Perry has identified and reported that the problem is happening during sanding. This is a very common problem and I think many others have out of round pen barrels and it is happening during sanding and not during turning. But, out of round pen barrels can also happen during turning for several reasons....tail stock too tight, brass nut too tight, dull tools, bent mandrel, etc.
Constant is correct in his answer. Wood on one side of a pen barrel can sand differently or quciker than wood on the opposite side. Grain alignment and orientation often cause portions of a pen barrel to sand quicker than other parts. Hence, one side gets thinner than the other side and the result is an out of round pen.
I think many penturners, and especially beginners, sand too much. Instead of turning the barrels to the correct diameters, they stop short and sand to the final dimensions. And doing this they must sand off so much wood that thebarrel goes out of round. Turn more and sand less is a possible solution. Using less pressure when sanding is also possible solution. Learning to use a skew and sand starting at 320 also helps.
Do a good turn daily!
Don
Hi All,
I'm having a problem with out of round barrels. It's happening during the sanding process. I can feel vibration develop as it's happening. I'm not using much pressure on the blank. What am I doing wrong.
Perry