Thread: Extended mandrel for sanding - 6mm ?

If you're still chasing it at the end of the day I'll throw some vernier calipers over a pen mandrel once I get home from work.

Going into serious production of pens then?

I will measure my own too, just looking at things like the berea A vs. B mandrels and getting concerned mine might be a weird diameter!

Not really planning to increase my production, I just hate sanding . And the way I figure it, sanding (for example) 6 tubes on one mandrel should take about only a little longer than doing 2...

For that length, maybe rig up some sort of steady in the centre? Then bowing shouldn't be an issue......
If I had any sort of skill I'd say 'just practice with the skew a bit more and you shouldn't really need sanding'..... Alas, I occasionally revert to 150 grit when tackling some nasty pen blanks so I'll just bite my tongue

I'd like to think I do OK with a skew, at least when it comes to pens! The big time sink for me is micromeshing after applying a plastic finish (CA/WOP/rustins/whatever), that's where I'm hoping to save some time.

You will find the standard mandrel rod is just under 1/4" by a few thou. I don't believe standard 1/4" bar will not go inside your small sleeves that normally fit directly on the mandrel.

1/4" threaded rod fits.

Just got some "6.3mm" (it's so not 6.3mm) rod from bunnings which I think will work - the bushings are a little looser than I would like but I think close enough. Will be trying it out sometime on the weekend!

I tried 1/4" silver steel and as Dallas said, slimline tubes will not fit over it. Some bushings will fit but they are a very tight fit.

So I gave this a try today... According to my calipers, what bunnings is selling as 6.3mm (and I at least would presume they would actually mean 1/4") is actually a shade under 6mm.

My finishing bushings slide on a little easier than on a real mandrel, so I was worried they'd move a bit too much, but they turned out fine. Can't push too hard with the sandpaper/micromesh/polishing cloth without supporting the other side though!

5 approximately sierra length blanks were fine:



but 6 was a bit too wobbly for my liking (workable but I think I'll stick with five):



Very happy with this setup, I think it cut my sanding time post-finish down to about a third what it would have needed otherwise!

Cheers,

Danny

By my memory the rods actual diameter are 6.4mm how tis goes in imperial don't ask me LOL but I definately remember the 6.4mm

Cheers Ian