Shopsmith Forums

I try to avoid using the barrel trimmer on the pen blanks. Unless you have a very large pen blank the trimmer tends to put outward pressure on the blanks and this causes some of the blanks to split. At least this is what I found on several occasions. I use the belt sander or the disc sander to trim the blanks and square the ends. For those who do not have the belt sander the disc sander will work OK. When using the either sander I also use the miter gauge and advance the blank against the sandpaper for a second or two and then rotate the blank 90 degrees and take another cut. When you contact the brass tube you will hear a different sound.

I like the disc sander tip. Since the problem is the reaming and facing off of the blank, I'll give this sander tip a try. That will avoid having to use vice grips on the brass tubes to get them off of the reamer, for sure.

wa2crk wrote:I try to avoid using the barrel trimmer on the pen blanks. Unless you have a very large pen blank the trimmer tends to put outward pressure on the blanks and this causes some of the blanks to split. At least this is what I found on several occasions. I use the belt sander or the disc sander to trim the blanks and square the ends. For those who do not have the belt sander the disc sander will work OK. When using the either sander I also use the miter gauge and advance the blank against the sandpaper for a second or two and then rotate the blank 90 degrees and take another cut. When you contact the brass tube you will hear a different sound.

Interesting pointer. I find that the barrel trimmer "Must be used Slowly and Gently" I also find that given my preference for never using the spacer provided with pen blanks and that when I turn blanks they are seldom the same diameter at both ends the barrel trimmer works best for me. When one does not use she spacer between pen parts those ends must be absolutely and perfectly square. Again I stress we each have our own preference and experience. I truly believe there is not one perfect or accepted means to square blanks. Fjimp

I think I will also emery cloth the reamer surface down a bit to give more clearance between it and the i.d of the brass tubes. I have thought of putting a thin file of some petroleum jelly on it too to keep it from seizing the brass. Maybe walnut oil would be better and less invasive to wood for the subsequent finishing processes. What do you all think?

I see that many folks put the reamer in a drill and power ream the blank ends. I put a handle (like a screwdriver) on mine and use hand power and haven't had any problems with this approach. It's quite easy as long as make the blanks just a hair larger than the brass tubes.

If you use the disk or belt sander to square the blanks, take care that the disk or belt is perpendicular to the brass tubes, and not just the blank. Otherwise, some pens don't assemble properly.

pennview wrote:If you use the disk or belt sander to square the blanks, take care that the disk or belt is perpendicular to the brass tubes, and not just the blank. Otherwise, some pens don't assemble properly.

Good point Art, a sanding disk doesn't guarantee that the trimed surface is perpendicular to the drill axis.

I know that PSI makes a blank squaring jig to use with a disk sander like this:
[ATTACH]10679[/ATTACH]
How about using the stop rod hole in the miter gauge to support the blank. I think that a spare mandrel rod should work. It would be smaller than the stop rod and need screws in both hold down holes, but it should be easy to square it to the disk by tilting the table and or pivoting the gauge. Has anybody tried this?

MikeG wrote:I know that PSI makes a blank squaring jig to use with a disk sander like this:
[ATTACH]10679[/ATTACH]
How about using the stop rod hole in the miter gauge to support the blank. I think that a spare mandrel rod should work. It would be smaller than the stop rod and need screws in both hold down holes, but it should be easy to square it to the disk by tilting the table and or pivoting the gauge. Has anybody tried this?

Mike,

Perhaps it is just the stress guy in me, but that looks to be a poor design. A cantilever beam attached to another. Even with good structural aluminum the setup is suspect and I suspect the thing is made with the same junk aluminum that the toolies use at work. The blank is poorly supported, when used with a sanding disk it looks like it would be a recipe for chatter and ruining blanks.
Perhaps with the conical sander? No matter the jig design I would think this an ideal application for the conical sander.

Just some thoughts from someone who has admittedly never turned a pen in his life.

Troy

If you use the belt sander to square the blanks first remove the paper and square the table to the platen of the belt sander. Due to the slight ripple in the paper you may get an erronious indication of square. So you square to the platen not the paper.
Bill V

What type of vise do you use to drill the blanks? Do you use the horizontal mode, drill press mode or other? I tried making one for horizontal boring. I built it to high and the table could not go down low enough (i even tried by removing the locking ring off the leg).