Barrel Trimmers

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And now you have Rockler, Woodcraft. PSI, Wooden Whimsies, Woodlturningz, BearToothWoods, Lee Valley, Steebar, HUT Products, johnnyCNC, LauLauWoods and several others to check out. Where do we buy barrel trimmers? From whoever we buy our other pen turning supplies....our favorite supplier. It seems they are pretty evenly priced. There may even be other IAP mambers who sell them. Now you have the IAP classifieds to check out. :biggrin::biggrin::biggrin::biggrin:
Good luck!

And, BTW, several of us use disk sanders to square the ends of our pen blanks. It may just be me but I think the name barrel trimmer gives the wrong info as to what this tool does. It is not used to trim the blanks to the proper length but to square the ends of blanks to the tubes. I have often seen as much as 1/4 inch or more trimmed from both ends of a pen blank. And we then complain that the pen mill will not stay sharp. Use the band saw to trim the blanks and the pen mill to square them to the brass tube.
Do a good turn daily!
Don

DFerguson777 said:
Where do you all buy barrel trimmers?
I have checked out AS and CraftSupply USA.
-Denny NC-
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yea...what Don said!

Personally, I have pretty much given up on barrel trimmers. They get dull even if you do not remove tons of material with them and the resin gets melted on to them quickly making them require cleaning. I just spin the blank round and then chuck it in a collet and trim the ends flush and square with a parting tool. Maybe some day when I get a vertical mill then I might be able to properly sharpen my old barrel trimmers and then consider going back to them. They are quicker, but quicker is not always better.
 
I bought the steel set from PSI. It was dull when I bought it. I then bought the carbide cutter, and it also was dull. The cutting edge was absolutely flat... couldn't have cut if it had a desire. Sent it back, and got another one. It cuts well. I've sharpened it with a diamond hone. I've never been able to trim a pen barrel square with a sander or anything other than the barrel trimmer. That's why I have to use them.
 
To use a disk or belt sander to square the ends of pen blanks the jig has to be tuned to the sander and the sander has to be tuned. I've purchased a couple and didn't like them. A friend showed me his jig one day at his shop and how he made and tuned it. I made me one and I still use it....several years later. Here is a link to that jig...how to make it and how to tune it so it works. http://penmakersguild.com/articles/blanksquarejig.pdf

Do a good turn daily!
Don

Allenk said:
I've never been able to trim a pen barrel square with a sander or anything other than the barrel trimmer. That's why I have to use them.
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Pen mill

I'm a beginner and I took a class at a local woodcraft on pen turning a couple of months (and 50 or so pens) ago. They showed us to mill the blanks with the pen mill (barrel trimmer) mounted in the drill press. I ruined several blanks trying to mill them with the pen mill in the drill press. They shattered when I was milling them.

I now trim the blanks as close as I can on the bandsaw, then square them on my 1" vertical belt sander with 80 grit. Then take the pen mill, (which I turned a wooden handle for), and hand mill the blank to remove any glue from inside the tube and to square the end of the blank to the tube. So far, no shattered blanks.


Sharon
 
Good for you. I've always considered the pen mill to be a hand tool. Mine has a handles also, but only gets used when I travel. We must remember that those who offer classes also sell products. My first penturning was also from Woodcraft and they sold me 5 or six things to use, one after the other, to finish pens. I now use none of them ...well except for the PPP polish. No, not to polish, I drilled a hole in the sticks, put a wick in the hole and use them as candles when the electricity goes out. :biggrin::biggrin:
Do a good turn daily!
don



sbwertz said:
I'm a beginner and I took a class at a local woodcraft on pen turning a couple of months (and 50 or so pens) ago. They showed us to mill the blanks with the pen mill (barrel trimmer) mounted in the drill press. I ruined several blanks trying to mill them with the pen mill in the drill press. They shattered when I was milling them.

I now trim the blanks as close as I can on the bandsaw, then square them on my 1" vertical belt sander with 80 grit. Then take the pen mill, (which I turned a wooden handle for), and hand mill the blank to remove any glue from inside the tube and to square the end of the blank to the tube. So far, no shattered blanks.


Sharon
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