Newbie to Turning need help...

[Andy Sowers]

Hi

My wife has always wanted to turn pens... but alas, I didn't own a lathe. UNTIL NOW. Came across an old craftsman lathe from the 1960s on craigslist that was NEVER used, and after some quick cleanup, it looks like new!

The headstock and tailstock have #1 morse tapers, will this work for pen turning? The headstock spindle is also threaded on the end, not sure yet what the thread is, but the diameter is 3/4". The center point in the tailstock is siezed up and cannot be removed from the morse taper. I may have to replace the entire tailstock spindle if this is a problem.

Can someone point me in the right direction for figuring out all the necessary accessories that we need to get, in order to start pen turning. Right now we have nothing but the lathe.

Sorry for asking such basic questions, I'm sure they've been asked 1000 times, but searching for pen turning here results in way too many hits...

Thanks in advance for your help.
Andy

[Steve Schlumpf]

Andy - Welcome to the wonderful world of turning!

I started off with a Craftsman mono-tube lathe from the early 50s - worked great to learn how to turn on! My lathe had a 3/4" - 16 tpi spindle and I would think yours would also. You can go to the Craftsman (Sears) website and look up your lathe. They should have a parts list and even a manual available for it!

I am not a pen turner - so can't answer your questions about equipment needed.

Good luck with getting your tailstock functional. You may have to spray it down good with some type of liquid wrench or something to break it loose.

[curtis rosche]

lets ee a picture of your lathe. sounds like mine. i think all the old craftsman spindles were 3/4x16

[Scott Donley]

This plus a 60 degree live center will get you started. Good luck !
http://www.pennstateind.com/store/PKSTART1E.html
Also get their FREE DVD on pen making basics, it can be a lot of help.
http://www.pennstateind.com/store/DVD.html

[Andy Sowers]

photo of my lathe
http://i32.photobucket.com/albums/d31/mb2006/lathe.jpg

[Tom Hintz]

You can get the mandrels in either #1 or #2 Morse tapers so that is not an issue. I have a story on turning pens at the link below that shows the basics of what you can use to turn them. Not everything shown is necessary but this is turning so the slpope is steep and slippery.....

http://www.newwoodworker.com/turning/trnpens.html

[Mark P. Brown]

Great little learning lathe.
Wood can be had free or nearly free from a lot of sources, cabinet shops furniture repair shops and dumpsters.
Tools: an inexpensive set of chisels (high speed steel) - set of calipers and digital caliper - Jacobs chuck with 1 Morris taper - drill bits for the type of pens you want to turn ( start with 2 types at first the expand as you learn) - sandpaper 120 - 600 grit wet or dry - thick and thin ca glue - boiled linseed oil (BLO) - acetone - denatured alcohol (DNA) - good finish wax - first aid kit for the shop - box fan - large shop vac or dust collector - respirator.
AND MOST IMPORTANT OF ALL A GOOD FACE SHIELD!!! :eek: :D
Work safe and be safe.
Mark

[Greg Ketell]

If you are searching for a motor, PennStateIndustries has a 1/2HP electronic variable speed motor and controller available for about $100. They also have a good starter lathe for about $160.

www.surpluscenter.com has a bunch of 1/2 HP electric motors available. But they seem to all be around $100 too.

[Richard Madison]

Andy, Your picture almost (but not quite) brought a tear to my eye. Like Steve, started with a trusty mono-tube Craftsman and made some pretty nice pieces with it. The electronic variable speed motor is a good suggestion, as the minimum speed on mine (about 800) was a little scary at the time (for 11-3/4" bowls). It would be fine for pens and other spindle turning.

[Jim Sebring]

It's a vile smelling product, but will eventually cause almost anything to loosen up.

[David Christopher]

Andy, do you have a motor for your lathe?

[Andy Sowers]

Very observant Dave. Sadly, no motor yet. We're still scrounging around. We also need to find a permanent spot to mount this guy, as he's not going to be sitting on the workbench.

Jim, we tried PB Blaster Penetrating Catalyst tonight, and no go. :-(

Great list Mark. :-) Thanks!

[Ron Erickson]

Andy most lathes have a hole in the tail stock to insert a steel rod, to then hit with a hammer to drive the mores taper out. Just thought since you are new to turning you might not know this. Ron

[Andy Sowers]

Thanks to all for the suggestions so far!

With regards to the motor for this lathe... the manual says that 1/3-1/2hp is recommended. My question for those of you with much more experience: Does this sound ok? I checked other 12" lathes, and it seems that 1/2-3/4hp seems to be more of the norm these days.

I was originally thinking about trying to find a used motor and step pully here locally, but Greg's post about the variable speed motor from Penn State now has me wondering. Has anyone used this motor before? It looks on the small/wimpy side compared to what I was thinking a 1/2hp motor would be.

