Squaring bit

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madhatterpen

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I am having issues with blow outs on squaring my wood pens. I am using a steel cutting bit and it doesn't seem to want to cut the wood and when it does it catches and blows out the wood making the blank unusable. This bit works just fine on my acrylics so I am a little confused as to why it doesn't want to cut wood.

Is the carbide bit any better at cutting wood? I am at a loss here as I am tired of ruining material that would have made a beautiful pen.
 
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Try a couple of alternatives:

Use a disk sander to square up the ends. There are quite a few threads here and a couple of library entries that discuss jigs for squaring with a belt sander.


Use a similar setup on your lathe. Again, several discussions have been had about lathe-based jigs for sanding and squaring.
 
I don't use a trimmer any more. Here is a link to a previous thread (post #11) Trimming Blanks that has a couple of photos of a jig I made for my sander to square the ends of blanks.

Wade
 
Are you sharpening it? When they are sharpened they cut so easily it is a joy to use. If it is not sharp you are pushing so hard it can catch the edge of certain woods and tear the wood at the grain. Oak might tear off while Cherry will not. The Acrylic won't tear since it has no grain or weak spot. I did 15 pen blanks for the Turn For Troops this morning and can tell you after I sharpened the end mill the task was much easier. I did Cherry, Cocobolo, Black Mesquite, Yellowheart, Walnut, Lignum Vitae, Maple and Acrylic.
The Cocobolo is tough when the end mill is dull but effortless when it is sharp.
 
I use a carbide cutter. They are better but you can still have tear out and broken blanks. I have changed the way I square blanks now. If your blank is not cut square and you hit a hight spot with the cutter with too much pressure, you stand the chance of breakage or tear out. However, ever since I started mounting the blank on the lathe and chucking the cutter on the tail stock I have much more control of pressure and approaching the blank perfectly square. I start slow and controlled until the blank is squared and then move on in to the tube. I have had zero problems and have done 20 or so blanks this way.
 
I use only trimmers and I find carbide is best on wood, at slow speed so you can shave it, carbide destroys acrylics and I've tried it all speeds and pressures. Otherwise, I like the whiteside standard 4 blade.

Lastly, if they aint sharp as a razor, they will destroy your blanks either way.
 
It took me a minute to figure out how I was going to sharpen it, but it seems to have worked out. I just used a 3 sided sharpening stone and everything went ok.

Thanks for all your help!
 
I had the issue even with new out of the package. Best luck was with the 4 sided Whitside. Forget the 2 sided one. It blow everything apart. I used my 12 in disc sander for awhile. I recently started using. 4 inch delta it is more the correct size or me.
I also put 80 grit sand paper in the head stock and put the proper size punch in the tail stock. And get real square that way. Use the disk sander to get it real real close and the the lath to get it perfect. It is slower that way, but for me it is a hobby. Some day I will get the disc sand square enough.
 
Not sure of the brand of what I am using but it does have 4 sides. After sharpening it does perform way better than it ever did even from the package. So good in fact that I will continue to use it and sharpen it until it is useless. I purchased it from Penn State Industries.
 
I also had an issue with getting waves in the wood or acrylic as well. Then when you pressed the ends on there were very slight gaps.
The best is to do what works for you and what you like. I was sorry to stop using the trimmers as it was easy and fast.
Keep on turning.
 
LarryDNJR said:
I like to flip around the cutting head, apply some thin double-back sticky tape, slap a piece of sandpaper on it and shove the shaft through to square off my ends. You get the benefit of the shaft in the tube for straightness and the flat end of the cutting head to smooth off the edges.

LarryDNJR
Click to expand...

Not a bad idea! Thanks
 
What a great idea!


LarryDNJR said:
I like to flip around the cutting head, apply some thin double-back sticky tape, slap a piece of sandpaper on it and shove the shaft through to square off my ends. You get the benefit of the shaft in the tube for straightness and the flat end of the cutting head to smooth off the edges.

LarryDNJR
Click to expand...
 
LarryDNJR said:
I like to flip around the cutting head, apply some thin double-back sticky tape, slap a piece of sandpaper on it and shove the shaft through to square off my ends. You get the benefit of the shaft in the tube for straightness and the flat end of the cutting head to smooth off the edges.
Click to expand...

Sometimes the simplest -- and best -- solutions escape us as we (humans) tend to overthink the problem :befuddled:. Great idea, Larry.
 
I find the carbide cutters to be more aggressive, so you have to be careful not to overtrim. I agree with the others who said square up the cutters and keep them sharp!
 
I like to use a disc sander and straight edge. Very simple.
 

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I will say that a disc sander with a jig works great. I have had a few problems with the barrel trimmers (probably need to sharpen them) and have gone to the disc sand. It works every time.

Nate
 
Ditto on the Double Blade carbide. Bad move. I just bought it....it is a wood killer. And the 4 blades seem to get dull fast. I have been using a handheld drill. I'm going to shift to lathe trimming or a small disc sander. Lathe trimming is time consuming.....not that I'm in a rush.
LarryDNJR....what grit are you using?
 
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edstreet said:
Why not trim the ends on the lathe? You will be very hard pressed to find something that is faster or more efficient.
Click to expand...

Just started doing that. It works well. It cuts fast & smooth. Trimmed about 10 blanks. Nothing negative...just good clean cuts. I might buy a used or inexpensive lathe and use it for dedicated drilling & squaring.
 
I am not sure about another lathe just to trim but removing the chuck and putting on the dead center is next to nothing. I put a double washer on there to make it easy on/off.

The setup I use is quite simple really.

First when you chuck the blank square the end.

Then drill the pilot hole, then ream it to the final size.

Glue in the tube and make that flush with the end you made true.

Then going right to left (towards the head stock) with the chisel you can take the blank from any shape to round in a matter of seconds. Most often with 1-2 chisel passes, if that as you are always working on solid substances and no chatter.

Once glue is dry, flip it around and align it with the tail stock and base of the chuck and the roundness taking priority. If you do the rounding bit the blank will be a true fit in the jaws and easy to align. You have 2 other reference points to work from if needed.

Then just trim the other side and finish rounding the blank and you are ready to goto TBC or mandrel where you just have a very little bit left to shape.
 
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edstreet said:
I am not sure about another lathe just to trim but removing the chuck and putting on the dead center is next to nothing.
Click to expand...
Was thinking about upgrading the lathe....
I was giving a second lathe some thought however you are right. Swapping the mandrel to a (dedicated drill) chuck is fast. I squared about 30 blanks last night with the lathe. Works like a champ. At first I was using a cordless drill and hacking the ends.... blaming the cutter for mishaps. Currently using a double blade carbide barrel and lathe drilling/squaring. Life is good again.

Good thread here...I learned from it.
 
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I still would love to see a barrel trimming kit with rods that fit all possible pen kits. Something like a punch set with a barrel trimmer head that can be used on all of them.
You can always dream.
 
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