Thread: Advice on a Pen Lathe

G'day Stuart,

As you probably know I have the Jet Mini which I paid $325 for at the WWW show.

As for the mandrel, it normallys screws into a morse taper which you then put into the headstock spindle with a revolving centre in the tailstock to support the other end of the mandrel.

For my lathe I bought the collet chuck from Vermec which mounts the mandrel directly to the spindle, I paid $158 for this with the collet. I find that this is a more robust setup and you also don't have to tighten the tailstock up as tight.

Happy hunting

Stuart, I have been using the Jet Pen Lathe from GPW, it is cheaper and you do pens no worries, but the Jet Mini Lathe gives you more options down the track, Amos

After a GMC the first thing you will find is the noise difference. My fIL has GMC and a jet. The jet is near silent. So is my leda and the other thing is smooth turning no shuddering in your work
Toni

The Jet mini is a very nice bit of gear, and does pens very well. It also has scope to do other things as well, which you would not be able to do on a pen lathe. I got mine from the woodworking warehouse, Braeside, and got a Nova midi chuck at the same time. They carry a reasonable amount of pen related stuff as well.

The debate on anything is likely to be subjective not objective given the variables so here goes with mine.I like my VL100,I made a sit down bench,fitted a 3 phase 3/4hp motor a variable speed control out the back of the lathe bla bla bla. Now my most helpful suggestion is for you to use a mandrel called a morse taper 2 set that uses an inbuilt collet system at the morse taper end that clamps the shaft the length you want at a cost of 29 dollars.I sense you can make things,if I am right I can describe a fool proof system on the tail stock end to give firmer,more accurate control than the standard live centre in the shaft.This will fit on the lathe of your choice and save the unending problems a lot of people have with wobbles.
Just so you do not think I am biased I only turn one half of a pen at a time as pushing against a moving shaft at 3000 odd revs is not my idea of fun or will never make sense to take up the vibration of a whole pen on that shaft.
Go to a club that has the various lathes,take note of all the advice you get from the forum,speak to Froggie,all the sellers of lathes and I wish you success,main thing is enjoy the lathe of your choice,choose carefully.
Have fun. Peter

ive got the carbatec mini lathe fast and faster its only small but for small things its cheep and good

peter(Penpal)
Would you describe your fool proof system,please,sounds interesting.
Terry

A description as requested. I purchase a live centre with a removable straight shafted point held in by an allen screw{eg from Carba-Tec} I turn in brass a firm fit replacement drilled to fit the mandrell shaft. Then fit the sleeve in the live centre,using the tailstock slid away each time to locate a new blank to turn. I use the mandrel system with a collet and for years a machine bolt for a mandrell.I turn one half of a pen at a time.Any time I have altered the length of a pen blank I simply pack the shaft with washers to retain the blank using the pressure of the tail stock to hold the blank,no wobbles and quick turnaround.In choosing a machine bolt I take a brass sleeve to the suppliers and test for a firm fit ie the the sleeve for the turning blank.Excuse my repitition but I also hold the mandrell morse taper in the head stock with a threaded rod and turned spacer with lock nuts works for me.Here in the ACT I buy .1 increment drills that enable drilling the brass sleeve for the live centre to be a firm fit on the mandrell.Using a cheap bolt for a mandrel you can also turn the mandrel to suit the hole in the sleeve. In the past I have posted pics of my system and other lathe things,posts have been few so I may not bother much in the future,just stick to my pens. Peter

Hey Stuart

I have not used a Jet lathe but I had a look at one on the weekend for the first time, it is a solid unit and for the price, very reasonable with the option of extensions being added if required. Toni and Skew chiDAMN could tell you about the Leda. Delta and Nova do a very good midi lathe as well. I have a Carb-a-tec mini lathe that is now 18 years old and still running the original motor and belt. Carb-a-tec now have a variable speed mini lathe which looks good but have not seen one working as yet. The only problem that I had with the C-Tec lathe was the tailstock wheel kept poping the circlip. When I had acloser look the grove was shallow and twice as thick as the circlip. I took it to a machine shop and they cut a deeper grove and I have had no problem since.

I also have a Vicmarc VL100, it is a six speed beast, I have a 1HP motor set up on it it is solid cast construction, NO. 2 morse tapers head and tail stock, standard M30x3.5 thread. I you go the secondhand line and you find a 5 speed VL 100 just check the spindle thread, the very first VL100's had an 1" 10 tpi. I am bias when it comes to Vicmarc they are just a brilliant lathe, solid and smooth running. I can not ever recall having a problem with them. The only thing I found is with the VL850 which they don't make now, is that I have to have different tool rests for it as it was a smaller diameter in the tool rests shaft and my VL200 has the now standard 30mm shaft for the tool rests.

As DJ said the collet chuck that Enzo produces at Vermec is very good and is a better way to holding a mandrel. There is also a Beall collet chuck which is very good as well. Stuart the best thing is to talk to turners that use the lathes, they will give you honest feed back about the good and bad points on the lathes. I love the Vicmarc lathes, as I said I have not had any problems with the ones I use. In the end it comes down to your budget and what you can afford. Good luck in your search for the lathe of your choice.
Darren

I wasn't going to reply here as I've stated my opinion several times in other threads but I've noticed a few "new" models have been released so here's my 2 cents worth...

When it comes to the base model of JET and Leda I've seen no difference whatsoever except the Leda is cheaper & has a slightly longer bed. It'll just handle 1/2 a walking stick comfortably, whereas I doubt a JET will. ie. The Leda is better value for money.

If you're looking at the optioned out models (eg. var. speed) then they're both about equal value for money, although I believe the JET has more distributor outlets. [shrug] It's really a case of what options do you want and what are you willing to pay?

Either way, they both make excellent pen lathes.

Originally Posted by Stuart.

All things being equal, I may go for a Jet mini lathe - not sure what they go for. How does a decent lathe fit the pen mandrel? I'm sure everyone knows my GMC mod, but not having played with a real one, I wouldn't know!

I got the Jet recently for turning finials and small parts for furniture repair. Pens just happened.

The mandrel fits into the Jet with a #2 morse taper and rides between the head and tail stock. It can expand to 40" (i think) with an optional bed extension. So far it runs smooth, quiet and wasn't very expensive. ($249 US, but had I shopped around it might have been less.. I prefer to buy local and meet someone face to face)

I like it, but don't have anything to compare it to. I turned on a lathe for the first time about 2 months ago. I should have done it 20 years ago.