First Lathe - First Pens

**scorpio_oz** · 20th July 2009, 12:09 AM

Hi,

I've been lurking here for a while admiring all the fantastic pens that people make.

This year my 13 yr old daughter did some wood turning at high school. So we went along for the first time to the wood show here in Brisbane and got the chance to try some wood turning with Tim Skilton and enjoyed it. I haven't seen a wood lathe since high school and that was over 25 yrs ago.

My daughter suggested that we go around to the wood turning stalls and get some supplies to turn some pens, which we did.

Now, as I did point out to her, this might be putting the cart before the horse as we didn't own a lathe, and I felt this was a crucial item needed for our plan. She figured if we bought the supplies, then it might help influence SWMBO into letting us buy a lathe. I like her way of thinking.

Now as with most of us, finances can get in the way of a good plan, and while our circumstances aren't unique, they are different to some, I have a son with a disability and just forked out $16500 for a new wheelchair for him( all out of our own pocket, no financial support from the government or charities, don't get me started on government inadequacies, we don't qualify for support because we live in a high set home and he can't use the wheelchair upstairs, not because we earn to much, and the charities are at an all time low with their fundraising because of the financial crisis so we can't blame them. And yes I know, I can buy a brand new small car for less and would expect it will last longer than the five to six years they expect out of the wheelchair - anyway enough of that rant, back to the story).

So, yes we could get a lathe but it needs to be cheap.

OK, so Ebay and $21 later, and my electric drill, and we have something we can turn pens on, we can't turn much more than pens, and its probably a stretch to call it a lathe, but it worked.

And I suppose most people can't say that their first pen kit and blank cost more than their lathe.

Along the way to completing our first pens, we learnt a few things.

1. Turn more and sand less. 2mm doesn't seem like much until you have to sand it off.

2. We carefully checked with digital calipers and turned down to the same thickness as the bushes but didn't allow for the thickness of the lacquer. you can feel the difference with your fingernail where it joins the kit, but its not too bad.

3. Lacquer straight from the tin is too thick for what we are doing, next time I will thin it down and it will probably dry faster and not so thick.

So, Pic 1, how the 'lathe' arrived from Ebay.

Pic 2, after a clean up, mounting the drill and some dust extraction.

Pic 3. The pens, mine is the dark one on the left. Red Cedar, copper elegant beauty kit, lacquer dipped. My daughters is on the right, Maple, Black titanium Elegant Beauty kit, lacquer dipped.

We are happy with our first results considering we are learning as we go. And we both realise that we are on a slippery slope where these are just the start.

Thoughts and opinions welcome

Thanks
-Gavin

PS. Thanks to Mr Rudds stimulus package, there is another chapter to this story, but thats for another day.

**HazzaB** · 20th July 2009, 12:25 AM

Hey Gavin,

Well done, I think that you are being a bit hard on your self, the pics look fine. I think that you are doing a great job

, we all had to start somewhere, Keep your head up, there are always people on these forums who are up grading, and looking to get out of old gear. It's good to here that your daughter is interested, hope she keeps it up.

All the best

HazzaB

**Christos** · 20th July 2009, 12:31 AM

That is great news. Getting into wood working by the daughter.

**edblysard** · 20th July 2009, 05:16 AM

Outstanding...If you two can do that quality of work on a machine like that, when you get a lathe I will be watching to see how much higher you can get...
Tell your daughter a hats off from Texas...and where there is a will, there is a way!
Impressed I am...

**rhossack** · 20th July 2009, 06:17 AM

Great story and an inspiration to us all ...

**Rum Pig** · 20th July 2009, 08:52 AM

Well done both of you

**gawdelpus** · 20th July 2009, 09:23 AM

Well done all round ! as a retired tradesman I always remember the lessons that "its not the tools, but the user that counts" your resourcefulness will bring its own rewards, most new penmakers start with slims ,and they are not that easy to make in spite of the cheapness of the kits, there is little room for error ,with your setup and using a drill makes sense to make the single tube type kits .Cheers ~ John

**Penpal** · 20th July 2009, 10:12 AM

How I wished I was closer to you but from here in Canberra a thousand smiles away let me say this.
Already you have shown me you are handy after all the mounting of the drill shows you can make things.
It is not a great leap of faith to mount a device with two bearings and a shaft where your drill is positioned, come on you Brisbane geniuses who is handy with metal to help with this as an electric motor hooked up is only basic skill.The basic lathe seems more than plain basic from here and could enable a quite strong lathe to emerge.
Have a look around for a lathe bed and tailstock either a Tough or Woodfast cause either of those old cast iron beds will take a headstock I fitted a new shaft,steel pulley,bearings and endcaps I will donate to the cause, anyone out there with a stuffed headstock but good bed etc willing to join with me to assist this man? I put my money where my mouth is, now on the subject of timber I will start the ball rolling with a number of pen blanks suitable for the existing set up eg no tough burls easy turning but pretty wood, lets see how far we can go as a collective to do something for someone else.Give this guy and his daughter something to smile about as he does it tough but is willing to have a go, brisbane turners take him under your wing, I will do what I can from here. In case you think I am loaded with money etc be dissalusioned now I am an aged pensioner living within my means so what can you do?
Kind regards Peter

**TTIT** · 20th July 2009, 10:31 AM

You and your daughters resourcefulness and determination are admirable to say the very least

. You did a great job getting that 'lathe' together and producing such fine looking pens.
I can't believe they want that much for a chair on wheels - just not cricket

.
PM comin' atcha!

