# Improvised barrel trimmer....free



## Wood Butcher (Feb 1, 2011)

For all of you who have a barrel trimmer and are concerned with cracking, tearing off chunks or getting the end of a finished blank absolutely square, here's an idea to try.  I looked at all of the trimmers and sanders and decided I could save some money by using my barrel trimmer as a sander.  Here are a couple of pictures to show what I did.  I used a 3/4" punch, a 1/4" punch, a piece of MDF to hammer on, a hammer (duh), and a 5" 220 grit PSA sanding disc.  I can get from 25 to 30 sanding discs from one 5" disc.  Just chuck it in a drill (or the lathe) and slide the finished pen barrel on it and sand it square and flat.  HTHS
WB


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## seamus7227 (Feb 1, 2011)

Thats a great idea!! Smart use of the same tool for that purpose!


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## renowb (Feb 1, 2011)

Now why didn't I think of that! Fantastic idea! Thanks for sharing!


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## Mike5753 (Feb 1, 2011)

Great idea thanks


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## bbarter (Feb 1, 2011)

i just did this the other day.  works great.  the only difference is my pieces are cut square.


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## MarkD (Feb 1, 2011)

I was just thinking about doing something similar this morning. Thanks for figuring it out! Great job!
-Mark


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## john l graham (Feb 1, 2011)

I use it for touching up the ends after finishing with CA.  Works great.


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## uncltodd (Feb 1, 2011)

*Barrel Trimmer*

Until CaptG started sharpening my barrel trimmers (you all should take advantage of his offer) I thought that was what you were supposed to do with the dull ones. Guess I should share these things. Thanks for the posting...it is a good idea and it works.


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## PenPal (Feb 1, 2011)

Word of advice for everyone that shaft comes through the blank and can make a hole in one hand real quick. My solution was to cut that shaft off enough to nest inside the blank and furthermore to just use two punches to create the adhesive backed disks then use the existingflat round metal as the backing plate the same way.

Have success but safely   Peter.


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## dplloyd (Feb 1, 2011)

*PSI Jig*

I'm going to give this a try. PSI has a jig I use but once in a while I just cannot get the end square.

Thanks for posting the idea!


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## MobilMan (Feb 2, 2011)

Good idea.   You can also use your mandrel to sand.


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## Jgrden (Feb 2, 2011)

Well I will be danged.  Good work. I have been sharpening my barrel trimmer with off and on success.


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## Great Googly Moogly (Feb 2, 2011)

I do the same thing but I use my mandrel instead of the trimmer.  the mandrel is already set up.


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## Rmartin (Feb 2, 2011)

That's an excellent idea. I sometimes run into punky woods that will tear out no matter how sharp the cutters are. Thanks


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## MurphysPenWorks (Feb 3, 2011)

wish I had thought of that before I tried a flame inlay for the first time....bad news lol


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## LarryDNJR (Feb 4, 2011)

Great minds think alike I started doing that about 4 months ago.  Worked fairly well.  I just recently started trying to use my disc sander but need to build a jig for it.  Using Sanding paper that has adhesive on the back helps it stick to the mill and not spin around on you.


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## monophoto (Feb 4, 2011)

I made my own sander to smooth the end of finished barrels.  I cut the head off a bolt, mounted it in a drill chuck, and sanded it down to a diameter that would fit into a pen tube.  Then, I drilled a hole in a block of wood, and glued the bolt into the hole.  Then I chucked the bolt into a Jacobs chuck in my headstock, and with the tail stock applying axial pressure to hold everything in place, I turned the wood down to make a nice handle.   Applied a WOP finish.  The, I punched a hole in a small bit of abrasive, and slipped it over the bolt with a small smear of glue on the bottom.

To use this, after the pen barrel has been turned and finished, I take it off the mandrel, stick the bolt into the end of the tube, and twist the wood handle to sand the rough end of the barrel.

Obviously, I had to make one for each size tube I use.  Works like a charm - and a fun project to make.


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## snowb46 (Feb 8, 2011)

*disc sander*

I've been having the same problem with my trimmer wrecking my blanks.  Mostly with acrylics, until the other day with a wood segmented.  

I've been trying to find a good deal on a disc sander until I ran across your timely suggestion. _*THANK YOU!!!!*_

Ordered what I needed the same day (today) and should be here in a week. saved me $100 or so.


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## simomatra (Feb 8, 2011)

Great idea, I like Peters way also a bit safer


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