Made my first pen. Couple of questions..

[Rob77]

I made it through my first pen last week. It turned out better than expected (the pieces actually fit together and it looked ok—woohoo!) but there's a lot of room for improvement. I have a few process questions that I wanted to ask here.

My biggest challenge in the entire process was the barrel trimming. I used my lathe to drill the blanks and to do the barrel trimming and either I'm doing something wrong or my barrel trimmer bits are pieces of junk. They do a good job for the first 1/16th of an inch or so but then they stop cutting. No matter how much I tightened the tailstock, nothing happened.. It was like the barrel trimmer bit or maybe the drill chuck would just compact the more I tightened the tailstock. For my next pens I was planning on cutting the blanks a little closer to the final tube size so I won't have to trim as much but I wanted to ask you guys if it's worth it to buy another new barrel trimmer?

Second question… general guidance request.. What cutting tools do you guys mainly use when turning pens? I've been having the most success with my spindle gouge. I lucked out in getting a really sharp edge on it and that thing was really working for me. It helped me get a nice even diameter on the pen blank I was turning. My set also includes a couple of skew chisels so I tried sharpening and using those.. and um.. Let's just say I'm pretty terrible with them. All I accomplished with those was making unwanted and uneven cuts in the blank. Do you guys use skews when turn your pen blanks? Maybe I'm doing something wrong, not getting them sharp enough, etc?

Thanks for any and all help!

 

[bobjackson]

I use a gouge for rounding and a woodchuck pen pro with a R2 cutter fopr finishing on all my pens. The stock left for the end mill to remove should be very little. The end mill basically should square the blank to the tube, I use a, disc sander to square mt tubes. In order to use a sander, the tubes must be parallel to the blank. Show pictures of you pens so we can admire them.

 

[hazmat74]

I had a similar problem with my barrel trimmer. Problem being it's dull and you need to sharpen it. Here's a link to a PDF on how to sharpen them.

http://www.penmakersguild.com/articles/penmillsharpening1.pdf

This tells you to sharpen only the edges perpendicular to the cutters, but I've also sharpened the bevels of the cutters themselves and had no problems. Use a good diamond stone and go slowly. Once they're sharp, they cut nicely.

For turning, I use a roughing gouge to knock down the corners and turn a blank to round, then use it a bit more to get to the diameter I want. After that, I use the skew pretty much the rest of the way. It takes some getting used to, the skew. Might want to chuck up some waste stock and play around with it. There are many, many videos on youtube that can help you learn some of the techniques using the skew. They are incredibly helpful.

 

[Dan Masshardt]

If you are squaring the tube on the lathe, you can use a lathe tool to round and square the end instead of using a barrel trimmer too. Just another option. I just tried and it worked well.

People use all different tools here. Opinions abound! I use all sorts - gouge, skews, spindle master, carbide.

In my opinion - saying I use only this tool for everything is not the way to go. Every blank and material is different. Use the best tool for the scenario. Sometimes that means two or three tools throughout the process.

 

[kovalcik]

+1 on sharpening the barrel trimmer.

I also use a roughing gouge and skew (most of the time). Both are easy to sharpen. Roughing gouge very easy to use and very forgiving. With a little practice the skew is not that scary, at least not for basic finishing cuts.

 

[jsolie]

I've found that I need to sharpen or touch up my barrel trimmer all the time. Usually I'll use the diamond hone I use for my skew. It sure helps with the trimmer.

For some material, I don't really like using the barrel trimmer. For those I use a sanding disk (mounted to a faceplate) and a transfer punch in a Jacobs chuck (in the tailstock). I usually use around 100 grit sandpaper on the sanding disk. I've been happy with the results. Just be sure to not overheat the blank or slip with your fingers.

As for tools, I tend to use a skew and occasionally a carbide tool. When you get your skew, go to your local home improvement store and get some cheap 2x2s and cut it up into 12" segments and turn it down only using your skew. I did that when I was getting back into turning since my skew skills weren't what I was happy with. Also did this to help out my son with his skew work. I liken it to playing scales on a piano. Not the most fun, but very beneficial. YMMV.

