Pen Mill Kit

[bfrikken]

Anyone know where I can get a pen mill kit on the cheap (under 20 bucks)? I see they are 30-35 bucks at woodcraft and PSI. Right now, I'm turning 7mm slimline's. Checked ebay and there wasn't much there.

[final_t]

I have a used 7mm-only one that I don't use any more since I have one that swaps out the shaft. I can let it go for $10 shipped - email me if interested.

[bfrikken]

So, the one you have is all one piece? or can I add to it later?

[final_t]

All one piece I guess, and I doubt you could add to it later - I've never tried, but the cutter head can be removed.
It looks like this one:

[bfrikken]

PM sent. and this has to be long enough

[BigguyZ]

Do you have a disc sander? PSI has a jig to square pen blanks on a disc sander for $19. I ask because if you'll end up turning the larger kits, the kits you can buy from woodcraft and the like aren't big enough.

That's where I'm at now, I need an easy way to square the big kits...

[bfrikken]

no, i don't have one unfortunately. I saw a few options that were dealing with one, but I had to rule that out.

[Russianwolf]

Okay, I hate the pen mills. They don't do a very good job in my opinion unless they are VERY sharp and sharpening them is difficult. There are a couple people over at IAP that do sharpen them and one guy that will fit carbide tips on them for you (sine the carbide cutters offered have fewer blades which makes them inferior) but it ain't cheap.

Since I have a scroll chuck, I started drilling on the lathe which gives much better results when drilling holes. you'll need a jacobs chuck to hold the bit also. But I was working on a blank and due to the fagility of the material I would up doing the following process.

1) Chucked the blank and turned the exposed half round.
2) flipped it in the chuck and finished rounding it.
3) with the round blank in the chuck, I used the jacobs to drill the sections (after cutting the blank in half)
4) Glued in the tubes.
5) Trimmed the blank as close to the tube as possible with a bandsaw (other method could be used)
6) Put the blank in the scroll chuck again and with a piece of sanpaper mounted on a flat object (I used a card scrapper) sand the end of the blank to the tube. Checking with the bushing to make sure the bushing is seating all the way around.

Now This works on kits that have bushings that are stepped to go inside the tube, I have custom bushings for my 7mm kits that are stepped as I turn between centers instead of a mandrel, so you may not be able to use this technique for testing, but all you have to do is use the pen mills top end that you would usually chuck into your drill and you should be able to make sure that it's flush all the way around.

So if you have a scroll chuck, this is another way to trimm the blanks.