Still learnin' VII & a simple jig

[Phillip Kelley]

I am using a lot of 7MM tubes, & thanks to the tutorials here, I discovered that I was in too big of a hurry in drilling my blanks. This resulted in holes that were not square with the blanks which left the ends somewhat skewered. So, I built a simple jig from a 1 1/2" piece of round CR, drilled a hole & inserted my spare 7 MM madrell. After drilling my blanks & gluing the tubes in, then it is off to the sander. I 1st square the bed with the disc, then the miter gauge square to the disc. I also check the mandrel, just to be sure that it is square with the disc as well. Then you can insert a blank and sand ends square with the tubes. See attached pics. Maybe this simple idea will help someone else. Thanks for all of the advice I have been given here!

 

[CharlesJohnson]

Neat looking idea. Thanks for showing.

 

[1080Wayne]

And for your next challenge , you could devise a way to deliberately drill off-axis in a controlled manner , when the outward appearance of the blank suggests to you that the resulting pen would look better .

 

[Phillip Kelley]

Off center axis:

Well, now due to my previous carelessness in drilling, I can salvage several
blanks that have been drilled off center.

 

[HamTurns]

Good idea Phil

I might make one, but out of a chunk of Hickory.

Thanks for the idea.

Tom

 

[sbell111]

I'm trying to think of why I would care if a typical blank was drilled off center. It will be perfectly centered once it's been turned.

 

[Phillip Kelley]

Concentric

True. It would/could be concentric; but for a newbie not fully grasping or thinking about the details, it might not be square or perpendicular to the ends.....this will make for a sloppy fit on a "finished" pen. And, as I discovered from advice gained here, it could be enough out of square
to cause the blank to be out of round & not concentric when turned on a madrel.

 

[sbell111]

A pen mill will square up those ends in no time flat.