Yeah, 6" is plenty long for pen blanks.
Make sure to cut with the grain lengthwise.

Always wonder if they worth a flip,but I guess its good to remove some dust before it gets to the blade.But wonder if it is stiff enough to remove dust after it makes the trip around the blade between the blade and the wheel.I seen a pic of one where a plastic tooth brush was heated and bent to mount.
Catch 22,to stiff and over little time have grooves,to soft just don't work.Still a good ideal---Carroll

I've always used a meat slicer.

I don't disagree with your observations. It's worth fixing. If you like it, fix it.
I don't know why the bullet catches are there BTW.

It absolutely is!

Now that's cool. I own more than a few Blue Spruce chisels, and I don't think there's better workmanship. Plus, Bruce is one of the most genuine and nice guys around.

Throw the urethane tires in the trash, glue on some real rubber tires, crown them and get back to cutting wood.

Greg

The issue is on-line now (I can see it). Nice looking project.

I would suggest having the sides and sole machined on a mill and then lap the surfaces on a granite plate to your desired surface finish.

I cut a few dozen sheets of DOW/Owens extruded polystyrene (blue and pink) and black backed Poly ISO insulation on my ICS with zero issue. No metal in mine and no foil. Sorry to hear about you setting off your brake.