Pen turning 101

mbcabinetmaker · Post by **mbcabinetmaker** » Tue Mar 08, 2011 7:18 am

I haven't turned any pens in a while but I was recently ask to do a couple for door prizes at an up coming club event. I decided to order a new mandrel and the new pen mandrel saver tail center for my lathe.

[ATTACH]12145[/ATTACH]

These are the 2 Sculpted pen kits that I ordered along with the new mandrel and tail center

[ATTACH]12146[/ATTACH]

The mandrel actually slides into the hole that is in the tail center. I am anxious to see how this works because I have bent several mandrels over the years.

[ATTACH]12147[/ATTACH]

This is from the instruction sheet. No more pesky nut!

We will try these out over the next week or so on my new pen lathe that I call Virginia.

damagi · Post by **damagi** » Tue Mar 08, 2011 8:54 am

I havent used a mandrel saver on a shopsmith, but I did try one during a demo at woodcraft on a jet mini lathe. worked great, its on my list of stuff to get eventually

terrydowning · Post by **terrydowning** » Tue Mar 08, 2011 1:12 pm

I have that exact setup. I think it works great.

One word or caution. It can be difficult to remove the mandrel saver from the tail stock eccentric. I remove the eccentric from the tail stock and support the eccentric while gently tapping the mandrel saver free with a soft mallet. This reduces the chance of damaging the soft aluminum eccentric especially since I have the older tail stock with just one set screw to hold the eccentric.

Here is how I use mine.

With the quill retracted, I position the headstock so the tip of the quill is a little more than your longest pen blank away from the mandrel saver. Load up your mandrel with the appropriate bushings and blanks. Advance the quill so the mandrel engages the mandrel saver firmly. You don't need to crank down tight on this, just snug enough to gently squeeze all the bushings and blanks together so they rotate with power. This way if I need to get the blank off of the mandrel all I have to do is retract the quill. This is very handy for designer pens once you have the spacer tenon cut and the top blank cut to size. I then remove the center spacer to keep it from accidently getting damaged.

mbcabinetmaker · Post by **mbcabinetmaker** » Tue Mar 08, 2011 3:56 pm

Thanks for the advice Terry. I will probably never remove mine from the tail stock. I usually have a seperate tail stock set up for each application. With the SS design it is eaiser to just change them out. That is why I have so many.

terrydowning · Post by **terrydowning** » Tue Mar 08, 2011 5:24 pm

being the proud owner of one and only one SS I would not know.

damagi · Post by **damagi** » Tue Mar 08, 2011 7:17 pm

terrydowning wrote:being the proud owner of one and only one SS I would not know.

Thats easy to change =)

terrydowning · Post by **terrydowning** » Tue Mar 08, 2011 8:33 pm

Easier for some than others I guess.

I just tried recently by "accidentally" leaving a print out of a craig's list offering on the kitchen counter.

SWMBO - "Don't even think about it!"

I promptly threw the print out in the trash. Unless it's a freeby or so ridiculously low that I can't pass it up it ain't happenin' I'll prod the kids for Father's day, but I'd rather them get me a nice 4 jaw chuck.

mbcabinetmaker · Post by **mbcabinetmaker** » Wed Mar 09, 2011 8:19 pm

I want to go into detail in this thread for the benefit of the new members that we have pick up lately. Who knows some of us old dogs might learn a new trick or to.

[ATTACH]12158[/ATTACH]

Pen turning is very enjoyable and rewarding. It is not nearly as complicated as it might first appear. However this is one time that you want to go by the destruction booklet.

[ATTACH]12159[/ATTACH]

Our first step is to prepare the blanks. The instructions call for the blanks to be cut the length of the tubes. Upper tube is 2".

[ATTACH]12160[/ATTACH]

Lower tube is also 2 inches but they are not always the same depending upon the style of pen. Here we are using sculptured pen kits.

[ATTACH]12161[/ATTACH]

The first thing that I do is mark the blanks so that I can align the grain later. This is especially important in highly figured woods and woods with spalting or other impurities.

[ATTACH]12162[/ATTACH]

Care should be taken when cutting anything this small. I have made an auxiliary table for my miter saw for small molding and the like. It works well on the pen blanks. Also a miter gauge with a board fence works well on the Shopsmith and even better on the band saw.

ddvann79 · Post by **ddvann79** » Thu Mar 10, 2011 12:39 am

mbcabinetmaker wrote:I want to go into detail in this thread for the benefit of the new members that we have pick up lately...

Great stuff! Keep it coming.

mbcabinetmaker · Post by **mbcabinetmaker** » Thu Mar 10, 2011 8:36 am

[ATTACH]12169[/ATTACH]

These are our blanks cut and ready to drill for the tubes.

[ATTACH]12170[/ATTACH]

Most pens drill 7MM for the tubes. These call for 8MM.

[ATTACH]12171[/ATTACH]

We are going to drill the blanks tom k/mo (another form member) style. After I learned this technique from Tom I practally gave away a perfectly good pen vice knowing that I would never go back.

Our first step is to install the drill bit and set the depth stop so to not damage the drill bit or my chuck.

[ATTACH]12172[/ATTACH]

Now leave the headstock locked down and just remove the tail stock to load the blank.

[ATTACH]12173[/ATTACH]

Thats the stuff. Cocobolo drill shavings.