Barrel trimmer help

[stevebuk]

i have just turned a pen (my first in a while) and unfortunately my barrel trimmer isn't level, it cut more off near the tube than the outside, anyone know how to square it back up, i dont have a vice though ..

 

[M P Hales]

Thought woodworking was your vice! :lol:

 

[CHJ]

Not really with you there Steve, are you saying that the cutter head face is not square to the guide spindle.

Or is it that you are using a smaller spindle than the diameter of the tube and it's allowing the cutter face to lean.

On any of the kits I have used the actual wood/blank surface that is required to be true and at right angles to the tube axis is only about 1mm at most, I find it hard to envision what could be going wrong to provide a noticeable angular misalignment of the blank end using a tube bore guided cutter.

 

[woodyturner]

Personally I don't like barrel trimmers especially on spalted or softer woods as they can tear out the end grain out so I use a disk sander with the fence set up dead square removing wood little by little just to make sure it ends up dead square with the tube and I find it gives a much better finish on the ends

 

[CHJ]

Personally I don't like barrel trimmers especially on spalted or softer woods as they can tear out the end grain out so I use a disk sander with the fence set up dead square removing wood little by little just to make sure it ends up dead square with the tube and I find it gives a much better finish on the ends

That's OK Woody if your blanks are cut perfectly square and the central hole is drilled perfectly parallel to the side faces, but for the more random 'feature' bits that I use on an irregular basis a barrel guided cutter is the only viable option, I do resort to a squirt of thin CA on the ends of spalted blanks to help with the torn weak wood problems.

Have found that like all cutters the barrel trimmer head does benefit from a careful honing of the cutting edges with a diamond dresser.

 

[Neil Farrer]

I make quite a few pens, like Woody, I use a disk sander. I have a drill press that I use with a vertical vice so the holes are pretty straight to start with. When it comes to using the disc sander I use very light passes and turn the blank every light pass across the face of the sander. Its an excellent way of ensuring that you dont reduce the length of the tube as a little practice will enable you to detect a change in the sound as the tube becomes exposed to the abrasive. This method has given me very satisfactory results over several thousands of pens.

 

[12345Peter]

If you don't have the different shafts to go into different size tubes you run the risk of not keeping the cutting head square to the blank.

This one has 6 cutters instead of the usual 4 which gives a better finish, it also has several shafts and only costs just over £11 inc. postage.

<https://www.timberbits.com/pen-mill-6-cutter-head-set.html>

The Axminster equivalent is a 4 head cutter and costs just over £24 plus postage.

<http://www.axminster.co.uk/axminster-universal-pen-barrel-trimmer-prod783389/>

Regards

 

[stevebuk]

thanks all, i have seen a hand powered one from Peter childs for a few quid so i will get one after xmas..