 

[kovalcik]

Another alternative to using the barrel triller is to turn the trimmer upside down on the shaft and mount a piece of sandpaper on the flat with spray adhesive. Someone else posted that on a previous barrel trimmer thread.

 

[glen r]

The skew can be a very scarey tool to use. Have a look at some of the tutorials, on IAP, on youtube and on Captain Eddie's site. Watching those and practicing on scrap wood will get you comfortable with using the skew to where you will wonder how you ever did without it.
Welcome to the bottomless pit of pen turning - tools (chisels & other like bandsaw), kits, blanks and finishing supplies just to name a few.

 

[commercialbuilder]

I use 2 carbide tools most of the time, one is a round cutter and the other has the 2 " radius edges. I usually rough out the shape with the round cutter then finalize with the radius cutter. The round is a long handle tool and the other is a short handle. You can resharpen the cutters on any diamond hone, I bought the credit card sizes on sale and the work great.

 

[TBCbushings]

I use my carbide tool....

 

[GDGeorge]

I use an el-cheapo Skil bench sander. I rotate the blank 90 degrees at a time and that keeps it pretty square to the sander. I've got an 80 grit belt on, and a 120 grit disk. Note: I tend to cut the blanks too long and have a bit more sanding to do than I'd like. Hence the 80 grit belt.

To turn, I've been using my (1") skew pretty much exclusively lately. There are a lot of videos out there, but the most useful, quick intro that I found was on the Wood-N-Whimsies site. It's quick and simple (and the reason I'm using that huge skew right now.) Also, sharpen the thing right and keep it sharp. I use a Tormek but, again, there are a bunch of ways to do it, and many videos on YouTube.

Cheers,
J

 

[Dale Allen]

What wood are you using?
The reason I ask is because I have found some woods just do not work well with a barrel trimmer. I don't use one anymore for that reason.
What I think was happening is that the endgrain would get heated up and form some kind of slick film that would not let the teeth bite in. It would just spin around and get hot. It was probably also depositing a film on the teeth edges that didn't help.
Some woods and acrylic it would just eat right through.

 

[alphageek]

Heres my answers to some of your questions and some tips.
1) Definately learn to sharpen your trimmers... it will help a ton and no matter if you buy a new one, you'll still want to sharpen at some point.
2) If you can trim the blank to closer it will keep your trimmer sharp longer, and have less heat, etc. I take them to the bandsaw to trim close to about a 1/16 or so before I trim.
3) A skew can be your best friend (love mine) but it is a learning curve. Ed4copies has a video where he shows an acrylic blank being turned with a spindle gouge, a skew and a scraper... they can all work (and I do like my spindle gouge for rouging pens - but alway finish with a skew).

 

[ironman123]

Made my first pen. Couple of questions..

I am like Nikitas, I use MY Carbide tool.

Nothing against the gouge or the skew. They have their place of use.

Ray

 

[Tom T]

I only use a roughing gouge to do my entire pen. Wood or acrylic. It works great for me. Learn to use the skew it is really a better tool for the job.

I had such trouble with barrel trimmers. I stopped using them. That said the four sided one from White Side worked mostly well but was giving me lots blow out on my acrylics. Then I got the wave pattern. (The 2 sided barrel trimer did not work at all). Now I use either my 12 in disc sander 80 grit. But have picked up a nice small used delta 4" table top disc sander and use it 99 % of the time.
Then I put the blank on the lathe with 80 grit small disc on the head stock and knock out punch in the tail stock on a chuck. That gives me a perfect final square up. But it is well worth it. All my trimming issues are history.

 

[robutacion]

Well, you had pretty much, all your questions answered already but, the one thing that I didn't see anyone mentioning, apart for suggestion some YouTube clips/videos, is that, the main reason why people get a bad experience when trying to use a skew is that, they are not aware that, the tool rest, has to be set a lot higher than any other cutting tools, mostly just about maintaining the tools rest at the middle line of the blank. The skew has to have the toll rest, almost parallel to the top of the blank and the front/tip half of the skew is rarely used, most of the work is done with the bottom half of the tool.

