Squaring Pen Blanks

[avbill]

There are two different articles about sharing the pen blanks in the library:

One makes a home made jig. the other buys a squaring jig from PSI and adapts it to the Sanding square.

For any person who has made either can you please
1; comment on how your jig works now
2; why you select the jig you did.
3; Did you make any improvements to the two articles.


Thanks

 

[longbeard]

Here's what i did
Things you will need is...
Face plate (like most, probably collecting dust on the shelf)
Scrap piece of wood
Drill chuck
Punch set. (Harbor frieght, 10 bucks or so)

Attach the scrap piece of wood to your face plate and square the face up.
Put the drill chuck in your tail stock
Select a punch that fits the tube and insert the punch in your drill chuck
Put a piece of sand paper on the scrap piece of wood (i use the sticky back kind about 180 grit) and you now have a blank squaring jig. Hope this helps

 

[Dick Mahany]

I made a simple sander for squaring blanks on the lathe. I turned a 2MT on a piece of maple, squared the face, and glued a piece of Baltic Birch to form the sanding disk. I use an inexpensive HF transfer punch set chucked in a tailstock mounted drill chuck to pilot the blank.

It is quick to set up and convenient. The main drawback is that the sanding disk sands on center and will load the sand paper up more quickly than if sanding off center, but it is easier to maintain squareness this way. I use a crepe-rubber sandpaper eraser to keep the paper clean.

Turning the 2MT was very easy and a simple taper fit sizing jig can be made by taking a 2MT accessory and using it as a master to glue up a couple of scraps onto a backer for angle reference. This can be used as a go-no go sizing jig while tuning in the fit as you turn it.

FWIW I don't have a pen mill and don't plan on ever getting one as I prefer sanding to prevent tearout on delicate blank ends.

 

[kovalcik]

I use the sanding method that Dick and Harry (Hey, we have a Tom, Dick, and Harry responding so far. sorry.... just had to point that out.:redface when I am squaring delicate blanks. Burls, segments, etc. but it can take a while.

Otherwise I use the good old barrel trimmer due to speed.

 

[cwolfs69]

i use the pen mills almost exclusively and have had very little problems. if i am concerned about a blank for some particular reason, such as small cast in pieces, etc., i will reverse the mill on the guide and cover it with sand paper to finish. still use the guide to maintain squareness in the part.

 

[Adillo303]

This is a great thread. Thank you all.

I do have a barrel trimmer, but, I have had it catch and mess up some blanks. So...... I am wondering about a hybrid, maybe put the barrel trimmer (Without cutter) in the chuck, setting it deep enough that it would not contact the face plate, therefor, it becomes a correctly sized pilot.

I did buy a Beall spindle tap and have already made some 2" and 3" maple face plates that screw right onto my headstock.