This Tool Is Essential For Making Pens | Deep Dive | Woodpeckers Tools

[@DH-lq6lf]

Jeff- you just taught me how to use my Tomek. Those old videos Tomek has are great. Can't believe how nice I can sharpen my turning tools. Thanks for what you do.

[@bobd.]

This is an outstanding design. Being able to mount the mill in the chuck and leave it there it a great idea. This will make facing the ends of the pen blank so easy. The replaceable carbide inserts should last for a long time. I like your Delta drill press Jeff. Looks to be in great shape.

[@wayneledford5131]

Great video Jeff!

[@Psychlist1972]

Nice engineering/design in this. Someone had their thinking cap on. :)

[@wayneledford5131]

That's what I like about Woodpeckers so much. Every product shows that they have their thinking caps on.

[@stanmashek3085]

VERY GOOD VIDEO THAMK YOU

[@jennybarnes4806]

I started using your mill yesterday. It’s good although need to be a little careful on a couple of things. Drill speed is important. Took me a while to find the right speed. For me it was around 900rm. Any slower and I got a poor surface - very rough. The other thing is go very slowly to start. I ruined a couple of blanks when I got a bit too aggressive with the cutters and the cutter caught the top and split the blank. If you observe these two things it works very well. I was only drilling wood blanks (Australian blackwood and jarrah) so no experience as yet on acrylic. Cheers

[@WoodpeckersLLC]

Jenny, that's a pretty common comment from people who have been using steel barrel trimmers. They're so used to having to force things that they over-feed the Pen Mill Ci the first few times.

[@johnhuggins5021]

I was very happy to hear you say near the end that I won't have to rotate the carbide insert a quarter turn until I have used it for prepping over 100 pens or so. And since I usually cut and stop to see where my cutting is occurring so I don't cut the brass tubing at all; that the brass tubing is perfectly flush without cutting any of it if possible, hopefully it'll last a little longer still. LOL

[@WoodpeckersLLC]

John, there's no problem with being cautious, but just so you know, your pen kit (all of them) have quite a bit of tolerance on the length. You can touch the brass a little and still get a perfect fit on your pen components. And, the brass is no harder on the carbide insert than Brazilian Rosewood...maybe less, lol.

[@johnhuggins5021]

Now that is interesting info. I never would have thought the brass inserts were less hard than any wood species. Now I can breathe a little easier. Thank you for sharing that with me. LOL. Have a Great Weekend!!

[@jetmakr]

@@johnhuggins5021 I was a machinist for over 45 years and cut all kinds of metal. Brass is a dream to cut. Carbide like they use in these cutters, or even regular tool steel, will cut brass all day long with no problems at all. Just don't drop the cutter or bang it against other hard material like steel or concrete because carbide is brittle and can chip fairly easily. But carbide is used for cutting most other normal metals in a machine shop without dulling very much.

[@MrPatdeeee]

As always, yet another good show. If I was into pen turning I would buy one yesterday. Of course there are zilliions of Pen turners. So no problem there, LOL. Keep the show going Jeff. And remember, Woodpeckers is "NONE" finer.

[@cedaroakfarm8596]

Good video.

[@walterplaessmann5865]

Nicely designed and machined tool! How do you like that keyless chuck on your drill press, how does it perform compared to the usual keyed version?

[@WoodpeckersLLC]

Very happy with the keyless chuck.

[@edmettler8088]

Hi Jeff, I like the tool and purchased one with the pilots. I've been looking for a good vice for pens and like yours. It seems to handle large sizes and seems self adjusting. What brand is it?

[@WoodpeckersLLC]

Wood River -- Woodcraft's private label brand.

[@briansack7920]

Nice tool & video. On the readers, the cutting edge appears to be at the very bottom of the reamer. Does that give you any problem getting the reamer centered in the brass tube, especially if there is an off-center glob of epoxy at the end of the brass tube?

[@daveklein2826]

No

[@Mygames627]

Is the vise woodpeckers as well ?

[@WoodpeckersLLC]

It is not. We've had a couple on the drawing board, but they haven't advanced past that...yet.