One other aspect of using the skew is that, the tool is presented to the turning blank and run on the blank, in a similar motion as a vehicle windscreen wiper, image the curve it makes and put a mark at its top centre and run it down at 90° as if you were cutting/separating it into 2 equal halves, make an imaginary mark at the centre of the blank, and work/run the skew (sharp, works a lot better...!:wink from the centre to left as the windscreen wiper then, reverse the position of the skew and run it from the centre line to the right, letting the sharp edge just save the wood/acrylic, while the face of the skew is touching the wood just behind the cutting edge.

Practice, practice, practice...!

Good luck,

Cheers
George

 

[crokett]

another vote for sharpen the barrel trimmer. I also use a hand drill rather than my DP for trimming barrels.

for turning the blanks I use a 1/2" shallow flute gouge for roughing on wood and acrylic and a skew on wood for final shaping. For final shaping acrylic/polyresin I use my shop-made carbide tool rolled at a 45 degree angle for a shearing cut. On a good day I can skip the first 2 grits on the micromesh pad on the plastic blanks and with the skew I can start sanding at 220.

when I cut the blanks, I leave them at least 1/8" long. This gives room for tearout and trimming if the blank isn't quite square.

 

[Rob77]

thanks and updates

Everyone, thanks a lot for the great advice.
A couple of updates.. I took the advice and worked on sharpening my barrel trimmer.. That appears to have done the trick. I made a couple of pens over the weekend and the sharpened barrel trimmer worked much better. (That was a very helpful pdf posted on the first page of this thread, by the way, with the instructions for how to sharpen a barrel trimmer. I've got a lot to learn when it comes to sharpening and the pictures on that pdf helped me a bunch. Thanks for posting that).
I also took the advice posted and picked up a cheap 2x2 for skew practice. I've been working on that and I'm getting definitely feeling more comfortable with it. I've still got a long way to go but I'm not as nervous using it as I was before. (I had a few skew catches early on that made me wonder if I had good enough health insurance!). Thanks for the tip about where to position the tool rest for using a skew also.
Any general tips on buffing? I'm ashamed to admit that I ruined my first pen while trying to buff it. I'm more ashamed to admit how it happened.. The buffing wheel yanked it right out of my hand and bounced it off the floor, completely smashing the brass tube. You live you learn. I'm wondering what you all sand the finish with before buffing and what kind of buffing compounds you use. My buffing wheel came with Tripoli, diamond white and some kind of wax. I'm not sure if I loaded enough of that stuff in the wheels though, etc.

 

[Rob77]

What wood are you using?

So far I've used Brazilian Cherry, Lacewood and Zebrawood for my pen blanks.

 

[hazmat74]

I have an extra mandrel that I drop the pen barrel down over when it's time to buff. It butts up against the brass screw at the bottom and the rotation of the buffing wheel keeps it butted up against it. Since I have both hands on the mandrel, a catch won't heave the piece across the shop.

ETA: Anything like this will work: an old screwdriver, a dowel rod with a handle attached, etc.

 

[alphageek]

I have an extra mandrel that I drop the pen barrel down over when it's time to buff. It butts up against the brass screw at the bottom and the rotation of the buffing wheel keeps it butted up against it. Since I have both hands on the mandrel, a catch won't heave the piece across the shop.

ETA: Anything like this will work: an old screwdriver, a dowel rod with a handle attached, etc.

Great minds think alike. A picture says 1000 words, I went out to the shop and snapped a picture of how I do it (except for hand position - I did that to show everything).

I took some 3/4" dowel rod - chuck it up on the lathe and turn the end down to where a pen blank slides on and then gets stuck. (Marked each for the type of kit).

Then if you hold it against the top of he wheel, it pushes at you and has no-where to go to fly around the room. Caution is still needed to not do something silly, but it is much more controllable than other methods I've used.