VERY EXCITING PRODUCT AT WOODCRAFT

[Rojo22]

I was over at Woodcraft yesterday picking up some new magazines and just walking through the store when I came upon a set of new products that the Woodcraft folks are going to sell. I will describe the products, but the good news will go out last.

The new product show for Woodcraft was held back in June of this year, and the Roswell Woodcraft has now placed on the shelves a COMPLETE set of pilot shafts and cutter heads for pens. These are VERY nicely done, and they come in the most common sizes that we use for the pen kits (7mm, 10mm, 10.5mm, 12.5mm and the regular sizes as well, 25/64, 27/64, 15/32, and even the larger sized ones 32/64, and I cannot remember all of them there are over 20 different sizes). They are nicely packaged individually for the pilot shafts, and you can purchase the cutter heads individually as well (3/4"). I was talking to the store folks, and there should be another cutter head coming out soon, I think it will be the 1/2", and there are also discussions about a CARBIDE tipped version as well.

I bought a kit that had a 3/4" cutter head, a 7mm, 10mm, 25/64 and 27/64 pilot shaft all in a nice plastic holder for $39.99!!!!!!

So drum roll.......This product is made by WHITESIDE....AN AMERICAN COMPANY!!!!!!!!!!!!

These cutters and shafts are VERY NICELY put together, they are LABELED ON THE SHAFT VERY CLEARLY WHAT SIZE they are (no more guessing what the size is). I pay $16 plus for the good cutter heads alone, and the shafts that are any good are $7 or more. The good news was the cutter head I think was $12 and the shafts were $9 each or you can get the kit and save some money on the four I listed above.

The shafts and cutter heads are located right as you come in the door, at the front of the check out island! I have not used these yet, but they are very nice quality under very close inspection, and I have no doubt these will be very nice to work with. I will do a full tool review and post it out on the site. If you are in the market to purchase some shafts and a cutter head, PLEASE go to the Woodcraft store and ask about these. In some cases they may be a little more expensive than some of the other models for sale from CHINA, but these are well worth the extra $2 in quality (and for keeping your neighbor in a job).

DID I MENTION THAT THEY ARE MADE IN THE USA BY AN AMERICAN COMPANY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[renowb]

Sounds good. I like the idea of all the sizes available and the Made in USA too!

 

[Whaler]

They are now listed on Woodcraft's web site.

 

[Justturnin]

I picked up several of these and they are great but the 33/64 would not fit in the tube and I ended up having to use a 31/64 to clean it up. I am going to take it bck w/ my caliprs and check out the others. Maybe mine was in the wrong packaging and is actually larger. It would help if they had the size engraved like drill bits. Just my opinion

 

[cwolfs69]

i have a couple of those new trimmers and do not like them as much as the old style. their shaft size is metric and will not fit the old shaft/guides so any that you wish to use with them have to be purchased new. i also dont think that they cut as smoothly. i will try to resharpen and see if i can fix that part. they do look good though and are expensive.
just my $0.02 worth.

 

[Turned Around]

i saw these this past weekend at the store myself, had to snag up a few sizes

 

[Rojo22]

Chris

If these are the ones done by WHITESIDE, they are all engraved like their router bits. They are all marked clearly with the sizes on the shafts.

thanks

Robert

I picked up several of these and they are great but the 33/64 would not fit in the tube and I ended up having to use a 31/64 to clean it up. I am going to take it bck w/ my caliprs and check out the others. Maybe mine was in the wrong packaging and is actually larger. It would help if they had the size engraved like drill bits. Just my opinion

 

[Justturnin]

Chris

If these are the ones done by WHITESIDE, they are all engraved like their router bits. They are all marked clearly with the sizes on the shafts.

thanks

Robert

You right, they are. I was thinking about the old ones I have not the new ones.

 

[clapiana]

Anybody have a webpage link?

 

[bnoles]

Anybody have a webpage link?

Here ya go!

http://www.woodcraft.com/Product/2083645/35449/Whiteside-Pen-Mill-Set.aspx

 

[clapiana]

Any opinions out on these?

 

[ghostrider]

Any opinions out on these?

I have a set and like mine.

I needed to replace some of my old mill rods, and after adding it up figured I might as well buy the new kit.

It comes in a nice little case, and does as good a job as the Wood River mill kit I was using. You cannot interchange the two kits, and I don't know if it will with some of the other mills I've seen on some sites. I also use mine for final sanding (as some have recently shown jigs for) by reversing the mill on the rod, and punching a hole through a piece of sand paper to fit. Then I just slide the tube down the rod and spin it by hand until I'm satisfied. I've done many pens with it, and when it gets dull, I just sharpen it, and it works well again.

 

[brownsfn2]

Let me say first that I hate pen mills. They are a necessary evil to me. I do not have a disc sander so I am stuck with using one. Even after I sharpen both types of pen mills that woodcraft has sold they dull quickly. Even then I always seem to get a rough cut with the new pen mill style. Not as smooth as a cut that I got with the old style. The only thing I really like about the new style is that it does not have a flat side on the stem. It stays seated in the drill better that way.

I wish there was a good pen mill out there. Maybe there is but they all look alike to me. I absolutely hate the barrel trimming part of pen turning.

 

[GaTurner83]

I have one and I'm very satisfied with it.I have used it to trim roughly 30 blanks so far without having to sharpen it.In my opinion its well worth the money.

 

[Canadian_Kid]

I agree 100% with the pain that a flat side causes. The first thing I noticed when I looked at the picture was a nice round base to clamp my chuck on to.

The only thing I really like about the new style is that it does not have a flat side on the stem. It stays seated in the drill better that way.

 

[SloLouie]

I don't mean to hijack this thread, but I found this mill set at Timberbits with a 6 cutter head. I found it cut much smoother with less effort. It probably isn't made in the USA though.
Universal Pen Mill Set

Cheers,
Rob

 

[GrantH]

I don't like my WhiteSide cutter set. I'm not sure if these are supposed to come sharp, but i'd like to believe so. They (well, mine) didn't and I have since gone to using a spindle gouge on my pens to clear out the excess and square my ends.

 

[butchf18a]

Got a set and like it in general. Disc sander is well used in my shop as well. My set came sharp and keep it sharp with small set of diamond stones. Only problem I have is with the 7mm size. There is a gap between the shaft and cutter head which leaves a small amount of tube proud of the squared blank area. The larger sizes are all fine. Actually I'd like to have a second cutter head to save the changes between various pens.

jmoicbw-bidi

 

[pensbydesign]

Got a set and like it in general. Disc sander is well used in my shop as well. My set came sharp and keep it sharp with small set of diamond stones. Only problem I have is with the 7mm size. There is a gap between the shaft and cutter head which leaves a small amount of tube proud of the squared blank area. The larger sizes are all fine. Actually I'd like to have a second cutter head to save the changes between various pens.

jmoicbw-bidi

all the white side mill i have seen had a 6mm hole on the head and the top part of the shat to match to eliminate that problem if you have something else i would exchange it