All set to turn a bunch of pens now...

Ned Bulken

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Lakeport NY and/or the nearest hotel
I'm also a member over on the IAP (international association of Penturners) forums, and they recently had a group buy on a pen mill set. for $38 including shipping I picked up two of these:
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that's a set of shafts with interchangeable heads, in 7, 9, 10 and 11 mm.

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the set came with a 4 blade head, I ordered an extra 6 blade head to go with each one.
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wow, macro photography at its finest...


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OK Ned, I am an idiot, what are those specialized tools used for. I thought all you need to turn a pen is a mandrel and a drill bit, besides a lathe and the pen kit and blank.

Please educate me?
 
OK Ned, I am an idiot, what are those specialized tools used for. I thought all you need to turn a pen is a mandrel and a drill bit, besides a lathe and the pen kit and blank.

Please educate me?


Rob the mills are used to square up the ends of the blank once you glue the tubes into them. And the different diameter shafts match the different sized tubes for various pen kits.
 
OK Ned, I am an idiot, what are those specialized tools used for. I thought all you need to turn a pen is a mandrel and a drill bit, besides a lathe and the pen kit and blank.

Please educate me?

Rob, I've never turned a pen so I'd listen to Ned, but your statement is like saying all you need to get into turning is a lathe! :rofl::D:rofl:

Looks like you all set to go for sure now Ned.:thumb:
 
Jeff,
I dunno about All set, but I'm a whole lot better off than I was... Normal street price on One set of mills is $30... I picked up two just in case, plus I got the 6 blade heads as well.

I don't think you need to worry too much about the "just in case" scenario. I have been using the same cutter head for over six years. I do touch it up occasionally with a diamond lap. Some, on the pen forums, will say it can't be done. I dunno :dunno: works for me. ;)
 
Hey Ned,
Looks like you are good to go... I haven't seen the 6 cutter version before, looks like it might be really smooth. But like Frank, I'm still using the two I bought when I first got into pens about 6 or 8 years ago and a spare I got when my son gave me his set up... one is 1/2 in. and works on the smaller diameter pens.. I use it mostly for slims and/or my deer antlers. The other is 3/4 with a couple of shafts I use a lot.
 
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You can also turn adapters for all the oddball size tubes that they don't make a pilot for. I make mine out of spare 7mm tubes and hard maple. It seems like every pen takes a different size drill bit and half of them don't have pilot shafts. You can also check out sites like Enco or McMaster-Carr and get spot face cutters with matching pilots.
Dale
 
OK Ned, I am an idiot, what are those specialized tools used for. I thought all you need to turn a pen is a mandrel and a drill bit, besides a lathe and the pen kit and blank.

Please educate me?

Rob, I'm starting to understand why the call it a vortex!:eek::( Lathes are small but there always coming up with so many add-ons for this or that. It's like the Snap-on tool man..... He'd make you one heck of a deal on a bigger tool box, even give you almost what you paid for the old tool box but the gets you when you "have" to fill all those new empty drawers!:D:rofl::rofl:

I can see the wisdom in Larry, "not" getting involved with spinny things!:rolleyes::rofl::rofl:
 
Rob, although I'd guess most pen turners use one of these pen mills to trim the ends of their barrels square, it can also be done with a good disk sander or even a chop saw with a fine blade. (Although the pen pill is the least expensive of the three.) ;)

Ned, I really like the looks of the six-blade head. I'll have to look into those if my 4-banger ever wears out.
 
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