[@grumpywiseguy5992]

Approximately what is the lathe speed? I know that your lathe probably doesn't have an RPM readout but the belt pulleys used should give some indication of lathe spindle speed. Also is there some reason for the very short shaft that inserts into the drill chuck? There was considerable runout on the first pilot reamer and I wonder if a longer shaft at the drill chuck end might be of some help with that. Drill chucks are notorious for being loose after a while. Nicely made piece as usual.

[@WoodpeckersLLC]

Lathe speed or drill press speed? The drill press is 780rpm. I use the next to lowest speed on my step pulleys almost all the time. I actually think what everyone is calling runout is a result of seeing the single flute of the reamer turning at such a low speed and magnified 2x. I've had a dial indicator on that chuck and it shows less than .001" measured half an inch below the jaws. The three-lobed shaft of Pen Mill is definitely not the culprit. If anything, the reduced shank of the reamers might introduce some runout, but I really think it's just a trick of the camera.

[@grumpywiseguy5992]

@@WoodpeckersLLC Thanks for the reply. I meant drill speed, I am learning Woodturning so that is where my mind is at. Thanks for the speed. I forgot about the three flats to engage with the drill chuck. Sounds like you have it all covered. Take care and stay safe.

[@TJ-tb3xm]

What kind of vise is that?

[@kreativekymona]

Do I need a drill press to use this CI? Can I use a hand drill?

[@WoodpeckersLLC]

It is not for use in hand drills. Drill press only.

[@kreativekymona]

@@WoodpeckersLLC Ok, thank you!!

[@WCFAsyncQueryable]

What is the vise that you are using?

[@WoodpeckersLLC]

Wood River.

[@briansack7920]

Oops, a correction on my previous question on centering the pilot if there is a glob of glue inside the brass tube. Upon closer looks, the reamer do have a small taper on the end, which would facilitate getting the reamer centered.

[@toolchuck]

Brian, I’ve owned and used the Ultra-Shear Pen Mill Ci 13-Piece Set since late 2019. It is a very well made and precision piece of engineering. It does, however, suffer from what I believe to be a shank that is too short and incomplete machining of the reamers, but fortunately the reamers can be corrected. The end of the reamer which is intended to cut into any residual glue in the tube doesn’t, because it can’t. The reason is because there isn’t any relief ground out behind the two cutting edges of the bottom of the reamer, it is dead flat, in relation to the tip of the cutters. Without a relief of any kind the cutters can’t bite or cut into the material it is attempting to cut. All other reamers have one, so I’m not sure why these don’t. Anyway, if you have ever sharpened a drill bit on a bench grinder you can apply the same technique to these, and they will work perfectly! If you haven’t any experience, there are many KZbin videos on sharpening drill bits that should help you out. All the best, Chuck

[@briansack7920]

@@toolchuck Chuck, many thanks for the input. I'll probably pass it on to Woodpeckers and ask if they've considered this issue. Secondly, I use a DrillDoctor to sharpen my drills. Do you think doing a partial sharpening of the Woodpecker Ultra-Shear reamers with a DrillDoctor would provide the necessary cutter relief?

[@toolchuck]

@@briansack7920 Brian, I have a Drill Doctor, and no it won't. It references the cutting edge from the flute if I remember correctly, which the pilot reamer lacks. Grinding the relief is not that hard, the hardest part is getting over grinding on a brand-new beautiful pilot reamer.🤦‍♂️ The amount of material that needs to be removed is not a lot, just enough to allow the cutting edge to bite into the glue. If you go to Craft Supplies USA and search for Whiteside pen mill, you'll see a great closeup picture of their reamer that has reliefs cut into them.

[@farmcat3198]

Woodpecker's take on a case trimmer.

[@jamescollier2370]

Are these amateur pens guaranteed not to leak? Serious question.

[@WoodpeckersLLC]

Depends on the supplier of the mechanical parts, but in my experience they're very reliable. Nothing the woodworker does could make it leak.

[@rs2055]

6-8 weeks before shipping? You should not be doing a deep dive on products Woodpecker can't even ship. I would buy a set today but I don't have time to wait that long so off to Woodcraft with my money.

[@WoodpeckersLLC]

You might notice that the 5-piece set is the only product that shows delayed shipment. All the individual components and the 13-piece set can ship immediately. The company that makes the cases sent the wrong size. They're supposed to be replaced sooner than the 6-8 week message, but that's what the computer puts up as a minimum.

[@daveklein2826]

LMAO