Pen Mill Sharpening

[Woodchopper]

I made this jig to sharpen my pen mill and it worked pretty good. I used a Jet wet sharpener, but any grinder with an adjustable tool rest should work. I turned a half inch piece of square keystock to .250 inch on one end. Aligned the pen mill to the flats, adjusted the tool rest to where it's square, and angle matched. Using a marker and rotating the wheel by hand gave me the angle it needed. You just have to be careful to not get into the side of the wheel with the cutter that is not being sharpened. One could probably turn down a square acrylic to do the same. A light touch is all that's needed. I hope this helps someone. You guys have helped me tremendously. Thanks.

 

[negid]

Really should be in the Shops, Jigs, and Fixtures forum but that's a pretty good little jig.

 

[Woodchopper]

Thanks. How do I put it in Shops, jigs, and fixtures? Sorry.

Dell

 

[hilltopper46]

I have done something similar, but I really like the square jig!! I might copy that.

One other idea I had was one could use a vernier caliper or a micrometer to measure from the top of the mill to the edge of each edge to make sure one hadn't ground one edge shorter than the others.

 

[R2]

Nice solution![]

 

[doddman70]

that’s really cool thanks for sharing I'm planning on getting a jet sharpener when I get my tax return and your jig is going to be the first thing I'm going to make now!! you should write it up and put it in the tutorial section.

 

[Johnathan]

looks good, I'll have to give that a try.

 

[gwilki]

Nice idea, Dell. thanks for sharing it.

 

[Paul in OKC]

There ya go! Who says we can't think around here!