My pen mill (the gismo for cutting the end of the wood down to the brass insert)is obviously not working as well as it should. The blame appears to be that it is blunt. Before I hack into it, does anyone have some wonderful advice?
Dick
I have nothing wonderful Dick, I often have the same problem. I find that hard, dry woods cause the most problem. I have a very fine (and cheap, I think) diamond file. It looks like a very fine abrasive stuck on a wide stick, about 5" in length. I tryh to match the angle of the cutters and give them each a couple of swipes. That seems to smarten them up. If you don't have such a file I would suggest sticking a piece of wet/dry sand paper, say
600/800 grit, to a suitably flat object to make your own file. I can't see why that wouldn't work, sure does on my chisels etc.
I sharpen mine on my Tormek. I remove the cutter from the shaft and simply hold each cutter face to the edge of the wheel (at a slight angle). Repeat for each cutter wing. Sharper than new.
Peter Teubel Milford, MA
A diamond slip works well (the type that looks like a popsicle stick with various colored handles--red is fine, purple is medium, etc. They are inexpensive and easy to use.
-Jim Gott- San Jose, CA
They also work great for touching up your tools between trips to the grinder.
Andy
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