My First Pens

fredsheldon · Post by **fredsheldon** » Thu Jun 21, 2012 3:08 pm

Jupiter,

I got most of my pen turning supplies at Penn State Industries,

http://www.pennstateind.com/store/pen-t ... plies.html

You can find the tail stock and tool rest on e-bay any day of the week. You will need a Live tailstock center with 60 degree point, a Universal lathe pen mandrel set for 5/8' Shopsmith and a Universal barrel trimmer system, which can be purchased from Penn State along with sanding paper, polishing cream, 7mm drill bit. Then just add wood and you are good to go. Hope you enjoy it as much as I have so far.

Fred

wa2crk · Post by **wa2crk** » Thu Jun 21, 2012 4:41 pm

Jupiter;
Try E-Bay. There is lots of stuff for SS on there.
Bill V

fjimp · Post by **fjimp** » Thu Jun 21, 2012 7:18 pm

[quote="wa2crk"]Jupiter]

Now that site can get expensive in a hurry. I have seen Shopsmith items sell used there for more money than buying direct from Shopsmith or from vendors like Penn State.

wa2crk · Post by **wa2crk** » Thu Jun 21, 2012 7:31 pm

Fjimp;
Yeah I know. Especially 5/8 saw arbors actually go for more than SS. However things like the tailstock casting and tool rests and posts will save some folks real bucks.
Bill V

saminmn · Post by **saminmn** » Thu Jun 21, 2012 11:21 pm

nice pens. I wish I could say I had finished a first project

I will get there, but for now it is good to see such nice work from someone else's first time SS effort.

pennview · Post by **pennview** » Fri Jun 22, 2012 8:15 am

Very nice pens, Fred. I'd expect that the third pen is some wood other than red oak, which has a coarse grain. Perhaps it's cherry, but then again it looks a bit too dark for cherry.

fredsheldon · Post by **fredsheldon** » Fri Jun 22, 2012 8:35 am

Art, the pen in front is Red Oak and the other two are Black Walnut. A friend at work gave me the wood from his farm here in Huntsville Texas.

pennview · Post by **pennview** » Fri Jun 22, 2012 10:46 am

Fred, it's tough to identify small pieces of wood, especially from a photograph. Maybe red oak in Texas looks different than what I see up here in Pennsylvania. But, the red oak I see has a rather distinctive coarse grain pattern. Here's an example of a pen made with red oak (at least the bottom half is red oak) -- http://www.etsy.com/listing/101993513/h ... mpaign=api

If you have additional samples, you can look at the end grain. There should be a series of tiny holes. Here's an example --
[ATTACH]17791[/ATTACH]

Culprit · Post by **Culprit** » Fri Jun 22, 2012 10:19 pm

fredsheldon wrote:...a Universal lathe pen mandrel set for 5/8' Shopsmith...

Or the more common MT2 pen mandrel. Unscrew the MT2 taper, chuck the bare mandrel in your Jacobs chuck, and use the aforementioned live center.

Some people have cautioned me against this and told me that drill chucks can be off center. I measured my setup and am happy with both the measurements and the results. See post #16 in this thread.

Others have cautioned me that drill chucks aren't made to handle the side loading forces. I haven't had a problem, and as long as I keep my lathe chisels sharp, and don't get too aggressive with the sanding, I think I'll be just fine. You're supposed to let the sandpaper do the work anyway, not the pressure of pushing it against the workpiece.

I'm not saying the dedicated Shopsmith 5/8ths pen mandrel is bad, I'm just saying don't shy away from the more common MT2 if you find a good deal like I did - my mandrel came as part of a starter set from one of the major suppliers at a woodworking show. Naturally they didn't have the Shopsmith mandrel on hand at the show, but I wanted the show discount so...

getnby41 · Post by **getnby41** » Sat Jun 23, 2012 8:18 pm

In the first post it looks to me like the photographer needs some work. Just kidding. The pens look great!!

Is there a cheaper all in one kit for sale than this one for making pens?
http://www.woodturnerscatalog.com/store ... _kit?Args=

Shopsmith Forums

My First Pens

cheaper all in one kit than this?