Pen Mill question

[kine97]

I ordered a new pen type for me...Button Click Pen from Berea Hardwoods.
It uses a 11/32" drill bit. I didn't think to order a pen mill, and I'm not sure they have
one that size. If anyone has a suggestion on what I could use, I'd appreciate it.

Theresa Keihn

 

[jkirkb94]

Theresa, you might do a search on this forum for pen mills. One of the members turned down the non-spiral ends on some cheap drill bits so that they would fit into the pen mill. You might look into the multisize pen mills that are offered by Penn State or Craft Supplies. I use the 10mm for the majority of my larger pens. I use my pen mills in a small drill press. I am thinking about using a belt sander to turn down some drill bits so the the mills fit better in my Havana pen tubes. Kirk[8D]

 

[wicook]

Hi Teresa,

I have learned from others that you can use just about anything to make up the difference. If you have a standard pen mill, you can wrap the shank with tape, turn a cylinder to fit the tube out of hardwood, etc. Basically all you need to do is build up the shank so it doesn't rattle in the tube. I ran into the problem with a 2-way pen from PSI that used a 3/8 tube...and my mills are 7 mm and 10 mm. I wrapped one of them with enough masking tape to take up the difference and it worked great. A temporary solution, for sure, but I was only turning one pen/pencil.

 

[Gary]

Hi Theresa...welcome to the Forum. Do you have access to a disc sander? You can square up the pen blank ends that way. If not, then you could turn a sleave to fit over your 7mm pen mill and fill the internal of the 11/32 tube. If that isn't an alternative for you, then one thing I've done in the past as a "quick and dirty" technique is (I hope nobody is listening[:I]) to take some masking tape and wrap it around the 7mm pen mill shaft. Continue wraping until it is the diameter you want. Insert it into the tube and square the blank ends. I hope this helps.

 

[jkirkb94]

I forgot in my first post to welcome you to our group![:I][] Kirk[8D]

 

[jeff]

Theresa - My mill came with some metal sleeves and a couple different pilot shanks, but they don't cover all the tube sizes. So I made some hardwood sleeves to accomodate the other tube sizes I needed. I cut some walnut blanks to about an inch and a quarter long, drilled them with a 1/4 inch bit, then put them on a mandrel and turned them to the inside diameter of various tubes. I just slip the correct sleeve on the pilot of the pen mill, and trim the blank. Sometimes it slides off the mill pilot and drops down in the tube, but that doesn't matter a bit. You just want something to keep the mill from rattling inside the tubed blank. I think I have about 8 different sleeves to cover a pretty wide variety of pens. I'd post a picture, but my entire shop is packed in boxes because I'm moving in a couple days.

Hope that helps!

 

[jwoodwright]

I use Corian on old 7mm tubes. This way I have adapters for the other size tubes. Been using the same adapters for over 6 years...

Hope this helps... [8D]

 

[ctEaglesc]

I had posted earlier this morning and got to thinking.
I went back and checked my answer.It was in error so I deleted it.
Apologies to any one that may have seen it.
If you use any kits with 8mm tubes and have a mill for those or the set from PSI with the different shafts, this is how I do it.
I hate to take the time to change out the cutters and found a few short cuts.
A tube from an 8mm kit will fit inside the tube for the button click.
Another style this works on is the perfect fit made by the "B" company.
When milling these I leave the 8mm mill on the cutter, slip an 8mm tube on the mill and mill the blank.
Hope this helps.

 

[kine97]

Thanks all for the help and the welcome.

I am a bit eager to get started and didnt want to have to wait for a pen mill also.