# Squaring or Facing the blank



## ed4copies (Jan 21, 2012)

How and when do you "face" or square your blanks?


----------



## hunter-27 (Jan 21, 2012)

I primarily use the good old barrel trimmer in my dp.  It may be out of style to do so but it works for me.  I square it before turning and the give it a "touch up" before assembly if I think I have had any glue "issues" develop during finishing.


----------



## PenMan1 (Jan 21, 2012)

I use either a belt/disc combo sander or trim "to the line" on the bandsaw and sand with a a RHarrell sanding disc. And sometimes, I use the dedicated drill chuck and face with a skew on the lathe.


----------



## ed4copies (Jan 21, 2012)

OK, the poll is up.

Please indicate an answer in the poll.  I am planning to use this in one of the videos I hope to complete this weekend.  So, your input will make the information more accurate.  

THANKS!!!!!

Ed


----------



## ghostrider (Jan 21, 2012)

I voted the pen mill because I mostly use that with the drill press before turning, then after turning and finishing, I flip the mill around and put sand paper on it for a final touch up. 

Of course there are exceptions. I just milled a piece of purpleheart that just didn't seem to be phased much by either the pen mill, or the disc sander. That's the only time I put it on the lathe and parted it down to close, and then used the pen mill for some, and 60 grit for the rest. For some reason, that piece just didn't mind tools or abrasives. The mill worked fine on a piece of stabilized Koa right after that, so it's sharp.


----------



## ctubbs (Jan 21, 2012)

Ed, as usual, I go of the deep end.  I use both the pen mill and the disk sander with a jig, primarily depending on the material being used.  On acrylics and punky wood or even some wood that rather splinter than cut, I use the sanding process.  On good wood that mills well, I go for the pen mill and drill press.  so there, my answer is yes.  Don't you just love it when some idiot as myself simply can not make up his feeble mind?  by the way, I did vote 'sand'.
Charles


----------



## SCR0LL3R (Jan 21, 2012)

ghostrider said:


> I voted the pen mill because I mostly use that with the drill press before turning, then after turning and finishing, I flip the mill around and put sand paper on it for a final touch up.



Ditto for me.


----------



## Wingdoctor (Jan 21, 2012)

I use the pen mill before turning and if I am doing a CA finish I use sandpaper on a mandrel face to touch up the CA.


----------



## ragz (Jan 21, 2012)

I drill on the lathe and then face with a skew.


----------



## ed4copies (Jan 21, 2012)

Keep em coming, please!!

Nearly complete with "gluing the tubes", soon available with a couple clicks on YouTube.

Hope to complete Turning, Facing, buffing yet today (Unless I get really tired of looking at the video software).

This poll will help me determine how to present the "facing" vid.  So, I thank you all for your input!!!


----------



## Knucklefish (Jan 21, 2012)

Ditto on Andy's comments.


----------



## soligen (Jan 21, 2012)

Well, I would need to make multiple selections.  

Kits: Pen mill before turning and mill after turning, or "Other Method" after. depending on mood or what mods I make.

Kitless: Always other method - usually while turning.

My Kit "other method" is to chuck the pen body in the collet chuck and square it using a tool.  If the body has a taper, I use tape to fatten one side so it chucks true.

My kitless other method is to square before drilling, then again "just in case" after taping (apply chamfer to threads at same time.  To square the other end, I often do this while it spins on my "kitless mandrel"

I like having many ways to do this so I can fit the technique to the need.


----------



## Linarestribe (Jan 21, 2012)

ctubbs said:


> Ed, as usual, I go of the deep end.  I use both the pen mill and the disk sander with a jig, primarily depending on the material being used.  On acrylics and punky wood or even some wood that rather splinter than cut, I use the sanding process.  On good wood that mills well, I go for the pen mill and drill press.  so there, my answer is yes.  Don't you just love it when some idiot as myself simply can not make up his feeble mind?  by the way, I did vote 'sand'.
> Charles


 


Exactly


----------



## Lenny (Jan 21, 2012)

I cut the blank square, turn to round, drill and glue in tubes...
Then trim with a barrel trimmer, followed by a quick sanding with a makeshift sanding mill.
I repeat the sanding just prior to assembly to remove any excess CA glue on the ends.


