Shopsmith Forums

Thank you so much, Mark! This really took out a lot of the mystery for me. I'm looking forward to making my own pens now.

Is there a reason you don't use the quill of your Shopsmith to press the pen together?

I use the quill for assembly. I have learned to turn the eccentric so the flat part is aligned to the quill.

Care must be taken to ensure the parts are properly aligned BEFORE applying force.

Just go really slow.

Mark, thanks for a great tutorial on pen turning.

Something I would add regarding squaring the tubes to the blanks. If you use a sanding disk, you want to make sure you are squaring the ends of the blanks to the tubes, not the sides of the blanks themselves. Because, if the holes that you drilled are not parallel (and I mean exactly parallel) to the sides of the blank and you then square the ends to the sides, you might well end up with a cockeyed pen. This isn't always apparent in the end product, but if you're turning some of the thicker bodied pens, it can be quite noticeable. I use one of those barrel trimming tools that I've attached a handle to (looks something like a screwdriver afterwards) and square the blanks by hand.

pennview wrote:Mark, thanks for a great tutorial on pen turning.

Something I would add regarding squaring the tubes to the blanks. If you use a sanding disk, you want to make sure you are squaring the ends of the blanks to the tubes, not the sides of the blanks themselves. Because, if the holes that you drilled are not parallel (and I mean exactly parallel) to the sides of the blank and you then square the ends to the sides, you might well end up with a cockeyed pen. This isn't always apparent in the end product, but if you're turning some of the thicker bodied pens, it can be quite noticeable. I use one of those barrel trimming tools that I've attached a handle to (looks something like a screwdriver afterwards) and square the blanks by hand.

Ahh! But that is why Mark uses Tom's 4 jaw chuck method. Assuming reasonable squareness of the blank, the bore is guaranteed to be parallel to the sides(and straight).

JPG40504 wrote:Ahh! But that is why Mark uses Tom's 4 jaw chuck method. Assuming reasonable squareness of the blank, the bore is guaranteed to be parallel to the sides(and straight).

But Art does bring up a good point to be cautious of. Not everyone has a nice 4 jaw chuck not to mention the morse taper to mount the drill chuck into the tail stock. Perhaps if a had a couple hundred bucks laying around with nothing better to do (At least in the financial manger's eyes).

So in the mean time I use some 1/4 inch rod mounted perpendicular to my disc sander that I can hold the blanks onto to ensure the blank is squared to the tube. I have a separate bench mounted disc sander I use for this.

One method I have seen is to use the cut off rod from the miter gauge and the disc sander. Now if I could only find my miter gauge and cut off rod which I lost during my recent move. I've been searching for months. I'm sure it is "somewhere safe where I won't lose it!"

As I said earlier in the thread this is a system that I have perfected that works for me and my equipment. You are correct to point out the possibility of crocked pens. If you use a pen vice or other methods to drill a mill would be a good idea. Also if you do use Toms system make sure that you have your lathe drive and tail centers perfectly aligned.


I have never really given any thought to pressing the pen together with the Mark V. Probably because I bought a press way back when I first started. It does however intrigue me. With that process also being preformed on the Mark V all functions needed to produce a pen would be done on a Shopsmith without the need for any other equipment. Perhaps some of you guys using this system can add to this thread and show your setups.

mbcabinetmaker wrote:As I said earlier in the thread this is a system that I have perfected that works for me and my equipment. You are correct to point out the possibility of crocked pens. If you use a pen vice or other methods to drill a mill would be a good idea. Also if you do use Toms system make sure that you have your lathe drive and tail centers perfectly aligned.


I have never really given any thought to pressing the pen together with the Mark V. Probably because I bought a press way back when I first started. It does however intrigue me. With that process also being preformed on the Mark V all functions needed to produce a pen would be done on a Shopsmith without the need for any other equipment. Perhaps some of you guys using this system can add to this thread and show your setups.

I can't add a thing, Mark. I am far too busy making notes, copies of pictures and copies of text. This has been very informative. I just might start turning pens and pencils.

If I get good enough - maybe I could augment my Social Security Check:D

By the way - you do great work here too.

dusty wrote:I can't add a thing, Mark. I am far too busy making notes, copies of pictures and copies of text. This has been very informative. I just might start turning pens and pencils.

If I get good enough - maybe I could augment my Social Security Check:D

By the way - you do great work here too.

Thank you dusty. Be careful though pen turning can be additive.

mbcabinetmaker wrote:Thank you dusty. Be careful though pen turning can be additive.

definitely