Also, on a totally different topic... what chisels/gouges/etc should be on our short list. We're mostly interested in pen turning, but might venture a little bit... Finally, can someone recommend some pen sets that would be good for beginners (alternatively, which ones should we stay away from). I want this to be fun for my wife, I dont want her to get discouraged and turned off (pardon the pun;))...

Thanks again...
Andy

[Dennis Ford]

Andy;
I started turning with a similar size lathe and used a washing machine motor (I think it was 1/3 hp). That would be plenty for pen turning but was somewhat wimpy when turning bowls. I would not put more than 1 hp on this lathe. Also try to get a 1800 rpm (or slower) motor. If money is tight and you are handy, tear apart an old washing machine or clothes dryer and use the motor. You will also need a step pulley for the motor, the local Tractor Supply here has some that might work.

[Mark P. Brown]

On ebay there is a set item #390090721203 that would probably do for a starter set. Once you have turned for a while then the better tools will come as you need them.
I started with the slim lines and cigar pen kits. If you want yo do a single tube pen try the wallstreet ll pens. Check out wood n whimsies for good service and prices. Do not get pens that require a tennon cut until you get some experience.
If the turning bug bites hard be ready to get a second or third mortage on the house. Very slippery slope you are on.
Mark

[Greg Ketell]

The main difference in motor size is DC vs AC. All the DC motors are tiny. But the AC motors are bigger around. If you look at all the new 10-12" lathes they use smaller motors.

Towards other shopping list, When I started with turning pens the only tool I used at all was a 3/4" roughing gouge. It will give you all your straight sided pens and any pen with a gentle convex shape. If you want to speed things up a bit you can add a 1/4" parting tool the make the blanks round really fast. Added benefit, both of these are very easy to sharpen.

You will want a pen mill or sanding mill to square up the ends of your blanks and turned barrels.

CA glue in thin and either medium or thick. Use it to glue in the tubes, seal the end of the blank, and as one of the best and quickest finishes.

Sandpaper, 120 to 600 grit; 0000 steel wool; 3 buffing wheels to attach to your drill (load one with buffing compound, one with polishing compound, and one with swirl remover); wax (I use auto wax).

Lots of drill bits to fit the kits you choose to use. Cigar pens are 10mm; slimlines are 7mm; Olympias use 7mm and 8mm; (many pens use 2 bits; some pens use 3). All the instructions will tell you what size bits to buy. Craft Supply has great pictures to show you what the finished pens will look like (or you can look at albums here).

You can see some of the different pen styles I've done at http://www.random-creativity.com/Pen_Examples. Someday we will get the rest of the website going but for now...

GK

[Jeff Nicol]

Andy, Send me a PM and I can hook you up with a lot of American hardwood blanks.

Jeff

[Wally Dickerman]

photo of my lathe
http://i32.photobucket.com/albums/d31/mb2006/lathe.jpg

The photo looks exactly like my second ever lathe, purchased new in the 50's . The tailstock center is probably a dead center. (doesn't revolve) You'll need a live center to turn pens.

A 1/2 HP motor is a minimum if you want to turn bowls. 3/4 HP, slow speed would be better.

I wouldn't recommend spending the bucks on a variable speed motor on this lathe. As you get into turning you'll find that it's a pretty crappy lathe. You would do much better with a Jet or Delta mini lathe for not very much more money and it wouldn't need any upgrading.

Wally

[Andy Sowers]

Thanks so much for all the advice given...

I think I found a 1/2hp motor nearby for $20, so hopefully soon we'll be in action. (I still need to build some kind of bench for this).

Greg has also offered to give us a live demo on getting started with Pen Turning... THANKS Greg. My wife and I are looking forward to meeting you this weekend!

The primary motivation behind this purchase was to get something relatively inexpensive for my wife to "play" with. We'll start small (ie pens) and go from there. It was a local CL listing, the lathe shown here was new in the original box, not having been removed for probably close to 40yrs!

The overall deal ended up not being quite as good as I would have hoped... the obvious was that there was no motor... the second is that the tailstock center is hopelessly seized up in the spindle, so I had to buy a new spindle for the lathe (i was really surprised that Sears still has them!). Not to mention needing getting all the associated accessories/tooling needed ( I guess this would be true independent of the lathe).

I know this isn't anywhere near the high end as far as lathes go, but hopefully it will be good enough for learning. For those of you who had a lathe like this, do you have any advice or tips for us to get more mileage out of it? If turning ends up being something that both I and my wife like, who knows maybe a better lathe will be in our future someday.

To that end, what size stand should I consider making for this guy. I've seen some designs that mount the motor directly BELOW the headstock, and this seems to be ideal for us since we don't have a lot of space in our garage. But I also don't necessarily want to have to make another one down the road either...

Thanks again
andy