cigar pen

[ahoiberg]

i made up my first cigar pen last night and tried out the ca/blo for the first time on a few pens as well and i must say i'm quite happy with the results!

a few questions...

can you use a standard pen mill for squaring the ends on a cigar? i used an idea i got on here to turn an extra blank down to fit over the 7mm barrel and into a 10mm cigar blank. this worked great but the mill didn't square enough off for the second largest and largest bushings. there was still a little edge on both when done turning... any ideas to get it square outside where the bushing will sit? does anyone make a larger pen mill?

second, does anyone else have any problem with the black coating on the bushings coming on to your pen the first time using them? this was driving me crazy! [}] but i just had to keep sanding and finally the coating was gone from the bushings and the pen...

thirdly, has anyone tried putting a coat of pure CA on top of the ca/blo finish?

thanks y'all!

 

[jthompson1995]

A few answers ...

Turning your own sleeve is a great way to not have to change the pilot shaft for barrel trimming. If you are using a 1/2" trimmer, it will not be large enough for a cigar pen, you should use a 3/4" trimmer head and it will do fine. you should be able to get another head to fit the shaft you already have from the place you purchased it.

I make sure to clean the blanks periodically when sanding to get all the black stuff out. be careful sanding too much off of the bushings as your barrels may not meet the metal components right.

A straight coat of CA should be fine, just try it. I personally don't use BLO in my CA finish and it looks good IMHO.

 

[gerryr]

Depending on the size of the blank, you need to be very careful using the 3/4" head. It can easily cause cracking and chipping of the blank if the head extends over the edges of the blank. I would recommend getting a 5/8" head. I use that size for all but the biggest pens, like Gentleman and Statesman.

 

[Pipes]

If you have one I use a disc sander just be sure the rest is level and its simple .. some I know diagree with this . I wish they were here to see how simple it is they would toss the pen mills ..
and to square my blanks up and having made a LOT a pens this is faster and works just fine I can honestly say I hav never had a problem doing it this way . pen mills for me are a waste a money IF you have a disc sander .. actually for the price of all the penmills you need you can get a nice little belt combo disc sander at HF . I have a old craftman but the HF IMO looks good . YMMV thou []

 

[byounghusband]

Depending on the size of the blank, you need to be very careful using the 3/4" head. It can easily cause cracking and chipping of the blank if the head extends over the edges of the blank.

Gerry,
You have solved a problem I have from time to time..... [)] Wow, I never considered this fact. I have cracked three or four laser cut blanks I got from Ken Nelson and now I know why. Time to build a Disk Sander Jig.... Thanks a BUNCH!![]

 

[ahoiberg]

why exactly is the blank more suceptible to being cracked if the barrel trimmer trims over the end? very interesting.

 

[pssherman]

Originally posted by ahoiberg
<br />why exactly is the blank more suceptible to being cracked if the barrel trimmer trims over the end? very interesting.

Because you have unsupported wood being cut where the cutting edge reaches the edge of the blank. The cutter tends to push the wood fibers away from the blank at this point and can splinter or crack.

A very gentle pressure will help to reduce this problem.

Paul in AR