**Penpal** · 20th July 2009, 10:46 AM

This is a pic of the head stock sitting on my existing old Woodfast lathe on a clean day sitting on the bed next to each other. I had bought the body of the head, then the shaftand pulley from FR Tough in Perth fitted bearings and turned brass end caps for the shaft covers with the idea to make a standalone head to decorate bowls off the lathe etc. Bowls are now not on my agenda. Also I bought last year the same head stock tail stock mounted on a welded frame about two metres plus so in fact if a bed can be found I have most of the matching to make a lathe for this man and if a member or business would help with transport this stuff could go to them in Brisbane.

Another thought I will kick in 25 dollars how many others would do the same? would be real quick to get enough money for a small completely new lathe and some good samaritan in Bribane could approach the dealers up there for a good deal from them?

Food for thought feedback please. What do you feel the best thing to do? Lets do it now.

Regards Peter.

**gawdelpus** · 20th July 2009, 12:14 PM

Peter ! I have sent a pm to scorpio offering him a complete lathe for pickup in Brisbane ,certainly not anything flash,in fact most woodturners decry these models ,But I did my first hundred or so pens on one of these and it still gets use for centre work . But like you I feel that this cause is worthwhile

cheers John

**artme** · 20th July 2009, 12:23 PM

Brilliant on all counts Scorpio!!

An inspiration to us all.

John that is a very generous offer on your part.

**Gezawa** · 20th July 2009, 12:24 PM

From Gezawa and his wife!

How amazing was this thread to read.

We laughed, cried and nodded. Please send us an email of your address as our girls would like to bless your girl with a little gift for her newest obsession. We are at [email protected]

You see we have two girls 14 and 12 and then we have two boys 10 and 6, who are both autistic and have consumed a lot of our time, effort and most assuredly money by the truckloads. Help is scarce on the ground and funding is even worse. Grey hair now abounds where there used to be another colour!!!!

We too have been lurkers on this forum and have been quietly working away at establishing a workshop in our home for six or so years. We started out with a vision, a visit to the Perth Woodshow and a power saw, drill and planer. Next came a Triton workbench, a thicknesser and home made dust extractor and hood and the rest as they say is history.

The only thing that beats our shed budget is food and aides for the boys.
And yes if you haven't guessed our shed is an Oh My Goodness....Dad, Mum and Kid zone. We built it together literally from the ground up with the idea of being able to build our kids character while also giving them skills that will useful for adulthood in increasing their employment opportunities.

It is one of the most amazing tool we have for spending one on one time with our kids. In the shed everyone is that little bit more relaxed and peaceful as we all have to work together to get a project done on a minimal budget with much imagination, scrounging from dad's worksites and invention going into finding a way around the lack of a piece of equipment or wood. You just can't beat the smiles from our kids when they achieve something new from nothing.

Our now 6 year old spent a year banging nails into the chipboard top of the kids workbench because whist he couldn't talk, he could bang nails with amazing accuracy. He then graduated to pulling them out and replacing them with bigger and bigger nails until he replaced the nails with screws and then tek screws. His sisters and whoever was passing would take the screws out for him when he needed them out as his grip was not strong enough to use a screwdriver!!!! As you can guess we eventually had to replace the swiss cheese chipboard as there were more hols than bench left.

Needless to say we wish you could all see the helicopter that has been made and added to for the last 3 month by the 6 year old, the burl clock in progress by the14 year old, the Taj Mahal of guinea pig cages made with a pocket hole jig by the 10 and 12 year olds. We're all learning to turn pens (well not the six year old!) and Dad's into making matching boxes.

From a family who is a few years further down the track from our inital thought of "what do ya reckon about....' I guess its the long way round of saying to any of you who were thinking of supporting this Dad and Daughter team in Brissie...Please don't just think it, do it! You may never see the results of your small or maybe LARGE contribution, but from our experience we can guarentee you that it will enrich the lives of this family immensley in ways you will never be able to contemplate.

Regards to you all
Gerry, Kim and Kids

**eisbaer** · 20th July 2009, 03:38 PM

pm me if you want pen blanks. I'm in ipswich so not far

**Sawdust Maker** · 20th July 2009, 05:40 PM

Nice work father and daughter
inspirational story as well
greenie to gawdelpus
PM to scorpio_oz

PS SWMBO would kill me if I bought a couple of blanks for more then the lathe cost (in fact she hasn't quite forgiven me for buying the lathe)

Thread: First Lathe - First Pens

Thread Tools

Search Thread

First Lathe - First Pens

First Pens

Hi Scorpio downunder up in Brisbane

Hi Again

First Lathe - First Pens

Similar Threads

New Lathe strictly for Pens

Small lathe based ornamental device for pens

Lathe turning off center = pens turning off center

Which lathe for pens?

Turning pens on big lathe

Tags for this Thread

Posting Permissions