Shopsmith Forums

navycop wrote:That explains it. I guess I will order both, my mandrel and bushings, from the same place. I'll just have to store them together when I take them off the lathe.

The mandrel is not the issue. I have seen little difference in mandrel dimensions. The issue being that pen kits and bushings are from same supplier. I have purchased mandrels from three different suppliers with no problems. Bushings on the other hand and pen tubes seem to vary. In example I bought pen tubes from one supplier that were smaller thus creating a situation where the 7mm drill made the holes two large for them to adhere to the blanks when glued. In fact I have even seen differences in the actual diameter of 7mm drill bits. Thus I always buy my bits, pen kits and bushings from Penn State. Okay truth be known almost all of my Pen Turning supplies come from them. I buy a lot of stuff from Woodcraft including some lathe chisels and other turning supplies just not pen stuff. I have bought blanks from them. More recently I discovered that scrounging wood is more fun and makes the person giving it feel good when presented with a pen from their former tree. Now go make some sawdust Jim

walt300 wrote:There are no dumb questions. No one knows this by magic.


You could buy the blanks from anyone as long as they are the right diameter for the pen kit you are using.

Actually I don't care what dimension the wood is as long as at least the minimum required. As to buying blanks. Tomorrow I will post some rather telling pictures of how I get and process wood. I like it free. jim

finally got the penn state starter kit, this is pen #3...

[ATTACH]5965[/ATTACH]

I've already blown out 2 blanks, one on the lathe probably because my gouge wasn't sharp enough, and one while squaring the end, the reamer kindof caught the grain and ripped off a chunk.

Great new hobby!

JC, nice looking pen. What wood did you use on that? Two of my favorites have been Cocobolo and Olivewood, although I am quickly starting to like Box Elder Burl wood for it's great grain too.

I had a couple blow outs when I first started, but have not had a problem lately. One thing I've started doing different is making sure the brass tube is roughed up with sandpaper first, and using PLENTY of CA glue (thick). Looking at my first blow-outs, there were voids in the surface where there was no glue.

Another thing I found out, if you place the tubes from the blown-out pens in a small jar with a little acetone in it, and wait about 24-36 hours, the tubes will just fall out of the remaining wood blank and you can reuse them.

tom_k/mo wrote:JC, nice looking pen. What wood did you use on that? Two of my favorites have been Cocobolo and Olivewood, although I am quickly starting to like Box Elder Burl wood for it's great grain too.

I used just the rosewood blanks that came with the PSI starter kit. Have you turned anything open grain? I have some white oak I want to try but I'm not sure how best to fill the grain.

tom_k/mo wrote:I had a couple blow outs when I first started, but have not had a problem lately. One thing I've started doing different is making sure the brass tube is roughed up with sandpaper first, and using PLENTY of CA glue (thick). Looking at my first blow-outs, there were voids in the surface where there was no glue.

Another thing I found out, if you place the tubes from the blown-out pens in a small jar with a little acetone in it, and wait about 24-36 hours, the tubes will just fall out of the remaining wood blank and you can reuse them.

Awesome suggestions!

When I have a wood blank blow out I just remove the wood while attached to the lathe. I use a parting tool to work the wood down to the brass tube and remove the dry CA glue. Quicker that soaking in Acetone.

paul269 wrote:When I have a wood blank blow out I just remove the wood while attached to the lathe. I use a parting tool to work the wood down to the brass tube and remove the dry CA glue. Quicker that soaking in Acetone.

Cool - thanx!