# My new squaring method



## Carl Fisher (Mar 10, 2012)

A little scrap wood and a dowel make a nice sanding plate.  Paired up with the jacobs chuck and a harbor freight punch set, I can square up any blank or clean up after applying finish with accuracy.

Someone had posted a video on acrylic blanks where I saw something similar being used and I thought...I can do that   20 minutes later I'm soooo much happier and can say good bye to the pen mill.

For big removal I'll just use the disc sander to get it close and then use this to finish up.


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## boxerman (Mar 10, 2012)

That is cool thanks for sharing.


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## navycop (Mar 11, 2012)

What are the numbers for?


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## jfoh (Mar 11, 2012)

To line it up in his chuck the exact same way each time. Should keep vibration down to almost zero.


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## Carl Fisher (Mar 11, 2012)

Yes, it allows me to put it back exactly the way it was turned.  That way if there was any slight offset in the way the dowel was glued to the face or any other variance it keeps everything aligned just the way it was turned so it runs true and smooth.


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## dogcatcher (Mar 11, 2012)

Use the Beall tap on a 1.5 square blank 3" long.  With the end tapped, and mounted on the headstock, first round it off to keep from busting knuckles, then square the end.  Use sticky backed sandpaper.    It screws on and off of the spindle and stays square.


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## Carl Fisher (Mar 11, 2012)

I don't have a collect chuck, but that's a good tip as well.


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## dogcatcher (Mar 11, 2012)

It is doesn't use a collet chuck, it is a single piece of wood, that is drilled and tapped to fit the headstock spindle.   Just like yours except threaded on the headstock.


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## Carl Fisher (Mar 11, 2012)

Ahh, sorry.  I saw Beall and assumed the entire setup.  Sorry for my spelling above, I'm not very accurate when I'm responding on the tablet.


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## brownsfn2 (Mar 12, 2012)

This is really cool.  I hate hate hate pen mills.  I can never keep mine sharp and I always seem to roll over the brass on the blank by going too far.

I would love to do this.  Is there a link to that video you mention?  I also had a couple of questions.

What grit sandpaper do you use for squaring?

I am not sure I understand the hole in the end where the sand paper goes.  Why is it there?

Do the HF center punches flex at all when using them like that?

Thanks so much for the idea!


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## Carl Fisher (Mar 12, 2012)

I'll have to dig back through some facebook posts to find the original video but it was related to casting and/or turning acrylic blanks.  Just happened to catch a setup similar to this towards the end with really nothing mentioned about it specifically.

The hole is where the punch tip of the punch sets into the face.  Keeps everything from flexing...not that you need to put much pressure on anyway.  Just slight downward pressure to cover any slack if the punch is not a perfect fit to the tube..then press into the spinning sandpaper for a second or so at a time then back off, clear the dust and check your progress...repeat until desired results are achieved.  I run this at the lowest speed I have.

That's 220 on there now.  I might make a second one with a lower grit for fast removal pre-turning and then have the 220 in there for finish work.


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## joefrog (Mar 30, 2012)

I used my pen mill probably six times before turning to my Ridgid belt/spindle sander (bought years ago at Home Depot for about $129).  The little fence and table on it turns out is dead square.  I've been using it to square pen blanks and loving it.  

Cool idea, though -- I will try it just to see if I can!


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## mikespenturningz (Apr 20, 2012)

That is so easy and such a good idea. I will make one tomorrow for sure.


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## 76winger (Apr 20, 2012)

Great idea Carl, I love it!


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## Mike D (Oct 19, 2012)

That is a great Idea!


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## Mack C. (Oct 19, 2012)

Carl Fisher said:


> A little scrap wood and a dowel make a nice sanding plate. Paired up with the jacobs chuck and a harbor freight punch set, I can square up any blank or clean up after applying finish with accuracy.
> 
> Someone had posted a video on acrylic blanks where I saw something similar being used and I thought...I can do that  20 minutes later I'm soooo much happier and can say good bye to the pen mill.
> 
> For big removal I'll just use the disc sander to get it close and then use this to finish up.


Yes, I did use that method at one time. Just had to change the sandpaper quite often!


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## lorbay (Oct 19, 2012)

You could also turn an MT on one end and it would be the same every time you put it back in the head stock.

Lin.


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## Carl Fisher (Oct 19, 2012)

Actually it's pretty much permanently mounted into one of my collets and I just put the collet chuck on now instead of the nova.  Quick screw on/off and it's accurate every time.  Definitely turning a taper on it would work as well.

I've gone to a method that uses a low grit paper on a disc sander to get just to the first touch of the tube, then I'll put it on the punch on the lathe to square it up proper with a bit higher grit paper.  I have fairly large rolls of PSA paper from Klingspor that I just tear little pieces off and stick them to the face.  No use cutting round paper as it just wastes time.  As long as it's big enough for the blank it's good.

When the face gets gummed up with psa adhesive, I'll just true up the face again with the chisel for a nice fresh surface.


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## jbswearingen (Feb 8, 2013)

Carl--

I just found this after searching for squaring methods because I'm getting tired of the mill in the drill press.

Simple and genius!  I'm gonna set one up today.  I have PSI's 2" vanity mandrel that should work perfectly for this--just need a second Jacob's chuck.

Thanks!


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## joefyffe (Feb 8, 2013)

Ed Brown did a good video, recently, on turning a dowel to a MT and mounting sandpaper on the end of it.


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## mikespenturningz (Feb 9, 2013)

I took Curtis's advice and am using my face plate attachment and cut a plywood circle and attached to the face plate then added the hook side of velcro to it and use 100 grit sanding disks works perfectly with my HF centering punch set.


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