Pen Turning Tool Rest

[hudsonmiller]

I recently purchased the Penn State live center and Shopsmith mandrel to turn pens. I to did notice that the standard Shopsmith tool rest is to long to get between the mandrel and live center (regardless of quill extension).

I also searched the forum here to see what the fix was and read the posts about extending the Morse Taper.

Here's an alternate approach - total Shopsmith time 35 min. A 3/4" dowel and a 4" piece of wood and bingo! Drilled hole in block at 17 degrees. Add gorilla glue and sand.

First pens have arrived successfully.

Hud

[beeg]

GREAT JOB ya did there.

[kd6vpe]

There you go shopsmith ingenuity. Nice job. By the way I use the 4in shopsmith tool rest its in the bowl turning sections.

[charlese]

Hey there Hud! You get a big ATTA BOY!!! for that mini tool rest! As you have read, some have gone to great consternation and "almost great" expense to adapt the Mark V to pen turning. Looks like you did it in 35 minutes!

P.S. loved your ingenuity in making your adjustable outfeed table (other thread) !!:)

[hudsonmiller]

I LOVE the fact that the Shopsmith is done to standard measurements. Makes fabricating stuff easy.

I recently struggled with the miter slots in the table top only to realize that a standard 3/4 sheet of plywood (which is smaller than 3/4") fits nicely into the slot making jig making very easy.

Then there is the dilemma of the re-saw fence. Wrapped myself around the axle several times about how to get a good re-saw fence - priced a bunch and was on the cusp of buying one only to realize that all I had to do was attach a sacrificial fence to the face of the miter gauge with slots instead of simply holes. The slots allow for the fence to be slid into depth of cut and then chamfer the corners off and sand to make a nice vertical, locking "Kreg style" re-saw fence for about $.35 in plywood and a minute of wear and tear on the plunge router.

Thanks to everyone for the comments.

Cheers,
Hud