Improvised barrel trimmer....free

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Wood Butcher

Local Chapter Leader
Joined
Jun 8, 2005
Messages
970
Location
Westfield, IN, USA.
For all of you who have a barrel trimmer and are concerned with cracking, tearing off chunks or getting the end of a finished blank absolutely square, here's an idea to try. I looked at all of the trimmers and sanders and decided I could save some money by using my barrel trimmer as a sander. Here are a couple of pictures to show what I did. I used a 3/4" punch, a 1/4" punch, a piece of MDF to hammer on, a hammer (duh), and a 5" 220 grit PSA sanding disc. I can get from 25 to 30 sanding discs from one 5" disc. Just chuck it in a drill (or the lathe) and slide the finished pen barrel on it and sand it square and flat. HTHS
WB
 

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renowb

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May 27, 2009
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2,241
Now why didn't I think of that! Fantastic idea! Thanks for sharing!
 

MarkD

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Joined
Jan 24, 2011
Messages
2,293
Location
Sayre, PA
I was just thinking about doing something similar this morning. Thanks for figuring it out! Great job!
-Mark
 

uncltodd

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Joined
Jul 7, 2006
Messages
10
Location
Bangor, MI, USA.
Barrel Trimmer

Until CaptG started sharpening my barrel trimmers (you all should take advantage of his offer) I thought that was what you were supposed to do with the dull ones. Guess I should share these things. Thanks for the posting...it is a good idea and it works.
 

PenPal

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Joined
Nov 29, 2006
Messages
2,708
Location
Canberra, A.C.T., Australia.
Word of advice for everyone that shaft comes through the blank and can make a hole in one hand real quick. My solution was to cut that shaft off enough to nest inside the blank and furthermore to just use two punches to create the adhesive backed disks then use the existingflat round metal as the backing plate the same way.

Have success but safely Peter.
 

dplloyd

Member
Joined
Jul 24, 2010
Messages
152
Location
Pearland, TX
PSI Jig

I'm going to give this a try. PSI has a jig I use but once in a while I just cannot get the end square.

Thanks for posting the idea!
 

LarryDNJR

Member
Joined
Feb 28, 2010
Messages
912
Location
Columbus, OH
Great minds think alike I started doing that about 4 months ago. Worked fairly well. I just recently started trying to use my disc sander but need to build a jig for it. Using Sanding paper that has adhesive on the back helps it stick to the mill and not spin around on you.
 

monophoto

Member
Joined
Mar 13, 2010
Messages
2,542
Location
Saratoga Springs, NY
I made my own sander to smooth the end of finished barrels. I cut the head off a bolt, mounted it in a drill chuck, and sanded it down to a diameter that would fit into a pen tube. Then, I drilled a hole in a block of wood, and glued the bolt into the hole. Then I chucked the bolt into a Jacobs chuck in my headstock, and with the tail stock applying axial pressure to hold everything in place, I turned the wood down to make a nice handle. Applied a WOP finish. The, I punched a hole in a small bit of abrasive, and slipped it over the bolt with a small smear of glue on the bottom.

To use this, after the pen barrel has been turned and finished, I take it off the mandrel, stick the bolt into the end of the tube, and twist the wood handle to sand the rough end of the barrel.

Obviously, I had to make one for each size tube I use. Works like a charm - and a fun project to make.
 

snowb46

Member
Joined
Dec 3, 2010
Messages
54
Location
Warren, MI
disc sander

I've been having the same problem with my trimmer wrecking my blanks. Mostly with acrylics, until the other day with a wood segmented.

I've been trying to find a good deal on a disc sander until I ran across your timely suggestion. THANK YOU!!!!

Ordered what I needed the same day (today) and should be here in a week. saved me $100 or so.
 
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