Sanding instead of Barrel Trimmer

[Bob Roehrig]

Looking for some input on folks that use a disc sander trimmer setup to Sand the ends of their blanks to true them up instead of using a standard barrel trimmer. On many "punky" woods such as Buckeye Burl I get a lot of tear out attempting to use a barrel trimmer. Some pen turners have mentioned they have gone the way of the trimmer attachment using their Disc Sander to do this job and thus have eliminated the tear out. I've seen these trimmer/sander jigs sold online and wonder if anyone has possibly made their own. Us turners afterall are creative and frugal Would be most interested in some comments regarding this......Thanks

 

[montmill]

Definitely better solution to tear out, however it can still happen if the wood is thin or too punky. I try and sand flush when there's some meat on the blank and don't use much pressure. I'm using 120 grit paper. After GluBoost is set up I will lightly rub the ends of the blank over 400 grit paper on a piece of glass before assembling.

 

[hooked]

Look in the library (tips, tools, jigs) under the resources tab at the top. There are some articles in there on the subject.

Tips, Tools, & Jigs

 

[KenB259]

Yes I made my own. I gave up on barrel trimmers years ago.

 

[jcm71]

I have an old Shopmate(Shopsmith knock off) that I use the disc sander function exclusively for barrel sanding. I use my barrel trimmers by hand to shave excess CA glue from the ends of finished blanks. Just make sure the cutters are sharp.

 

[Woodchipper]

I use a barrel trimmer and have had no problems over the years...except no checking how to sharpen the trimmer. Had to buy a new one. I do have a sanding station that goes on the lather but not for pen blanks. I do plan on using it for segmented blanks. Photo attached.

 

[leehljp]

I had a Rick Herrell barrel sander and lost it (misplaced it under one of a hundred piles) and made one in an emergency that worked for a couple of weeks until I could get another from Rick. Like Ken said, I gave up barrel trimmers years ago - but for me for barrel sander.

IF I did a lot of pens, and since I have two lathes, I would go with a sanding jig similar to John's above, or maybe another variation.

 

[Curly]

Subject comes up regularly. Mine is this one in another thread.

How to get a perfect length tube/blank every time?

Hey Guys, Got a question for you. How to I trim my blanks to an exact length. Let's say I'm turning an Elegant American. The tube gismo that gets pressed in there is exactly 2.0" long. The gismo has to protrude by 0.1" so my upper tube/blank needs to be exactly 1.99" long. Using the...

www.penturners.org

Pete

 

[Mike]

I use Rick Herrell's Offset Sanding Jig Mount to trim blanks. I use 120 grit paper on a disc on the lathe and go slow. I have had great results. After finishing the blanks with CA, I very carefully sand them on a piece of 400 grit paper laying on the bench top.

Mike

 

[egnald]

I started out with the Universal Pen Blank Squaring Jig from PSI. It clamped (bolted) to the fence guide on my sander, but I was not happy with the amount of slop in the miter bar on my stock sanding guide, so I built my own jig with a much tighter miter bar. (Note that the PSI jig worked good - it was my sander's miter slot and bar that were problematic).

I based my jig on the PSI design and used a piece of "D" Drill Rod for the shaft. I also I added a holder for my set of Barrel Trimming Sleeves. I make any custom sized sleeves using a 7mm tube and a scrap piece of blank material tuned down to the appropriate size. A couple of pictures follow. - Dave

(PS I think there are several squaring jig designs in the Resource Library also).

 

[KenB259]

Bob, here's what I use. The set screws in the bottom let me adjust the level. The knurled ring on the back does nothing except keep me from losing it. It just slides in my disc sander slot. For some reason I cannot reply yo your PM.

 

[Mortalis]

When I worked as a Machinist I acquired a few pieces of equipment, one of which is a die makers vise. Then as a Woodworker I have a benchtop belt sander. I use the vise butted up against the square and belt sander with a set of center punches I bought from HF to sand my barrel ends square, rotating the blank while advancing it into the belt. Checking the end from time to time seeing how close I am to the tube. Once the tube has been reached I can here the sound change and I know to stop.

 

[sorcerertd]

I use an offset sanding jig from Rick Harrell. I wish I had bought it much sooner! His catalog is here in the vendor forums.

 

[Gary Beasley]

I have on occasion just put the trimmer block on the shaft backwards with a scrap of sandpaper glued onto the flat surface. 120 grit does the job nicely.

 

[BHuij]

I have a 6" piece of plywood permanently mounted to a cheap faceplate, that I stick 120 grit sanding discs on and use as a poor man's disc sander on my lathe. I don't even have a support or jig or anything to guarantee it sands square, I just freehand it when I'm flushing up blanks to the brass tube inside. It's not that hard to get it square.