Pen Mill -- steel or carbide?

[Jamie Straw]

How easy is it to sharpen the cutters on the steel barrel cutters? I'd like to start with steel, rather than carbide, 'cause this pen stuff mount$s up, just want to make sure I'll be able to sharpen them a couple/three times. Your take?

[Robert Parrish]

Jamie, their easy to sharpen. I just give them a few strokes with a small file.

[David E Keller]

It's pretty easy to sharpen one with a small diamond hone. I don't find the need to do it all that often. I've got at least 500 pens on my current steel pen mill with no end in sight.

[Jamie Straw]

Thanks, Robert. Getting my start-up for pens order going here.

[Jamie Straw]

It's pretty easy to sharpen one with a small diamond hone. I don't find the need to do it all that often. I've got at least 500 pens on my current steel pen mill with no end in sight.
Wow! Sounds like a $25 investment will go a long ways. Or maybe your's is high quality? Where did you buy yours? I'm putting together a Penn State Industries order.

[Paul Douglass]

I have a steel PSI one, the first I bought. I later bought some carbide ones. I seem to go back the the original PSI one most often. Easy to sharpen and it just seem to work better.

I sharpen with the red one of these:

http://www.woodcraft.com/Catalog/ProductPage.aspx?prodid=18131&ss=a9a9dfbd-ca32-4ab5-b6df-a28a221551e7

PSI has a credit card size on that I think would work just as well.

[John Terefenko]

I use both. But for the steel ones I like to use a 6 cutter blade because it leaves a cleaner end and a truer end. I use the carbide for my metal blanks that I casted. Steel would get torn up too easily. Also steel dulls faster when trueing acrylic blanks over wood blanks.

Here is my metal blanks.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v233/JTTHECLOCKMAN/IMGP0616.jpg


http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v233/JTTHECLOCKMAN/IMGP0619.jpg

[Allen Neighbors]

I bought the steel pen mill set from PSI, and the cutting edges were so dull, and mis-shaped, that they only skimmed the surface of the wood. They wouldn't cut butter. I tried to sharpen the cutter, and couldn't do it without one blade being longer than the others.
I threw the cutter into the trash barrel, and ordered the carbide cutter.
When it becomes dull, I sharpen it with a diamond file.
Now I have no problems with it.

[David E Keller]

Wow! Sounds like a $25 investment will go a long ways. Or maybe your's is high quality? Where did you buy yours? I'm putting together a Penn State Industries order.

I think I got it at Woodcraft... It's been so long ago that I can't remember. If I ever get another, I'll probably get carbide because it should stay sharp even longer between honings.

[Jamie Straw]

I use both. But for the steel ones I like to use a 6 cutter blade because it leaves a cleaner end and a truer end. I use the carbide for my metal blanks that I casted. Steel would get torn up too easily. Also steel dulls faster when trueing acrylic blanks over wood blanks.



John, those are beautiful!!! The metal looks "braided." Did you write up a thread about them when you started making them? I'm gonna do a search!

[Jamie Straw]

I sharpen with the red one of these:

http://www.woodcraft.com/Catalog/ProductPage.aspx?prodid=18131&ss=a9a9dfbd-ca32-4ab5-b6df-a28a221551e7

PSI has a credit card size on that I think would work just as well.

Thanks, Paul. I just got a set of those paddle hones. Have the credit-card-sized one too, stuck to my lathe with a magnet. Darned paddle hones, I accidentally checked "2nd Day Air" when I ordered 'em from Amazon, cost twice as much for shipping as for the product!:(

[Jamie Straw]

I bought the steel pen mill set from PSI, and the cutting edges were so dull, and mis-shaped, that they only skimmed the surface of the wood.

Mmmmmm, that's not good. If I get that kit, I'll check it out carefully, make 'em take it back if it's a mess like yours. Sounds like others have had much better luck with PSI.