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I haven't logged on for a while. Visited often when my son and his family lived for a time in Oz.
They brought me back several packages of pen blanks in assorted Australian woods. All are nice and...

I use the daily asprin therapy to help prevent strokes, T IAs and other heart related problems. Not a guarantee but proven to reduce chances of these problems. I have read extensively on the...

Wood hardners or stabilizing solutions are (usually) just plexglas dissolved in Acetone or MEC.
If you do the E How method I suggest you use only glass for the container. Acetone and MEC are...

Yes, a good belt is essential. I understand the belts used on industrial air conditioners are the best there are. Might take some shopping to find them. When I had a Reeves drive lathe I found belt...

Thanks for that perspective. Yes, truly mind boggling. Prayers for all continue.

I consistently have had good protection from WD-40 for short term storage and even some long term. I use it on guns and tools. Admittedly, my environment is not as harsh as the experiment mentioned....

The American news media are finally starting to give serious coverage to the flooding situation. Toowoomba is mentioned frequently. And the videos demonstrate how people are suffering. One flood was...

Interesting question. My first blush is that if there is wear it would be so negligible as to be of no consequence. However, you use yours a lot and have experienced the problems described. :hmm:...

If it runs true and the motor is powerful enough for your needs it might last you a long time beyond pen turning "beginner" status.
Let us know what you do and how it 'turns' out if you purchase.

Hickory is a good choice. Do you have an equivalent in Oz?

Clever idea. :2tsup:

What are you using to sharpen? What grit wheel? Too coarse a wheel will eat down anything.
El Cheapo Chinese tools can work very satisfactorily. Not as good as some (not all) of the high priced...

bone

Pity, sorry that happened.
I have heard of kauri but thought it was always deep black from laying the mud all that time.

Neat and interesting.
Was it hard on your tools?

I have a friend who is a engineer and has been his whole life. He bought a Grizzly (Tiawan made) small lathe and calls it a Cadillac compared to others he has used over many year.
I know Grizzly...

From the picture, I would say he is only as good as many others. He must have a market and selling talent to get that kind of price.

Very fine work, excellent pens. :2tsup:

Supposedly there is a tree called Queens Wood from South America that one dealer says make LV "mushy" by comparison.

Definitely an interesting concept.

Rosewood fence posts??? :oo: Watta waste!!!

Perfect turning stuff. Yes, hard but very nice. Wish I could take advantage of the offer.

OK, great. Now, if I only knew what "scumbling" meant. :?
Could you please translate that to Yankee? :rolleyes:

Trying to drill both halves at the same time is a new one for me. Do one at a time.
Having a good vice and making sure everything is square is good procedure.
Do check everything. Grab the chuck...

Something is shaking.

Yep. Chatoyance. Some woods have it, some don't.

Almost by definition, vacuums, of all kinds, are very loud.
Ear plugs are my best friend.
If I can ever afford it, I'll have a dedicated shop building with my dust collection system outside and...

Our son received another set-back. He was sent another stack of paper to fill out to qualify for his temporary medical license. He is now convinced the system is designed to discourage new or...

One of my favorite styles. Looks very nice.
There has been confusion over drill bit sizes. One of my major pet peeves. :~

And....the Charleville was one of the muskets used in the American Revolution. Just change it to Charleville1776 and we could be brothers in arms.
Remember, the purpose of guns in the hands of the...

Good for GJ.
That is quite a collection of tool rests.
Puts my total of two to shame. :B

Are your wheels coplanar? I would check that first.
Make sure the blade is properly tensioned. Tension is a close second for the problem you describe.
Then check guide settings.

Yes, the pad kits are fine for plastics. I have learned, the hard way, to avoid ever using the two coarsest grits. They invariably will scratch the surface to deeply you may never be able to sand...

For repairing old chairs (not restoring valuable antiques), I have found ordinary round toothpicks to be a very important tool in my shop arsenal.
As said, clean, however you can, the old glue off....

Those rivets are more suited for leather work, like holsters and horse tack. You will probably have difficulty getting a neat looking result if used with knife handles. I have several sad looking...

Even if you can/could get it that way, I wouldn't recommend. MM is a plastic product and very (did I say VERY?) sensitive to heat. Powered sanding with MM would ruin it in seconds. On a lathe, I use...

The first sign of buggies eating your wood are tiny piles of dust on the floor.
Seems they like the nicer woods the best too. And, they are very hard to discourage or kill. :~

Love the lamp. A simple idea made into art. By not over-finishing the turned wood you left it married with the unturned portion, I would say "just right".
I really like. :2tsup:

BobR beat me to it. I was going to suggest waxing also. Drag can become enormous with a planer. This should be regular maintenance.

Finding conversion charts is not difficult.
But that is not your real problem.
Pen drill sizes have been deliberately designed to make the user go slightly crazy. I call them 'weirdo drill bit...

The best solution for problems attendant with poly glues is to stop using them.
I do not like or use poly for my pens because of all the problems, including storage.
I use two part epoxy almost...

Thank you. But, unfortunately, my son's medical license approval has been caught up in the bureaucracy. They will be going to Hamilton, NZ for three or four months awaiting Australian approval. They...

Very nice.
That pen is special.
I have heard stories of guys getting stopped in airports if the security types find the bracelet helpers. The highly trained and skilled security types thing they...

Beautiful work.
I couldn't tell much about the rod though. :sad3:
Send to me for closer examination. :rolleyes:
I do stabilizing. You might want to try plexiglas dissolved in acetone. Much less...

The penturning forums are practically houses of worship for the Jet mini and midi lathes.
There are others but the Jet leads the pack in popularity. Delta has a new midi out that looks like it would...

Definitely a keeper. Beautiful.

Beautiful. You did well. :2tsup:
What did you use the Brasso for? Hope not the metal parts. :oo:

Had to read that a couple times to understand the problem. :?
I figured out by "tubes" you meant the turned blank. :doh:
Us Yanks an Aussies are separated by a common language. :wink:

With pen...

Hangobo
I am currently studying fly fishing and considering taking up the activity. And, I am undergoing the same puzzling situation with fly rods you are experiencing with the lathe.
With lathes...

True. But the ones in the zoo are trained and tame. Right? :wink:

Thanks all, they enjoyed the visit immensely. I'll take a look later today.