# squaring pen tube ends



## nwcatman (Jan 25, 2010)

have gotten away from pens for awhile, one reason is that the cutters used to square the ends are expensive and get dull way too fast. have seen some homemade jigs in the past using sanding disks etc.  some seem ok, the good ones seem to be very labor intensive to make. don't have a lot of time/energy/talent to invest making jigs. is there anything new come along lately? reason i ask is that i know every once in awhile johnnycnc or someone else hits upon an idea making things a lot simpler.  thanks


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## RDH79 (Jan 25, 2010)

I wish someone would I think thats my biggest problem. If you get them a little out of square with the tube then turning them between centers is thrown off.  I turned 3 different blanks today and 2 were OOR I went and done something else. I have tried making the sleeves from delrin but some square up and some dont.    ????????


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## Russell Eaton (Jan 25, 2010)

I learned a trick from Constant . He told me to turn the blank round then chuck it in a nova chuck with no jaws. It will be centered and use a skew to face down to the brass tube. It works like a charm. I have also used a chuck from PSI that I just got, and it worked like a champ. No more drill to break the blank when it dulls. Hope this helped.  Russell


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## nwcatman (Jan 25, 2010)

i never use bushings or madrels anymore just between centers and measure a lot. eyeballing gets me real close then the calipers come out. then i square up the tube on the sander real slowly. THATS what takes up the time. belt sander off, by hand, by feel. gotta be a quicker way to square up the ends.


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## nwcatman (Jan 25, 2010)

Russell Eaton said:


> I learned a trick from Constant . He told me to turn the blank round then chuck it in a nova chuck with no jaws. It will be centered and use a skew to face down to the brass tube. It works like a charm. I have also used a chuck from PSI that I just got, and it worked like a champ. No more drill to break the blank when it dulls. Hope this helped.  Russell



what if the blank is tapered? will the nova chuck still work? which chuck from PSI did you get?


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## byounghusband (Jan 25, 2010)

I am working on an idea if you have a pendant backer plate...  Stay tuned!!


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## nwcatman (Jan 25, 2010)

i don't have a pendant backer plate but i guess i could get one if i knew where to get it from. never heard of it. tell me. and yes...i will stay tuned. no hurry. still not back into pens yet.


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## byounghusband (Jan 25, 2010)

Go here:
http://www.penturners.org/forum/showthread.php?t=48855



nwcatman said:


> i don't have a pendant backer plate but i guess i could get one if i knew where to get it from. never heard of it. tell me. and yes...i will stay tuned. no hurry. still not back into pens yet.


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## Lenny (Jan 25, 2010)

I guess there are as many ways to perform a task as there are people who do them. For me, I can't think of a better way to square up the ends of a blank than to use a barrel trimmer! They are available quite inexpensively (check with Daniel..
http://yourdonspens.com/TiNTwistBit.html#Pen_Mills)
 and can easily be sharpened when they get dull by honing the backside of the cutting edge.


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## Aberfanturning (Jan 26, 2010)

*Squaring pen blanks - my simple procedure.*

Dear All

This is my first posting but I worked all this out the hard way.

When I first started making pens I had all sorts of problems one of which was squaring the ends properly without damaging the blanks and getting a good clean finish. I tried making various jigs to use on a disk sander but a minute misallignment gave less than satisfactory results.

So I started thinking about the prodedure and came up with the startling revelation that a BARREL TRIMMER is best used to TRIM the BARREL.

So after glueing I use a disk sander to roughly true the pen blank by eye until the brass tube just starts to show thru - I can tell when I am there because there is a slight change of noise from the sander.

I then use two different posi screwdrivers to remove excess glue then a tool made from an old mandrel to clean the inside of the tubes. By this stage the inside of the tube is clean and the ends fairly square.

I then use a barrel trimmer in an electric drill which I rest on the bench to trim the barrel. So I am only using the barrel trimmer for a very short period to remove small amounts of materiel as long as I have got a complete "circle" I am happy. This means the trimmer lasts a lot longer and does not get clogged with glue etc.

I generally trim blanks for 10 pens at a time and the whole procedure takes me about 15 mins. But I am left with perfectly squared blanks every time.

This is the way I do it and it works for me.

Sean

www.aberfanturning.co.uk


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## ribanett (Jan 26, 2010)

*Barrrel Trimmer*

http://www.penturners.org/forum/showthread.php?t=54885

This thread shows a Finish Barrel Trimmer I make to finish the barrel ends before assembling the pen. It is not used to remove large amounts of material, just to tweak the ends for a perfect fit.


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## JimMc7 (Jan 26, 2010)

Like others have mentioned, I trim most with disc sander and the last bits with pen so mill stays sharp for more pens. I do use this setup sometimes for expensive blanks and to take CA off the ends of barrels (pen mandrel in tailstock/collet chuck and Delrin pen mill sleeves to keep blank square):


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## rherrell (Jan 26, 2010)

I still make these if you're interested............... 

http://www.penturners.org/forum/showthread.php?t=42098

I've sold alot of them and they work very well for squaring up the barrels before assembly. It gives you a dead on perfectly square mating betweel the barrel and the hardware. It DOES NOT replace a barrel trimmer and really wasn't designed to remove ALOT of wood or plastic but it does the job it was made for really well.:wink:


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## nwcatman (Jan 26, 2010)

makes sense!


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## jaeger (Jan 26, 2010)

Here is what I do. I picked up a Lansky diamond file that is about the size of half of a paint stir stick. I just file the staight edge of each blade on the barrel trimmer, not the bevel edge usually. It takes about 2 minutes, the file cost about 9 bucks and, it works wonders on the chisels to!!!


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