I' don't make a lot of pens, perhaps a few hundred but I've never sharpened
the barrell mill I bought with my first lathe-it cuts fine. don't let it
spin and burn the wood - maybe that's how the others go bad?

"Matt" wrote in message
...
I have heard some say that barrel trimmers/pen mills get dull rather
quickly. I have been using a disc sander to square up the end, but by
looking at the pictures in the catalogs (craft supplies, psi) it seems
like
a pen mill or barrel trimmer would do a nice/better job.

My dilemma is this:

1. I hear they need sharpening often
2. They are rather expensive - I want more than just 7mm. I would like
'O',
maybe others.


If #1 is true, then #2 is even worse because I'd be buying an expensive
tool
that needs sharpening too often - i might as well stick with the sander.

Can someone with experience with these and/or disc sanders give me their
opinion?

And with regard to disc sanders, what technique do you use? I use a block
of wood with a hole in it. I place a drill bit in the hole(snug) and the
pan
blank with tube over the exposed drill bit, then hit the sander with it. I
*have* taken off some of the tube by accident, but not much and it doesn't
seem to affect the pen's operation at all.