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Today in the shop: Some turning

reible

Actually some of the turning happened yesterday but lets not count that. I had a few gift projects stored up and wanted to get at them. First was some Kaleidoscope Necklaces . The second was some Mini Scissors.

Yesterday I stated on one of the scissor blanks but tried to cut too deep and got to the brass tube.... so that blank and tube are a waste and I don't have a spare 10 mm tube of the correct length so I either have to order some or go to one of the wood worker stores and see what they have. So that is why yesterday doesn't really count as a start. I was able to make two of the three and have now decided that I need a few more kits to complete this years gifts. Pictures in a few moments.

Then I had 4 kaleidoscope kits and needed two more, well until I managed to get the three mirrors stuck and cracked them trying to get them out. A costly mistake and so I will have to order a replacement for that and 3 more. They are about $13 each so yes costly mistake.

I tried to get a few pictures of the kaleidoscope view but they only came out so so.

Here is a picture of the three kaleidoscopes and the two mini scissors. The necklace feature is not yet in place, a simple cord but I might let the wife do that as my fat fingers don't work as well as they once did especially on smaller things.

The lighter wood is Coffee Wood and the dark is Peruvian Nogal, the third is a mystery to me.

So this is how I started my May.

reible

Found out the one on the far left is Teak.

I do shop the bargain bins and likely as not the woods are not labeled and it can be pretty hard to id what is what. When I turn pens and know what the wood is I put a label with it and it lets me do compares and something figure out what the unlabeled blank is but a lot of times it just not clear.

I think I might have as many as 30 pen blanks cut to length and tubes glued in waiting for me to get going on them. I like to do batches of say 12 or so at a time to make it more efficient and less likely that I get bits and pieces mixed up. Not only do you need to keep the two parts of the blank together but also know where the center is so the grain matches if that is a feature. I've dropped a container of pen blanks and had to try and sort through them, no fun.

Ed

john

Ed:

Good Job!

I have always admired those who "turn"out nice projects like these.

The kaleidoscope looks like a good idea. Where do you get the kits?

John

Hobbyman2

what mandrel do you use ?

reible

Both kits are from Penn State Industries, you can search for them on the web site:

pennstateind.com

Or if you have trouble locating them let me know and I will get you the information.

The turning is easy on both of these, putting the mirrors in was a bit of an issue for me......

Ed

reible

I use the shopsmith 1/4" chuck and a mandrel saver in the tail stock. Parts A and C in the image below. The shaft was purchased by itself as a replacement part since I didn't need the drive portion, see B.

The mandrel saver, some times called a pen center, is basically a 1/4" hole ball bearings center and as such works with any 1/4" shaft and if I were to replace what I now have I would just get a piece of piece of 1/4" drill rod since you don't need the threaded bit on the exposed end. I got it before I had the mandrel saver and didn't know any better. I still might do this change over just because I'd like to see how it would work......

While I do buy pen kits and some other kits from Penn State I do NOT buy lathe turning parts or tools from them. I know Craft Supply has the shaft as a stand alone part if the is of interest to you. You can check them out here:

woodturnerscatalog.com

If I can be of any other help please let me know.

Hobbyman2

Thanks Ed, the drill rod sounds like it should work, I haven't started any pens yet but I have been checking out the hobby, I seem to have a bit more scrap / small pieces that I hate to waste . the cost of lumber now makes it hard to toss small pieces in the burn box .

reible

Other project during the day but this evening I got back to turn another part of the kaleidoscope and go as far as I could until the new kit comes with mirrors which will replace the broken ones.

Since I still had some energy left I decided to turn another pen. This one is a fountain pen, called the Clarion. Back when I was in grade school and sometime in HS I use to use fountain pens. I have on a few occasions as an adult reverted to them. I don't know exactly why but I do like them so I figured I owned myself one in old age. It is ready to go except I haven't added the cartridge for real, it is just sitting there more or less in place in the second photo.

Looking forward to actually using it but I don't want to add the ink until I am really going to use it and not just test it.

reible

The parts arrived and now I have pretty much finished this project. Of course now comes the giving. Some stuff I will have to mail to DE but the rest can be delivered local so that is easier. Still have to get the wife to tie on the cords and decide who gets what.

Still have to clean up the assembly area, so many small bags to deal with mostly.

Next up I have 14 pens with brass in and trimmed so they are ready for turning. I like to do them in batches up until this point and then turn them and finish as the next step followed by assembly. Have to check my supply of pen parts and see if I can cover what I have in this batch. I have another batch of 14 this far along also and two blanks without anything done to them. I think I will need pen parts for that bunch so I can start making out an order and see if I get luck having a sale or free shipping or the likes.

Then I will try to retire from pen turning. I didn't keep records in the early days so I have no way of knowing just how many I have done but I think this will be in the neighborhood of 500. Like wise I didn't track woods that I used but started doing that and if I remember right it is 39. I'm sure that number is more like 50 but it too hard to remember some of the names.

Just getting old and not many more people on my gift list.