Pen Blank Sled

[Mike Mathieu]

On occasion I go into a pen turning frenzy where I usually turn between 10 and 20 at a stretch. One of the most annoying aspects of pen turning is whittling down a square blank on the lathe to get it to the proper size. Takes up alot of extra time readjusting the tool rest and having to sharpen the tools more often. I have seen other jigs to pre- round the blanks for sale, but being the cheapskate that I am I decided to make my own pre-turning pen blank jig.
I started by putting a dovetail in a scrap piece of walnut to hold the piece that the handle section and the removable tail section slide in. Next make the corresponding dovetail in the handle section stock so that it slides in the sled slot. I then cut the handle section from the tail section and formed the handle. Cut the tail section to allow a thru hole to be drilled for the pen mandrel. Glue the handle section in place on the sled. Glue small pieces of 80 grit sandpaper at each end of the mandrel thru holes to keep the blank from spinning.

http://i712.photobucket.com/albums/ww126/wdkits1/penblanksled001.jpg?t=1241454795

The tail section slides in the dovetail to load a pen blank onto the mandrel and the thumb lever (removable) is used to apply pressure to the pen blank to keep it from spinning during the cut.

http://i712.photobucket.com/albums/ww126/wdkits1/penblanksled006.jpg?t=1241455751

I also set the jig up to slide in the miter slot of the bandsaw bed by adding a rail under the sled after I determined how far from the blade the jig needed to be.

http://i712.photobucket.com/albums/ww126/wdkits1/penblanksled004.jpg?t=1241456077

Once the blank is loaded onto the jig, pressure is applied to the thumb lever and the cut is made . Then I retract the jig ,release the pressure, spin the blank 90 degrees,make the next cut and so on until the blank has been rounded.

http://i712.photobucket.com/albums/ww126/wdkits1/penblanksled007.jpg?t=1241456230

Completed blank ready for turning in less than 1 minute

http://i712.photobucket.com/albums/ww126/wdkits1/penblanksled008.jpg?t=1241456623

[Jeremy Polk]

Great Idea Mike, I might just have to try that myself.

JP

[kevin loftus]

Cracking idea Mike. :)

[Richard Madison]

Nice jig. Silly me, thought the lathe was for making stuff round.

[Billy Tallant]

Nice looking jig...

[Allen Neighbors]

Ditto what Richard said. Nice Jig, and a good mind, to make it. But doesn't that take as much time as turning a square blank into a round one?

[Mike Mathieu]

Hi Allen
I have found that by starting with a pre-rounded blank,I can cut my lathe time down by almost 3-4 minutes. Plus when using harder woods like tulipwood and purpleheart I have less time lost sharpening the tools. Another advantage to starting with a pre-rounded blank is that I can get a better idea of what the final grain orientation will be before I start turning. All this being considered I enjoy the process more and end up with a nice product which takes less time to make.

[jason lambert]

Great idea, I actually started someting like that a couple months ago but never got it really working right. Might have to reviset it now.

[Bernie Weishapl]

Mike yours looks a little better than the one I built. It is under the bench collecting dust. I found I could turn it round faster than sawing then turning. I use a skew only when turning pens so don't have much splintering or tear out. Glad your is working for you and if you enjoy it go for it.