Selecting and sharpening pen mills?

[angboy]

I am needing to get a pen mill and don't have experience with them. I don't want to spend a lot of money though. I've seen the kits that seem to offer everything you need on sites like PSI, for less than $40, but then I've also seen on the AZ site where it looks like you buy individual parts for $11 each, which could get pretty expensive. What are people's opinions about what's the best to use? And how do people sharpen them? I understand from my dad, who's actually doing that part for me now, that they tend to get dull pretty quick and are difficult to sharpen, so I want to be prepared to be able to do that part in the easiest way possible. I know someone will probably come up with a link to prior discussion about this- I tried searching and couldn't find one! But if there is one, please feel free to point me in that direction! Thanks!

 

[Old Griz]

I would look at this kit from CSU and then make any adapters you need for larger tubes... that is what I have done for my larger pens.. it only takes a couple of minuted to make a corian adapter that fits on the 7mm trimmer tube.. as for sharpening there was a pretty good thread on that subject not too long ago that adressed the various methods some of us use...
Here is a link http://www.penturners.org/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=7891&SearchTerms=pen,mill,sharpening

http://www.woodturnerscatalog.com/cgi-bin/shopper?preadd=action&key=379-6000

 

[JimGo]

I have the PSI kit. It's nice to have pre-made sleevez or cutters, but in the end, with all the different kits that are out there, you'll probably wind up making your own. IMHO, if you feel like doing it, you can get away with the basic mill and make your own sleeves.

 

[Dario]

I'll go with the set and add my own made sleeves. I usually make the sleeves with wood drilled and glued with 7mm tubes.

I sharpen the face perpendicular to the cutting surface like Tom do, very simple to do and almost fool proof.