# Different center finder needed



## mmayo (Jan 23, 2013)

I bought the center finder below and have not liked it to date.  It does not seem to produce lines through the center of square banks.  Yes, I could be using it incorrectly.   I have reverted to drawing corner to corner lines and that works.

http://www.woodcraft.com/Images/products/600/02J14.jpg

Can someone give me the link to a thin-looking metal center finder?


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## Janster (Jan 23, 2013)

Most likely because the blanks are NOT square to begin with?


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## mredburn (Jan 23, 2013)

I rotate my blanks 4 times marking the blank. That will give me a center inbetween the lines that is where I drill


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## walshjp17 (Jan 23, 2013)

Send a PM to cnccutter (Erik Land) he sells two different sizes of thumb square center finders.  They work really well.


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## Mack C. (Jan 23, 2013)

Janster said:


> Most likely because the blanks are NOT square to begin with?


A blank doesn't have to be square to be able to find the centre. An approximation of the centre is quite sufficient. After all you are going to turn it round anyway!


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## Boz (Jan 23, 2013)

Looks like your Woodcraft unit is a little big for pen work.  This is the unit that I use.  
Center Square, 2-1/2 Inch Capacity
As has been said if the blank is not perfectly square you should draw a line from all 4 corners the box in the center is the center.


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## Sylvanite (Jan 23, 2013)

I don't use a center finder at all.  Instead, I use a combination square.  I set it to approximately half the blank thickness (just by eyeball, it doesn't need to be exact) and scribe a line from each edge.  Not corner-to-corner, but a line parallel to each edge.  That results in a small box around the center.  It is easy to spot the center in the middle of that box.

It works great for non-square blanks, as well as blanks with other than 4 sides.

I hope that helps,
Eric


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## mmayo (Jan 23, 2013)

Thanks - THAT is the one I have seen and I think I want to buy.  I agree that the woodcraft model is so large that that adds to the clumsy feeling when using it with 5/8" or 3/4" pen blanks.


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## Dan26 (Jan 23, 2013)

mredburn said:


> I rotate my blanks 4 times marking the blank. That will give me a center inbetween the lines that is where I drill



I do the same as Mike. Dead on most of the time.


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## orlandopens (Jan 23, 2013)

I saw this in a magazine the other day. Two corner brackets glued with CA. Works like a charm. Cost? Priceless. I had a whole box of the corner braces just laying around.


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## Crashmph (Jan 23, 2013)

Boz said:


> Looks like your Woodcraft unit is a little big for pen work.  This is the unit that I use.
> Center Square, 2-1/2 Inch Capacity
> As has been said if the blank is not perfectly square you should draw a line from all 4 corners the box in the center is the center.




Grizzly has the same one for a little cheaper.  
H5605 Center Square 3"


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## juteck (Jan 23, 2013)

Wholesale tool sells one that's 1.5" that I use.  


http://www.wttool.com/index/page/category/category_id/17483/

Sent from my iPhone using Forum Runner


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## 76winger (Jan 23, 2013)

Boz said:


> Looks like your Woodcraft unit is a little big for pen work.  This is the unit that I use.
> Center Square, 2-1/2 Inch Capacity
> As has been said if the blank is not perfectly square you should draw a line from all 4 corners the box in the center is the center.



Wow, that link brings back memories! I haven't bought anything from Micro Mark since my model Railroading days of almost 30 years ago. Good to see they're still around.


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## nava1uni (Jan 24, 2013)

walshjp17 said:


> Send a PM to cnccutter (Erik Land) he sells two different sizes of thumb square center finders.  They work really well.



I use these and they work really well.  I also mark from all 4 corners and then drill in the center of the marks.  This works best because most blanks are not square so drawing from two corners doesn't give you a true center.


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## sbell111 (Jan 28, 2013)

mredburn said:


> I rotate my blanks 4 times marking the blank. That will give me a center inbetween the lines that is where I drill



That's what I do when I'm actually interested in finding the center, such as when drilling celtic knot blanks.  Most times, however, I'm not.  Those fall into three catagories:

Most 'normal' blanks don't require the hole to be actually centered.  These I simply eyeball and drill centerish.
I drill Jack Daniels blanks so that a bit (but not too much) of the char shows on the finished pen.  These need to be drilled in a specific spot off-center.  I knocked out some quicky jigs that allow me to mark this drill spot for a number of pen kits.
Antlers don't actually get drilled in the center, either.  They get drilled in a manner that allows the bit to not break out the side of the antler and there to be enough 'meat' at the ends to match the fittings.


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## bradh (Jan 28, 2013)

sbell111 said:


> ==trim==
> That's what I do when I'm actually interested in finding the center, such as when drilling celtic knot blanks.  ==trim==



With knots and some other segmented blanks, drilling in the centre is critical or the segmenting pattern becomes uneven. I always drill these on the lathe using a self centrering chuck to hold the blank. 
I don't know any other way to drill these blanks exact enough.


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