Using Pen Mills

Excerpts from the Messageboards

Ken Platt: I haven't done all that many pens but I did find that the mill worked better by hand than in a drill. It seemed as though at drill speeds the mill kind of skidded across the end grain without cutting. With a turned top for the mill that fits the palm of my hand, I can get a good deal of pressure and get nice fine shavings with a back-and-forth (clockwise and counterclockwise?) motion. I did sharpen the mill with one of those diamond files, but the hand pressure was what started giving me good results..

Bodger: I have had the Lee Valley pen mill for a number of years, and it works with no problems in all the hardwoods I have tried. I chuck it up in the drill press (which hasn't helped the threads any) and away I go. I keep the speed under 500 rpm. When I cut my blanks I put a witness mark across the centre to keep the pairs identified. One slash for the first set, two for the second, etc. This helps keep the grain consistent through the two pen halves. The lengths for top and bottom are different so matching the tubes shouldn't be an issue.

Mark Kauder: Just did 15 Pens this last week myself. I always use a drill press running at about 500 rpm. I use a pen clamp, but there is not much torque, so you could use your hand. A wooden c-clamp is better. I always cut my blanks to length with my best TS crosscut blade first, and then just touch up the ends with the mill.

Bill Grumbine: I always used the pen mill in a drill, and ran it as fast as I could. My clamp for holding the blank was my left hand, although a vise would work. Most of the mills I ever used were good ones, although the HUT one was of softer metal and didn't stay sharp for very long. I think it was the high speed and hand held that did it. I regularly did hard woods like cocobolo and rosewoods with no problems. Of course, there was always that ornery piece of wood from time to time that insisted on having a ripple cut on its end, no matter what.

Dane: Put your blanks in a vise first, then use your drill with the mill. Works perfect for me.

Steven D. Russell: I use a pen mill extensively on exotics - much harder than domestic timbers - and find it will perform flawlessly if the cutterhead is kept sharp. Timbers such as Aussie Dead Finish, Lignum Vitae, Rosewoods, Guyacan, Ironwood, Texas Ebony, Texas Pecan-Crete and many more, present no problem at all for a pen mill. In addition to using a pen mill on the writing pens I turn, I use it on key ring blanks, perfume pen blanks, letter opener and magnifier blanks, bottle opener blanks and many more projects. Over the last few years, that amounts to thousands and thousands of milling operations on more than 150 different species.

Pen mills will work flawlessly *if* they're kept sharp. If not, they will chatter, peck-out, produce powder instead of shavings, or dance across the surface of the endgrain. The key here is to maintain a very sharp edge on the cutters at all times. I use small DMT diamond stones in fine, or very fine grits. These stones are very small... about 3/4" x 2" on a longer handle. When sharpening, you *must* maintain the existing angle on each tooth. Flatten the stone on each of the cutterhead's flutes (whilst observing the angle) and give it two or three light strokes.

I hold my blanks in an X-Y vice for the milling operation. It's nearly impossible to hold the blanks in your hand and doing so may result in an injury. I prefer to use the mill in a handheld cordless drill and run it at ~ 2,500 RPM. Lapping the cutters is performed when the cutters start to chatter. If you keep the cutters sharp, you will find that the pen mill is the best way (IMHO), to square the ends of the tube prior to mounting on the mandrel. This is because the pen mill's solid shaft registers the cutterhead to mill the ends of the tube, 90 degrees to the drilled axis of the hole. This means that if your hole is slightly off centre, the pen mill will correct the ends of the tube, (whilst cleaning the tube interior) so that it's 90 degrees to that off-centre drilled hole. Pen mandrels typically require a 90 degree end on the blank, relative to the drilled hole for proper mounting of the bushings.

The pen mill on wood also works with equal efficiency on alternative materials like bone, plastics, antler, horn, ivory, soft metals (brass, pewter, copper etc.), stabilized wood and others.

Bill Howatt: I use the Lee Valley one by hand with no problems. I trim drilled blanks to length on TS then touch up end with mill.

Scott Greaves: There are good ones, and not-so good ones. Bill Grumbine had it right in saying that keeping it sharp is essential. Right now I'm using the convertible pen mill from Penn State. It works well because I do sharpen it. And I like having all the different sizes of shafts to fit different brass tube diameters. But of course there are other ways to square off the ends of a blank! One of the most popular is to just cut carefully on the table saw until you are even with the brass tube. Another is to use a disk sander. A friend of mine uses a jig he made that holds a pen blank exactly square to the face of his disk sander. So it can be done. But I still feel that a good pen mill is one of those tools that is "just the right tool for the job" that we all dream about.

Don Orr: What a great discussion over such a small (but Important ) tool. I have to agree with several points. Obviously sharp is critical! I use the mill from Penn State and had mixed results until I sharpened it better. Tried the diamond hone with little success. Tough to match the angle by hand. I then took the cutter off the shaft and got out my dremel-type tool and used the fine abrasive cut-off wheel (the flat side, not the edge) and touched up each cutting edge. Incredible results-cuts fast and true! I've also tried trimming by hand but kept stripping the threads in the wooden handles. I put it in my cordless drill and wow, fast and easy and great speed control. I just hold the blank in my leather-gloved left hand and trim away. Did a whole bunch of white oak the other day very quickly. Lots of great ideas in these responses. Try a few and see what works for you!

Dan Donaldson: 1) Sharpening my mill made a world of difference. 2) I use it in a cordless drill and hold the parts in a vise. 3) It is a pain to ream out the glue (even though the mill is designed to do this), so I plug the end of the tube with plumber's putty before gluing. I stick it in a thin wad of the putty and then take a bit that just fits in the tube and pack it in. After gluing, and before the glue sets up, I run the bit back through to punch out the little plug, and end up with a clean tube. It saves a bit of hassle when I ream it later with the mill.