Where to get a good pen mill? Epoxy?

[theHullTurn]

I was wondering where a good place to get a pen mill is? Where is the best value?

Also what is a good epoxy to use for gluing in the tubes?

Thanks!
Nathan

 

[arw01]

+1, I cannot recall who had access to carbide tipped mills on here. One of my mills leaves the brass tube proud of the wood!

 

[Fibonacci]

I got a set from woodnwhimsies that I have been very happy with. It had the 4 main centers and a 3/4" 4 blade head for $20.

On the 7mm, if you mill too far, you will get a thin strip of copper that is proud of the wood, but a hand countersink cleans that right off.

 

[EBorraga]

I was wondering where a good place to get a pen mill is? Where is the best value?

Also what is a good epoxy to use for gluing in the tubes?

Thanks!
Nathan

5 minute epoxy is all I use when glueing tubes. Monty sells it Woodenwonderstx.com. Also Mike and Linda from Indy-Pen-Dance sell Epoxy.

 

[Katsin]

I got my barrel trimmer here at Penn State:
http://www.pennstateind.com/store/PKTRIMKITC.html

They also have a cheaper steel set and individual diameter offerings. Looks like they may be more than some of the smaller sellers though.

 

[PenMan1]

Nolan did sell very nice carbide pen mills, but I have seen him post lately, so I don't know if he is still active.

 

[IPD_Mr]

The tooling company that use to do the carbide end mills for Nolan is no longer in business. We tried to organize something a few months ago until we found out he is no longer in business.

I recommend that you buy 4-6 end mills and send them to Paul to be sharpened. Then just rotate out the dull for sharp and send the dull back to Paul when you are down to one or two sharp left.

 

[reddwil]

Mike, Who is Paul? User name? I got a couple I need sharpening. Screwed up one trying to do it myself.

 

[IPD_Mr]

Mike, Who is Paul? User name? I got a couple I need sharpening. Screwed up one trying to do it myself.

Sorry about that Kent Paul is Paul Huffman also known as Paul in OKC
Just contact him and make sure he has time, as I know he can get swamped at work from time to time.

 

[Rangertrek]

Nathan, good to see you back on the forum.
Epoxy - 5 min type works good.
I am a fan of Gorilla glue, it has never failed on me. I use this almost exclusively for pen blanks.

 

[crabcreekind]

My dad got woodriver pen mill set for me a long time ago and i love it, i just got a smaller trimmer head because it doesnt explode pen blanks as easy, if at all (yet). I just take it off occasionally and sharpen it with some like diamond sharpener stick thingys.

 

[hdtran]

Mike, Who is Paul? User name? I got a couple I need sharpening. Screwed up one trying to do it myself.

If it's a steel mill, it's not real hard to sharpen. Don't sharpen the narrow top portion. If it's not real dull, use a medium stone, followed by a diamond file or diamond card hone and sharpen the front face. If it is pretty dull, you can use a dremel tool. Before you sharpen, clean all the caked gunk (melted epoxy etc.).

There's an article in http://penmakersguild.com/articles/penmillsharpening1.pdf that is very helpful.

 

[KenV]

It is time to send a box to Paul --

I note that I have accumulated a number of heads. The Berea ones use 3/16 shaft, seem to have good steel, and were sharpened with good gear. I have a number of heads that I got cheap -- steel does not appear to hold an edge as well, but hard to tell for sure as the grinder had the grit of a chainsaw cut.

I have a couple of what appear to be older PSI or similar that fell between the Bre

 

[KenV]

It is time to send a box to Paul --

I note that I have accumulated a number of heads. The Berea ones use 3/16 shaft, seem to have good steel, and were sharpened with good gear. I have a number of heads that I got cheap -- steel does not appear to hold an edge as well, but hard to tell for sure as the grinder had the grit of a chainsaw cut.

I have a couple of what appear to be older PSI or similar that fell between the Berea and no-name versions in terms of functional life. Attempts to hone edges have been done on all of them -- but after a bit, without the controls of a tool grinder, one tooth get to doing all the work.

 

[nava1uni]

I bought a real nice trimmer from Timber Bits. It has 6 cutting surfaces and it sharpens easily with a credit card sized diamond file. I also have a four cutting surface one that I bought long ago at Woodcraft and it works well also. The article listed above is very helpful.

 

[DurocShark]

I have a 4 cutter mill and a 6 cutter mill.

I never use the 6.

I used to be all careful sharpening the 4 with a diamond card. Now I don't bother. I touch the back sides of the cutters to the side of my grinder wheel. Works just fine. When/if I wear it down or screw it up I'll buy another cheap one and do it again.

As for leaving the tube proud, mine does too. I shouldn't be cutting deep enough that it would be an issue, and I always follow up with a trim anyway. I mounted my countersink in a wooden handle and use that on all my blanks.

 

[toddlajoie]

+1, I cannot recall who had access to carbide tipped mills on here. One of my mills leaves the brass tube proud of the wood!

Leaving the brass proud is common for 7mm tubes with the standard mills, as the mill cutters barely reach in that far since the base shaft is just the size of the inside of the tubes (the larger diameters don't do this because they don't slip all the way through the cutters....) A quick light turn with a countersink bit, or even a larger drill bit (masonry bits work well for this) will eliminate the extra brass, and if you have a fair amount of it, it's time to pay closer attention to your trimming...