTones]

Try this on scrap because it is way out of context and second hand info to boot...

Luthiers sometimes use baking soda and CA to repair bone nuts on string instruments when the grooves have worn or been cut too deep. You put a little soda in the groove and put a drop of CA on it and it supposedly matches the bone nuts very well and is very hard.

 

[nblong]

That's interesting. I'll give it a try - got nothing to lose anyway. Thanks for the idea!

There were a couple of extra inlays in the kit so I've sanded them down to nothing and captured the dust. I'm going to try to mix that with some clear epoxy and see what happens. Between the two ideas I'm hoping I can salvage the blank.

Thanks again.