Thread: New To Pen Turning

You will probably get advice to get everything including the kitchen sink, but really you need very little to just get started. All you really need for pens is a spindle gouge and maybe a small skew chisel for the turning of the blanks.
A pen mandrel to mount your blanks on for turning and either a live centre for the tailstock or even better, a mandrel saver.
A pen mill to square up the ends of your blanks and help clear out some of the glue if it gets inside. These will only partially clean out the glue as the shaft is not a neat fit inside the tube, so you will need to find other ways to get the rest out. The inside of the tube needs to be completely free of glue before trying to press the parts together or you can split the wood or acrylic due to the tube being expanded as you press together.
Some glue to glue the tube into the blank. You can use either a medium CA or an epoxy glue such as 5 minute Arildite.
The hole in your blank can be drilled many ways, so providing you have plenty of spare material to play with, the hole doesn't have to be perfectly central and straight.
You will soon find there are many other items you will want once you have made a few, but these will get you started with minimal outlay.
Good luck with what will most likely become an addiction - they are fun.

Just went through this myself, made a list so hope it helps. Treecycle has nailed most of it.

1. Lathe
2. Overhead drill - I find it easier
3. Pen mill
4. Mandrel - but also be aware of what bushings you will need as different pens will require different bushings (size does matter)
5. CA (superglue)
6. CA accelerator - to speed up curing of the CA
7. Drill bits - a lot of people laugh but you need the correct size as well as length
8. Chisels - I have been lucky and been given a set, a large gouge I think is a must, personally I would go and buy a set but also make sure they are good quality or you will spend a lot of time sharpening and cursing
9. Sharpener - talking of sharpening chisels, I went and bought a diamond stone after much research - love it, wouldn't use anything else at this time
10. Micro mesh - get some
12. Sandpaper - research what grit you will need, allowing for the size you will need, a few sheets of a lot of different types should do you for a while
13. Shellac - research which one you will like, it will make the finish of the pen look more lustorous
14. Make yourself a blank holder - Chad Schimmel on youtube has a great set of videos which I am watching as well. Subscribe to his work, he is good. Here is a link to his first introduction video.
15. Pen kits - research research research. Figure out what you want to make, and as I am doing, start with baby steps.

Anyway - I am a beginner but have gone through a lot of research so hope this helps.

Further more, and probably one of the most important tips when it comes to Pens, something I was NOT informed of when I first started turning Pens, is buy the bushings from where you buy your pen kits. Cos oils ain't oils and a quite frequently the bushings don't match the diameter of the kit exactly. And a 0.5 or 1mm step really doesn't look good.
Also, 5min epoxy for gluing in the tubes. Or medium CA, but it comes down to preferential choice at the end of the day. Generally you would use epoxy on wood/Medium CA on acrylics. And don't forget to rough up the outside of the tube first.