angboy
Member
I seem to be pen mill-challenged, and I'm wondering if anyone has any ideas or suggestions. When I first started using my pen mill, it seemed like everytime I tried to change to a different shaft, I couldn't get the cutter head off of the shaft it was on. There would be visible burrs on the shaft above the cutter head. It would seem like the set screw had moved some to where it was off of the flat side. So I would file the burrs off and finally be able to get it apart, or more often, I still couldn't get it off and the surrogate would do it for me, and would tighten the set screw on the new shaft I wanted to use, to be sure it was on there tight and wouldn't move.
Somehow, in my dumb logic, the set screw seeming to get offset well below the top of the cutter head, was causing these burrs near the top- I know, makes no sense. [] Finally, my dad was able to help me figure out that what actually seemed to be happening was that the whole pen mill seemed to be turning in the drill. So I got a drill that had an actual key to it, so I could (hopefully) tighten it tighter than the keyless one.
That's seemed to work for awhile, and it seems to make sense. But lately, I haven't had reason to change the cutter head to another shaft, b/c I've been doing a lot of milling on 3/8" tubes. So finally I go to change it last night, and once again, I can't get the stupid cutter head off! There are some more burrs that have developed! Not as bad as before, but still there. I tried filing them off and couldn't do it, but even if I did, I really don't want to have to use that solution everytime! No surrogate available, so I have to try to figure this out for myself now. [V]
I've felt desperate enough that I've thought about buying a cutter head for each shaft I use and just never changing them. I've seen, on a recent thread, someone (Don I think) refer to making shims to use, and then apparently not having to change the shaft/head everytime, but I'm not sure what exactly that means. I did recently get a combo belt/disc sander, so I could try that approach, but I have a feeling it may be over my skill level. Anybody have any great ideas? [?][?]
Somehow, in my dumb logic, the set screw seeming to get offset well below the top of the cutter head, was causing these burrs near the top- I know, makes no sense. [] Finally, my dad was able to help me figure out that what actually seemed to be happening was that the whole pen mill seemed to be turning in the drill. So I got a drill that had an actual key to it, so I could (hopefully) tighten it tighter than the keyless one.
That's seemed to work for awhile, and it seems to make sense. But lately, I haven't had reason to change the cutter head to another shaft, b/c I've been doing a lot of milling on 3/8" tubes. So finally I go to change it last night, and once again, I can't get the stupid cutter head off! There are some more burrs that have developed! Not as bad as before, but still there. I tried filing them off and couldn't do it, but even if I did, I really don't want to have to use that solution everytime! No surrogate available, so I have to try to figure this out for myself now. [V]
I've felt desperate enough that I've thought about buying a cutter head for each shaft I use and just never changing them. I've seen, on a recent thread, someone (Don I think) refer to making shims to use, and then apparently not having to change the shaft/head everytime, but I'm not sure what exactly that means. I did recently get a combo belt/disc sander, so I could try that approach, but I have a feeling it may be over my skill level. Anybody have any great ideas? [?][?]