Thread: Pen making advice...?

I have turned a few pens and I use the yellow super glue from reputable woodworking suppliers. The kits generally come with a basic instuction and a mandrel is required to mount the tube on the lathe. The wood is turned down to the stop ring on the mandrel at the ends (top and bottom) of the body parts and you can do what you please in the centre to make the body ergonomically pleasing..

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If you go to graeme at Southern Woodturning Supplies he can give you the advice you require and also supply the bits & peices required for the job

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Jim
Turn it up

Steve.
There is an excellent book by Dick Sing "Pens From The Wood Lathe" which I found to be of great help when I started pen making.
Dick, an American, was in Oz a couple of years ago for the Down Under Turnaround at Philip Island, and I understand is coming again this year. He is also doing workshops in Melbourne and Adelaide. I don't know about your area. He is a great demonstrator, very approachable,and helpful and I could not reccomend him too highly regardless of anyones proficiency in turning. Regards. John H.

Hi Steve

Drop into work one day I'll run through it with you. The pens are quite easy to make, and obvoisly require little timber.

Jim, thanks for the plug.

Graeme

Try http://www.themestream.com/articles/125441.html

Originally posted by John Hambly:
Steve.
There is an excellent book by Dick Sing "Pens From The Wood Lathe" which I found to be of great help when I started pen making.
Dick, an American, was in Oz a couple of years ago for the Down Under Turnaround at Philip Island, and I understand is coming again this year. He is also doing workshops in Melbourne and Adelaide. I don't know about your area. He is a great demonstrator, very approachable,and helpful and I could not reccomend him too highly regardless of anyones proficiency in turning. Regards. John H.

Dick Sing is giving a demonstration at the Berwick Woodworkers club onb Sunday 2nd September. Some places are still available for members of other clubs. Costs $30 including lunch.

Originally posted by John Hambly:
Steve.
There is an excellent book by Dick Sing "Pens From The Wood Lathe" which I found to be of great help when I started pen making.
Dick, an American, was in Oz a couple of years ago for the Down Under Turnaround at Philip Island, and I understand is coming again this year. He is also doing workshops in Melbourne and Adelaide. I don't know about your area. He is a great demonstrator, very approachable,and helpful and I could not reccomend him too highly regardless of anyones proficiency in turning. Regards. John H.

Dick Sing is coming to Canberra for demo, contact Les Fortescue at the Woodcraft Guild of the ACT for details.

Graeme

Hey guys, this is a long story, but there is a plea for help at the end, so bear with me. I have been making pens with a Jet Mini Lathe for the last couple years at my high school's shop, and I recently came across a brand new full size lathe that I couldnt resist buying since it was only 70 dollars. I then went and bought all of the things I needed to turn a pen, because that is basically all I do with a lathe. When I got home to set everything up, I realized that the motor-driven end of the lathe is 3/4" outside threaded, without a hollow center, so I can't fit a mandrel on it. However, the tail stock is put in the same way as the motor-driven end of the Jet Mini Lathe, and I have a live center in there. I have tried various jigs and setups that I created, but I can't seem to find anything that works. If anyone can help, please let me know. Thank you

Originally Posted by ftblbilz1988

Hey guys, this is a long story, but there is a plea for help at the end, so bear with me. I have been making pens with a Jet Mini Lathe for the last couple years at my high school's shop, and I recently came across a brand new full size lathe that I couldnt resist buying since it was only 70 dollars. I then went and bought all of the things I needed to turn a pen, because that is basically all I do with a lathe. When I got home to set everything up, I realized that the motor-driven end of the lathe is 3/4" outside threaded, without a hollow center, so I can't fit a mandrel on it. However, the tail stock is put in the same way as the motor-driven end of the Jet Mini Lathe, and I have a live center in there. I have tried various jigs and setups that I created, but I can't seem to find anything that works. If anyone can help, please let me know. Thank you

This is a bit drastic, but... in most of the better mandrels I've seen the shaft is simply threaded into the morse taper.

Have you considered mounting a drill bit in a jacob's chuck to your tailstick and drill/tapping the headstock so you can screw the shaft straight in?

It'd take the lowest speed, a light touch and great care to get it centred properly... and I think you'd want to drill to a depth of at least twice the length of the shaft's thread to avoid problems from pneumatic compression (unless you can drill all the way through) but I can see no reason it wouldn't be possible.

(BTW... did you notice the date of the last msg in the thread you posted this question in? :confused:)