Mills

[Terry B]

Dear All
I have not turned any pens yet but want to start. I have purchased the starter kit from Carrolls that includes 5 pens, mill, mandrell and glue etc.
The mill is threaded on one end as to take a handle or similar. I could put it in a drill chuck but this would damage the tread. How do I hold the mill to use it? Do you power mill or by hand?
I have read differing views about this but knowone mentioned it being threaded.
I also purchased 1 pen3 that has a 10mm sleeve. This fits the 2-3 bush but the mill is for 7mm. Do I neede to purchase another mill or the expensive multi diameter mill or just neatly part it off on the lathe.
Thanks in advance from a complete pen newby. :confused:

[lubbing5cherubs]

I use mine in the end of a cordless drill. The other questions perhaps some one with more experience can answer the 10mm question for you because I am interested in taht part too.
Toni

[Skewpid]

As far as the mill goes, I turned a nice little handle for it to start with, but that was too much work, especially on some hard woods.

Its now pretty much permanantly stuck in one of my cordless drills, and yes, the thred has worn off so never to be back on the handle . . but *shrugs* I have no plans on putting it back there.

For the 10mm tubes? I think there is the larger mill for those, but like Toni, havnt headed down that track yet.

Dont worry, Im sure someone will pop up soon with an answer

Rich.

[Skew ChiDAMN!!]

Same story: cordless drill, stripped thread, no plans whatsoever to put it back into a handle...

Yes, there's a larger mill. Personally, I don't have one; for the pens/bushes that fit the std. mandrel I simply use a basic mill to clean out/square to the tube and then dress the blank on a faceplate sander. It's a cheap way out but be warned: it can quickly screw things up if you're not paying attention!

Eventually, if you turn a lot of different kits, you'll probably end up with a few different mills sized to suit the various mandrels & bushes. The multi-dia. mill is a handy bit of kit but until there's a real need...

[clubbyr8]

Cordless drill as well, but mine wasn't threaded. I bought a basic 7mm from GPW but as I branched out into other size pen kits I bought the muti-bit set. At the time, there wasn't anyone in Australia that sold it so I bought it from Rockler in the states.

There are a lot of kits in the states that aren't available here that have different size tubes that the multi-bit set doesn't cover. Craft Supply USA carry the bits for these, but they are expensive. I think it's time to turn the centre bits out of hardwood to clean the tubes (I use polyurethane glue for my pens).

Regards

Bob

[Jim Carroll]

We have a delux trimming kit available that can do 7mm, 8mm, 3/8" and 10mm with a 3/4" mill

[Terry B]

Thanks All

[bdar]

Terry I have the 1/2 inch mill in a Jacob chuck for milling. As Jim said he sells the 3/4 mill with the different size arbors, it is worth the money to get, it is something you will need when getting into the larger pens. I have also found by sliding a 10mm tube from a RL101 is the size I need to take up the slack when milling the tube for the Sierra kit from the US. Thanks Jim best money ever spent.
Darren

[JackoH]

Standard mandrel with different size bushes, to suit different size pens. Jim should be able to supply these.