Thread: What do I need?

things you need
pen mandrel
bushings
drill press
try timberbits.com

Thanks I'll check them out, I've not got a drillpress yet so I'll have to look at those also. I'll have a good read and look through the pen turning section of teh forums here as well and read to learn a bit. Cheers for the help

you can get by without a drill press , the drilling can be done on the lathe ..( although i prefer the press )
its also possible and easy to make the all the pens except for the 7mm tube ones without a mandrel just turn them between centers with the bushings in place thats the way i prefer to do mine .

Hey Mitcon

Welcome aboard

How come nobody mentioned Big Credit Card, when the addiction hits, you will go all silly for a bit.

And don't forget to get some extra tubes, for 'Justin' (Just in case you have a big Boo Boo) You will, I garantee it.

And Hey Good Luck, don't forget to post some pics, good ones and stuff ups, we can't help you fix problems if we can't see the problem.

HazzaB

Hello Mitcon, welcome to the mad house. Firstly need to be insane, next Big Credit Card, then body armour to protect you from your wife as you fall in love with pens!
Apart from that, budget does come into it, If you have a big enough budget -get top quality tools-you will never regret it.
The suppliers have starter kits, look at Carrolls Woodcraft, Addictive Pen Kits, Timberbits.com, Gary Pye Woodworking, 043Turning, and you will get an idea of the things that are available.
Amos

Thanks for all the info/help guys and the welcome, at this point no budget at all so to speak and certainly not touching the bankruptcy card lol.

I have a lathe and all the turning tools etc as I have have done woodturning for ages (well not the few years). I even have a heap of blanks and burls I can cut up, so it's just the basic bits for just turning the pens I need and a drill press. Got gouges and skews and all sorts of different scrapers and HSS turning tools and a collection of chucks and bit'n bobs for the lathe.

Just the smallest thing I've turned in fine stem goblets, most thing have been larger bowls and even shields and large discs/platters upto a meter or so in diameter.

I've got a big bandsaw (well think it has a foot and a half cutting depth so fairly big) so where does the other costs come from? I'm only wanting to play with basic designs and stuff I might even be able to sell at local markets at a latter point.

I find turning larger stuff takes so long that it makes my wrists hurt a bit after a few hours of turning and I'm sick of fixing my poor old lathe from turning things too large for it hehehe.

Originally Posted by Mitcon

so where does the other costs come from? I'm only wanting to play with basic designs and stuff I might even be able to sell at local markets at a latter point.

Sounds like you are well on the way to making pens with the equipment you already have. If you are going to start basic and we all usually do, you will probably start with slimline pen kits which are not really expensive. Carba-tec have kits you can buy for as little as $12 for a pack of 5 pens. You do need a mandrel for the slimline pens which will cost you around $20 for a cheapie which will do the job. Bushes for the slimline pens usually come with the mandrel. As mentioned, you also need a drill press if you don't want to drill the blanks on your lathe. Or if you want to take the real easy way out, buy some blanks already pre drilled ready to turn on the lathe. Pre-drilled blanks are available from most pen part suppliers. Carba-tec have them as well.

If you use a drill press to drill the blanks, you need some kind of a vise to hold the blank in for drilling. I think they cost around $50 or so.

There are some videos out there on utube showing how a pen is made so worth a "google"

It can become quite expensive when you get into the upmarket pens like some of the guys make on the forum and the kits for some of these pens are quite costly but cost is something you can govern yourself by how far you want to go.

Warning though, It is very addictive

Yeah, I think I'll just start with the slimlines first and see if I enjoy it. They were the type I was planing on buying to start with anyways to be honest. If I enjoy it and get into it more (most likely knowing me lol) I'll worry about that then. Or maybe if I sell some I'll put the proceeds to doing nicer stuff and so on.

The idea was more for perosnal fun/enjoyment as I miss turning and I've got quite abit of timber I can use already. I do have the stuff to do them on the lathe though would depnd on the size. A vice for holding the blanks I'd prolly make myself, would be a fairly easy task and although I said I don't have a drill press I do have access to a couple (guy next door and a mate a couple of blocks away have a small one).

It'd be nice to just make some cheap basic ones to sell at local markets for $20 or so and then make really nice ones as gifts and personal enjoyment, least thats what I was thinking. The wife does glass engraving and pyography and we just thought we might be able to off-set costs of hobbies slightly once every so often maybe to help.

Hehe, don't be conned by the so called "simple" slimlines, they can be as high end as you want , materials and finish is what makes a pen from ordinary to wow !!! ,don't skimp on glueups ,this is the most critical part of preparation for your pens , a good foundation is most important. You will turn a pen from 15-30 mins with practice , doesn't take long ,small dia work on a steel mandrel all clamped up nice and safe ,soon be up to speed. Enjoy and have fun , be careful as your wife may want a bit of the action when she sees what you can do with pens , may even incorporate some of her art work on some of the blanks, especially when you move up to thicker kits like sierras and cigars .
Cheers ~ John

One golden rule I have is that SWMBO gets first choice on any pens I make, She currently has a stunning Mallee Burl slimline which I would have kept for myself.

At least that way I don't get nagged. (Did I say that?)

Watch out it is addictive.

If you need any blanks just yell.

Cheers,
Russ