----------



## BKelley (Jan 21, 2012)

I glue tube in blank, turn round using mandrel.  After blank is round, I remove mandrel, install blank in three jaw chuck and face off down to tube.  I'm using a Grizzly 7x12 metal lathe.

Ben


----------



## Ruby pen turning (Jan 21, 2012)

I disc sand to the tube. After I have applied CA and sanded through 1/2 the colored pads I sand to the tube again. This gives a slight curve towards the hardware when I am done sanding with the rest of the colored pads.


----------



## randyrls (Jan 21, 2012)

Yep; for normal open ended kit pens use a 12" disk sander and jig.  For closed end pens, I use a pen mill.


----------



## 76winger (Jan 21, 2012)

I will generally use the barrel trimmer to square up the end and trim them down to the edge of the tubes prior to turning. 

On a few blanks that I've learned are a little more brittle, I will us the disk sander to get the material down "almost" to the tube, then use sandpaper on the back of the barrel trimmer to finish squaring it up. again, this is prior to turning.


----------



## gvanweerd (Jan 21, 2012)

90% Barrel trimmer. 10% Disk sander


----------



## doddman70 (Jan 21, 2012)

Well not really an option to vote for that describes what i do, I "rough" square the blank prior to turning, Basically get it real close, Then after turning I "Fine Tune" it using a sanding mill by hand.


----------



## MrWizard (Jan 21, 2012)

*squaring up the ends*

I am still getting use to my pen mill, but for me square just before I mount it on the mantrel, and then after I finish a pen just to clean the ends before assembly.  If their really out of square I will hit the sanding wheel briefly to help.


----------



## leehljp (Jan 21, 2012)

I use my small table saw with a sled and cut as close as possible and sand the rest with a sanding pen mill. I have a carbide blade cutter for the PM, but choose to use a sanding PM instead. No problems with this method.


----------



## ed4copies (Jan 21, 2012)

So far, we are running a large majority that do SOMETHING before turning.  That is what I expected, but it's nice to confirm.


----------



## joefyffe (Jan 21, 2012)

I use a PSI 90 degree arbor.  I have fabricated some sleeves for the various size tubes and at a 90 degree angle press the end of the squaring mandrel against the sanding disk and, by hand, rock the blank back and forth till it's square.  Then I take a tube reamer and cut an angle on the inside of the tube to account for the slight curvature at the extension, say like on a sierra.


----------



## Rob73 (Jan 21, 2012)

Damn Ed you're busting some tail this weekend


----------



## randywa (Jan 21, 2012)

I like to use a pen mill before I start, but I like to use a sanding mill before I start buffing.


----------



## wiset1 (Jan 21, 2012)

I use a Universal Pen Blank Squaring Jig purchased from PSI when I first started turning. As soon as the CA is cured I use an xacto knife to clear the CA out of the brass tube then I put the rod and adapter through the blank and square it on the disk portion of my Disk/Belt sander combo.  I'll seal the ends by pouring thin CA on a paper towel and twisting each end in it to ensure everything is sealed and good.  Since I turn to bushings I find it work well for me to do it this way.


----------



## paramount Pen (Jan 21, 2012)

Wingdoctor said:


> I use the pen mill before turning and if I am doing a CA finish I use sandpaper on a mandrel face to touch up the CA.


 Same for me.


----------



## Dale Lynch (Jan 21, 2012)

*Square with a skew*

Hi Ed,

Good poll,there's not a selection for the way I do it so I'll just tell you.I make friction fit mandrels out of dowling so I don't have to use bushings.Then I turn the barrels down 50-70%,square up the ends with the skew and then finish turning.If I nick the mandrel while squaring,no big deal it''s wood and I can make another.No need for a barrel trimmer or power sander,money saved.

best wishes, Dale


----------



## ed4copies (Jan 22, 2012)

107 voted so far.

I'll let you know tomorrow night what the approximate percentages are!!


----------



## mdburn_em (Jan 27, 2012)

Need ability for multiple answers
1 or 2 depending on how closely I cut the blanks
1.  I use a carbide winged pen mill if the blank is nearly exactly to size
2.  I have a jig on my 8" circular sander that hogs the material off quickly if I've left a little too much material on  the blank
3.  I touch up at the end immediately after applying the CA.  The CA is soft(er) and doesn't crack on me/lift from the end.


----------



## Tanner (Jan 27, 2012)

Disk sander with a jig.  Then I turn it.


----------

