Pen Turning . . Tailstock Extension

nuhobby · Post by **nuhobby** » Tue Feb 19, 2008 8:25 pm

Hello,

Having a 510 with the wide stance on the worktable-lift tubes, it seems the location of the lift for the Lathe Tool Rest is not optimum for a very short workpiece such as a pen. I saw elsewhere on the forum that some folks had procured a #2 Morse Taper extender to get the pen-blanks/mandrel farther toward the headstock and allow better positioning of the tool rest.

I rattled around and found some PVC tubing and fittings in the basement which I got to do the trick for me. The "stiffening" piece inside the end of the PVC that's clamped in the tailstock-side is right off the end of a discarded Quill. (The shiny part right before the tapered end of the shaft.) I just 'turned' the inside of the PVC with a pocket knife to get a nice fit.

This got me to the best (6-inch) tool-rest postion I've yet used for turning my pens, and I had very easy turning as a result.

Would be interested in anyone else's favorite pen-turning ideas, too!

Best Regards,

charlese · Post by **charlese** » Tue Feb 19, 2008 9:16 pm

That's worth at least two ATTA BOYS!

Ya just gotta love do-it-yourself solutions to such problems! We call it innovation! ATTA BOY Chris!

If we had more of that (like in the good ol' days) we wouldn't have to see so many gadgets - and add ons, called improved tools! We could all save $ and still make the same projects, without the gadgets. Of course, if we were forced to come up with such innovations, many people would be out of work.

paulmcohen · Post by **paulmcohen** » Tue Feb 19, 2008 11:39 pm

nuhobby wrote: Would be interested in anyone else's favorite pen-turning ideas, too!

Best Regards,

I posted pictures elsewhere on the forum but I use a #2 Morse taper to #2 Morse taper extender and two Shopsmith live center extenders to get the same effect. I like Steel vs. PVC. PVC is OK for turning Pens but I am turning large bowls and wanted the live center very strong.

nuhobby · Post by **nuhobby** » Wed Feb 20, 2008 3:32 pm

Chuck: Your response plays out what probably goes through the heads of all us enthusiasts. We want tools to improve our lives, but we don't want to be enslaved to tool mania. I do think everybody in this forum considers the Shopsmith as THE all-purpose tool to improve our handiness and free time.

Paul: Good comments; I may have seen your pictures some time back. I agree the PVC extension is suited for light-duty pen turning but nothing of appreciable mass, where steel would be better.

BTW: I remember one hobby-turning magazine showing a fellow who had made special-purpose light-duty 4-jaw "chucks" out of PVC tubing with cuts in it.

Thanks & Regards,

woodburner · Post by **woodburner** » Fri Feb 22, 2008 6:53 pm

Did you know tha PennState woodturnig tools makes a pen mandrel that is made just for the Shopsmith.
I myself have one and use it and others on my SS.
Instead of using extensions, I just advance the quill out to take up the space.
As for the PennState mandrel, it is made extra long to solve this problem.

nuhobby · Post by **nuhobby** » Fri Feb 22, 2008 8:25 pm

Hi woodburner,

In fact I do have the Penn State mandrel for Shopsmith, but I really wanted to nestle the (6-inch) tool-rest in close. Which tool-rest do you use, and do you get it any closer to rotation's-center than the outer-diameter of the 5/8-inch-bored left end of the Penn State mandrel?

thanks,

paulmcohen · Post by **paulmcohen** » Fri Feb 22, 2008 9:05 pm

woodburner wrote:Did you know that Penn State wood turnig tools makes a pen mandrel that is made just for the Shopsmith.
I myself have one and use it and others on my SS.
Instead of using extensions, I just advance the quill out to take up the space.
As for the PennState mandrel, it is made extra long to solve this problem.

I use the Shopsmith Universal Tool Rest (Banjo) and even with the quill fully extended you need to extend the live center or things interfere.

charlese · Post by **charlese** » Fri Feb 22, 2008 9:37 pm

Gotta add - although extra hardware is cool, I still question if it is really necessary.

I only use the standard Shopsmith tool rest and standard SS lathe tools, have been able to turn short items such as wood drawer pulls (1 1/2" long). Yes I turned these out of longer pieces of wood.

When turning pens, why can't we just purchase a board or two of desired special exotic wood - then through re-sawing and ripping make longer pen blanks. This would also probably be a little cheaper in the long run, as we can get multiple pens out of one board. Also we wouldn't have to pay the expense of others making blanks and would not have the expense of extra special use hardware. Purchasing larger boards is usually less expensive per cubic inch than smaller pre-prepared blanks.

If we make a pen blank that is 7" long then the only loss would be about 2" of wood. Still, I think the wood would not turn out to be as expensive as purchasing 'pen blanks'

rkh2 · Post by **rkh2** » Fri Feb 22, 2008 9:44 pm

Just adding my 2 cents worth on this topic. I also have the penn state mandrel for the SS and also use the universal tool rest and a live center when I am turning pens. The only thing I seem to be doing differently is I am using a 4-inch tool rest. This allows me to get as close to the pen as I want to. The only down side is that with a 4-inch tool rest, I have to do one half of the pen then readjust my tool rest to do the other half of it. I don't have to hardly extend the quill out at all.

james.miller · Post by **james.miller** » Fri Feb 22, 2008 9:51 pm

If you are cutting your own pen blanks mill them slightly over-sized to allow a little extra room for finishing on the max diameter of the pens. Also allow a little extra in case the drill wanders off center slightly.