Shopsmith Forums

Question: what advice would the experienced pen turners of this forum recommend to the beginner regarding the making of pens on a Shopsmith?

A couple things I could recommend...

• Get a Mandrelfrom Penn State Industries for the ShopSmith.
• Use a Live Center or Penn State's Mandrel Saver
• Make sure your chisels are SHARP. You can turn pens with the chisels that come with a ShopSmith, but you might want to consider a set of smaller chisels, designed for smaller/detailed turning and pens.
• Take your time, and have fun!

tom_k/mo wrote:A couple things I could recommend...

• Get a Mandrelfrom Penn State Industries for the ShopSmith.
• Use a Live Center or Penn State's Mandrel Saver
• Make sure your chisels are SHARP. You can turn pens with the chisels that come with a ShopSmith, but you might want to consider a set of smaller chisels, designed for smaller/detailed turning and pens.
• Take your time, and have fun!

Ditto: however, I enjoy using the SS chisels, they just feel right to me. Take your time, and start with the least expensive pen kits you can find. It is stressful to have an expensive kit in front of you and not be sure how to start. If you are cutting your own pen blanks, cut them on the thick size, like 3/4"x3/4"x6" and save the line. This will give you some wiggle room for drilling and squaring. I turned my first pens from maple, zebrawood, and walnut. Primarily because I had nice scraps but also they turn nicely. I have also found I like to secure the brass barrel to the wood with Gorilla Glue. It requires overnight setup, but it is also more forgiving, as you can push the tube around, it swells to fill the voids, and it is easier on the skin.
Pen turning is a relaxing break from other projects. Enjoy.

Take a look at this thread for some additional information -- https://forum.shopsmith.com/viewtopic.php?t=7442

Are there any differences in the lathe tools used for wood turnings and the synthetics (such as corian)? I haven't read anything that indicates a need to have special tools, but wanted to be certain before damaging myself or my equipment. Thanks for your insight.

Stockew;
I have turned some pens with an acrylic blank and I used the same tools that I use for wood. However be prepared to sharpen the tools a little more often as the acrylic seems to take the edge off the tools faster than the wood does. I have not turned any Corian yet and I do not know the makeup of the Corian. I don't know if it is acrylic or some other form of plastic. It is said that Corian can be worked with woodworking tools and I have made some straight cuts and routed a few edges but no turnings yet.
Bill V

Corian will turn fine with regular chisels.

Much appreciated.

There is no difference in the tools used for turning wood or any of the acylic blanks. The acylic blanks do require sharp tools. If you buy a preformed acylic blank such as a Wall Street Circuit board pen it will have air bubbles in the blank which can cause chucks to blow out of the blank. Just go slow and use really sharp tools and keep turning carefully if this happens rather than tossing it in frustration.

I set up a shop vac or dust collection hose directly behind the blank when turning to divert the dust for all blanks and the smell from the acylic. Put a towel under the blank and wet sand the acylic thru all of your grits. I hold the unused part of the sandpaper uphill so that any water on it feeds down to the blank when sanding. Use a plastic polish to increase the shine at the end.

After you've done a few pens with the pen kits from PSI or Woodcraft - take a look at the products from Berea Hardwoods. The quality and look of their pens is as good as you could ask. They're not cheap but you'll sure be happy with the results.