Thread: Adapting a pen mill

Could try to renovate the thread,screw a piece of internally threaded rod onto it using Loctite.

Lathe down to size to fit cordless. File a flat and use a machine screw to anchor in the wooden handle.

Thanks, Artme, I had vague thoughts about something similar but the idea of the flat is a good one.

Hi mate I solved this quite a while back especially No flat on that flimsy shaft.

Get one of those hexagonal adaptors used to hold as an atachment to those short sets of odd shapes to screw nuts , screws, small bolts etc. Cut the adaptor off it is mild steel, I put mine in a metal lathe squared the end , drilled a tapping hole, used the right sized tap and threaded the right length, fitted with epoxy glue to the hex piece. Voila.

Now I hasten to say those Mills with the Wood Handles are cheap, do not last long.

I did away with these things 15 yrs ago using a ground step drill around 1/2 inch stepped to the snug fit in the brass, the 1/2 inch part acts to check the face and it reams the brass inside ever so nicely inside at the start of each end.

My conclusions are after some heartache either use a simple rod in a block of wood to hold the blank to square it to the brass tube using a disk sander and something to hold it at right angles to the sander, clean the tube and check the end using your existing now to be modified ex wood handled Mill which will now last indefinitely or instead of the hex steel, I turned a brass stubby handle and used a locknut to hold it on the shaft after cutting the thread in it. Had one stolen at a demo.

Forget cutting the blank with this device for poofteenth adjustments invariably that perfect blank will chip ever so slightly and wreck real easy.

Go to Big Shed and buy on of his Sanders (check with him its a ripper) that uses a shaft and a flat end and sandpaper disk for finishing the flat exactly to the hole all the way thru the blank. Now after all this gratuitos advise.from a mug pen maker like me, go to the IAP site and look up in their library tuts on blank facing etc, also there is a guy called Johnny C and C or similar who makes a killer pen mill. Do the same on our site re facing blanks read deeply and make up your own mind, or get in touch by phone or whatever with Amos if I remember you live in Victoria as does Big Shed, we all had to solve your problem at some time. Have success.
Kind regards from Peter.

Thanks, Peter, looks like you've been through the same experience as me only 15 years ago, I was starting to feel as though I was the only one. Plenty of food for thought, I have found though that the mill providing it's kept sharp does a reasonable job on most materials. I have tried different sanding jigs and they still leave a slight gap when I assemble the pen, my best results are still with a pen mill. I haven't tried Fred's sander mill as I don't have any of the sandpaper for it.

Regards,

Tiger

You just buy some self adhesive sandpaper I buy 150mm disk's for $1.50 from a local tool shop and then you get a wad punch and punch them out. I could not find any wad punches up here so Fred very kindly found me one and posted to me so it is worth chatting to him he is a nice guy and will help you with any questions you might have.
I certainly have not regretted buying the sander and I have not used my mill since.

Thanks, Rum Pig. I can remember SuperCheap Auto selling a disc sander conversion kit which allows for velcro backed attachment. You then peel the old sandpaper off and attach a new bit. I'll see if they still sell it. I don't have a wad punch as I've never needed to use one before so I'll get a bit of pipe and put an edge on it and I should be able to make a version of this sander mill. Of course I still need to turn the mill.....

Originally Posted by Tiger

Thanks, Rum Pig. I can remember SuperCheap Auto selling a disc sander conversion kit which allows for velcro backed attachment. You then peel the old sandpaper off and attach a new bit. I'll see if they still sell it. I don't have a wad punch as I've never needed to use one before so I'll get a bit of pipe and put an edge on it and I should be able to make a version of this sander mill. Of course I still need to turn the mill.....

A simple solution to the mill is to turn your cutter around on the shaft gives you a flat surface to attach your sandpaper ,and you can still use the cutter when required . The cutters are easily sharpen'd with a small diamond file ,simply touch up the flat surface ,leaving your cutting angle alone ,all problems are solvable hehe, cheers ~ John

G'day John,

Even with turning the cutter around (though I'm not sure that you can do that on mine), you still need some sort of adhesive sandpaper I would think. What sort of sandpaper have you used?

To be honest I rarely use my end mill ,and the type I have has interchangable shafts of various sizes ,they have a flat which locks the cutter on with a grub screw, mainly I trim on a disk sander which is set up very true ,and maybe use the end mill just to touch up in case the tubes are not square in the timber or acrilic ,when using the cutter I always do it by hand using a small drill chuck that was lying around the place . But in answer to what sandpaper I would think a velcrose style loop and hook would be fine easy to replace ,its not as if there will be much load on it ,or there shouldn't be at least hope that helps , cheers ~ John

I started to use the Velcro type sandpaper on my sander mill and because it is fairly soft due to the velcro backing could not get decent square ends.

I now buy Al Ox coated sandpaper by the metre from Bunnings and put thin (the cheap stuff from the $2 shop) double sided tape on the back and cut disks using a 19mm and 6 mm wad punch. A set of these costs all of $10-15 at the markets.

See Rum Pigs' post further up, it really isn't a very difficult thing.