pen turning

wa2crk · Post by **wa2crk** » Thu Feb 16, 2012 10:27 pm

Terry;
Make a couple of more cuts.

Bill V

pennview · Post by **pennview** » Fri Feb 17, 2012 8:36 am

Penn State Industries has a set of three tool rests with both the uprights and horizontal parts of the tool rests made of 5/8" round steel rod. These are welded at the "T" joint so they would be easy to modify into your "1" or "2" inch rests. But, you also need to buy the 3/4" to 5/8" bushing so that the tool rests can be held in the Shopsmith assembly.

terrydowning · Post by **terrydowning** » Fri Feb 17, 2012 12:12 pm

[quote="wa2crk"]Terry]

I rather like my 4 inch rest.

and prefer to keep it as is.

I also find the shopsmith cast iron rests to be a bit soft and they can really get dinged up when turning rough stock. Nothing a quick filing doesn't fix easily. Although the soft cast iron absorbs vibration well, I may try a harder (and smoother) material for my smaller rests.

drl · Post by **drl** » Fri Feb 17, 2012 12:14 pm

The standard tool rest works fine for pens. Just extend the quill until there is enough clearance for the tool rest to get close to the mandrel. I'm not concered with the quill extened out because there is very little stress on such a small turning. However if a mandrel saver is used a shorter tool rest would be a benefit.
Regards,
Dwight

terrydowning · Post by **terrydowning** » Fri Feb 17, 2012 12:15 pm

pennview wrote:Penn State Industries has a set of three tool rests with both the uprights and horizontal parts of the tool rests made of 5/8" round steel rod. These are welded at the "T" joint so they would be easy to modify into your "1" or "2" inch rests. But, you also need to buy the 3/4" to 5/8" bushing so that the tool rests can be held in the Shopsmith assembly.

I know a couple of welders and may just have them made rather than purchase.

There is also a guy on penturners.org that sells custom tool rests for reasonable rates and they are highly rated by many users there. I think I would rather give my money to an enterprising small american business/ individual than a large company that imports from China.

terrydowning · Post by **terrydowning** » Fri Feb 17, 2012 12:38 pm

drl wrote:The standard tool rest works fine for pens. Just extend the quill until there is enough clearance for the tool rest to get close to the mandrel. I'm not concered with the quill extened out because there is very little stress on such a small turning. However if a mandrel saver is used a shorter tool rest would be a benefit.
Regards,
Dwight

I seldom use my mandrel for making pens anymore. I have discovered the precision available using collet chucks and Turning Between Centers (TBC). I find this way more fun and rewarding personally as I have started making pens without purchased components and I'm making all the bits myself.

When working on a 1.5" long roller ball section in aluminum or urethane, the standard 8 inch tool rest just doesn't cut it and my 4 inch is a bit farther than I like to be from the work.

Culprit · Post by **Culprit** » Fri Feb 17, 2012 2:25 pm

terrydowning wrote:I seldom use my mandrel for making pens anymore. I have discovered the precision available using collet chucks and Turning Between Centers (TBC). I find this way more fun and rewarding personally as I have started making pens without purchased components and I'm making all the bits myself.

This sounds like a great topic for a new thread. I would like to hear/see more about what you're doing.

pennview · Post by **pennview** » Fri Feb 17, 2012 3:51 pm

Terry, tell us more about your collet chuck for the Shopsmith.

I have a set of ER25 collets and chuck that I can use on the Smithy Supershop because of it's R8 spindle, but I wasn't aware of a collet chuck that fits on the Shopsmith 5/8" spindle, unless you're using something like the Shopsmith to 1x8TPI adapter and mounting a collet chuck to that.

Regarding those tool posts sold by PSI, clearly having someone weld up a few tool posts out of 3/4" drill rod would be the preferable way to go, but they are an option for someone without welding experience or help.