# To use a belt sander or to use a barrell trimmer that is the question.



## sumterdad (Oct 19, 2011)

Ok I know it is a preference but is it better to buy one good belt sander or spending money for every size of barrel trimmer which isn't cheap.  Thanks for your input.


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## GoodTurns (Oct 19, 2011)

all you need is the 7mm trimmer.  very simple to make shaft inserts for whatever size tube you are clearing...corian, delrin, scrap of wood...drill a hole in it to match your trimmer shaft and turn to size!


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## Lenny (Oct 19, 2011)

You really only need one size barrel trimmer and a whole bunch of "sleeves" for all the different sized tubes you will encounter. 

If you go the route of a sander you still will need a method for holding the different sized tubes square to the sander. 

I sometimes use my pen disassemby punches, held by a drill chuck in my tailstock, and use it combined with a sanding disc held in my collet chuck ( just anything I can stick some sticky back sandpaper on). The punches have a wide range of sizes making it pretty easy to match all the different tubes ..... PLUS ... they knock things apart when something goes bad! :biggrin:


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## Rangertrek (Oct 19, 2011)

Not sure if you have seen the library article about using a sander.  Since I already had one, that is my method.  No sharpening of mills, just replace the sanding belts as needed.

I make sleeves for each pen from Delren or Corian.  Using this method for about two years now, works for me.  

http://content.penturners.org/library/techniques/squaringpenblanksonabeltdiscsander.pdf


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## RogerH (Oct 19, 2011)

I first used mills, then went to a belt sender rather than buying bigger mills or making sleeves when I went to bigger pens, and now I'm back to mills.  I see the advantages of each, which I see as follows:

belt sander:  no shattering of end of blank, or rolling over of end of tube

mill:  easier to insure square ends

With the experience I have now, I believe there is a place for both.  I use the mills more often, but for polymer clay tubes, and some fussy woods, I go back to the belt sender.

Good luck.


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## OOPS (Oct 19, 2011)

If you're using a drill press to operate the pen mill, then having "every" different shaft size or sleeve is really not needed.  The drill press is true enough to maintain the mill at the appropriate angle.  I have frequently used shaft sizes that were close, but not exact without problem.  You don't want to use a shaft size that is way too small, such as a 7mm for everything, because once in awhile you have chatter, or something that is out of the ordinary.  A close fit, or an exact fit, will help insure the blank isn't ruined, whereas the 7mm shaft might stray and ruin the blank.

If you're trying to use a hand drill, then ALWAYS use the proper shaft.  You just can't hold the drill straight enough on your own.  

I have only tried two blanks or so on the belt sander.  I can't really say I have had enough experience with that method to give you a suggestion.


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## Rick_G (Oct 19, 2011)

I don't use either, I use a sharp small parting tool and put the blank between centers after turning it round and a little large. Sharp corner of the parting tool does a great job giving me clean straight ends.


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## t001xa22 (Oct 19, 2011)

Even though I have a full set of pen mill and guides, I have my best luck with my disc sander. I use the miter guide at 90 degrees and 150 to 220 grit discs. I extended my miter guide edge to within 1/4" of the disc, so feeding my blank is true.


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## Drstrangefart (Oct 19, 2011)

I prefer having my pen mill whenever possible. It's how I learned and it's effective. No reason to not have a belt sander somewhere in the shop, leaving either option open.


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## sumterdad (Oct 19, 2011)

I like the idea of making sleeves to go over the 7mm


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## Wdcrvr (Oct 20, 2011)

*Disc Sander for Blank Squaring*

I just started pen turning and reviewed quite a few opinions and methods / jigs to square pen blanks.  I liked the disc sander approach ... and ... I have a disc sander that I want to use because of sunk investment in it.  So, I opted to go with my disc sander.  The homemade jig I chose to make is described in the following hyperlink. 

[FONT=&quot]http://woodworking.com/forum/archive/index.php?t-29271.html&[/FONT]  ... see comments by WoodMangler
Pictures at ... http://woodhelp.com/SquaringJig3.jpg    and   http://woodhelp.com/SquaringJig1.jpg


 I use a small 2" engineer's square to align the transfer punch rod vertically and horizontally square to the disc sander surface each time I do a batch of blanks.  This squaring alignment is done with the transfer punch rod mounted in the jig and with the jig snugged up against the disc sander table miter gage.  This ensures that the blank  ends are squared relative to the tube shaft and not relative to the  sides of the blank.  It's a quick set up ... 1 min max.  Then just slide  the blank over the transfer tube installed in the jig, snug your jig up against the table miter gage, slide the blank over the transfer punch rod, and gently push up against the  rotating disc and rotate the blank 360 degrees to ensure uniform  sanding over the whole blank end surface.  Lift the jig up from the  sander table regularly to check on depth of sanding ... stop sanding  when you first see a shiny end of the brass tube.   The method is very repeatable and sufficiently accurate for the task.

Here's a picture of the simple jigs I made to get started in pen turning.  My pen blank squaring jig is shown on the right side.







Tom


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## Chasper (Oct 20, 2011)

I made a disc sander by mounting a near round 6 1/2 inch wood slab on a threaded lathe face plate, then turning down to about 6 inches.  Stick a 6 inch sanding disk on the outside and you have a disk sander.

I square blanks free hand on this disk sander, using a bushing to check to see that it is square.  After a few dozen blanks I rarely have a blank out of square and if I do just a little more sanding corrects the problem.


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## workinforwood (Oct 20, 2011)

Why not just buy a collet chuck and be done with it all? The collet chuck will serve other funtions as well, like making closed end or kitless pens!  To trim a blank square you do what is called facing. You have a few options how to tackle it. You can use a drill press and drill and tube the blank. Or you can just mount the blank between centers and spin it round and straight, then put the round blank in a collet and drill it with the lathe. Either way, you have a tubed blank. You trim the blank with a saw so it's nice and close to the tubes, but not quite there. Then you mount tubed blank between centers and spin it across evenly...this assures the tube is parallel with outside of blank.  You stick the blank in a collet so the end barely sticks out..bring up tailstock into hole to help line it up straight in the collet.  Then you use your parting tool and part the end of the blank clean with the tube. It makes no difference how big the cylinder is, as long as it fits in a collet you can trim the end really nice and square and the cut is nice and clean, no chipping, lots of control, it's really nice. Before anyone invented all these other ways to make things a bit easier but more to fill their pocket books, this was how it was done, and this is still how many people do things in woodworking.  Even the guys that make the huge bowls, the pro turners, they face the bowls on the lathe to add their layers of segments.  The brakes on your care are faced square. Makes no difference, metal lathes make this much easier, but wood lathes get the job done just the same.   So now you have option 3 !


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