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.
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I use a disc sander to square the blanks. A jig ,purchased from PSI,
is clamped to the miter gauge. It is necessary to square the rod to
the sanding jig rod.

I prefer this to the pen mill because it give flat surfaces that can
be turned down without using the center bushing.

A sanding jig can be made using a 1/4" rod and a piece of hardwood.
The only requirement is that it can be squared to the sanding disc.

Larry
Hand Turned Pens at http://webpages.charter.net/lgottlieb2/