I want to start turning pens

[Terre Hooks]

I would like to start turning pens.

My problem is I don't know every single piece and tool I need.

Yeah, I get the catalogs from Penn State. I've even emailed Woodturner's Catalog, asking them to get me a list of everything I need to start turning pens. I have yet to hear from them. Figured they'd jump on that, give me a list of everything and a price. Guess they are too busy.


I've got a Jet Mini and tools. Gonna soon also have a 1442.

I have read enough to know that I need:

Mandrel- Do I want the Maxi-Mandrel or just the standard? Or somebody else's sooper-dooper do-it-all mandrel??


Barrel Trimmer- Which one?


This push-together-tool- Press? Where else do you get it besides Penn State?

Bushing insertion tool-

What kind of device do I need to drill my own blanks?

What kind of CA glue?


I can handle the finish. I blend my own turning finish, so I've got that covered.



Tell you what- if someone will put me together a kit that doesn't cost an arm and a leg, that will provide me with everything I need except a lathe and tools, I'll take care of ya.

What I'm trying to avoid is gathering up 90% of the stuff needed, only to find out that I need to order 2 more things for $20 plus $9 shipping and handling. When I order it all, I want to be able to lay everything out and get to work.



Is that too much to ask?

[Raymond Overman]

Call Bill Baumbeck at 928-329-8039

http://www.arizonasilhouette.com/

Hours of operation:
Weekday evenings 4:00PM to 9:00PM
Saturday 10:00AM to 8:00PM

PST

He'll be glad to take your money and you'll get a quality product. He's busy but still takes time to answer questions.

[Keith Nielsen]

Terre,

Great questions, Lets see if I can help you with all or most of it.

Mandrel: I use the #2 morise taper 7mm one from Wood craft. it holds a true line and always gives me great results. I've never tried the new fangled one cause I figured it was too expensive and It did the same thing the cheeper one did.

CA Glue: use the green lable joint filling kind. I get it from Wood Craft.
Its the medium thickness one.

Bushing Insert tool: You probably mean barrel insert tool? Never bought it never needed to. you just ruff up the barrel with a little steel wool and then apply the glue then twist and insert all at once. (Never spray the activator in the wood before inserting the barrel this would be a bad thing)

Bushings go on the mandrel and they just slide on. For Bushings I just buy one set each time I do a new pen for some one. I let them pay for the bushings I need to do there pen. (hint bushings never wear out once you buy one set you can re-use it for that style of pen over and over)

Barrel Trimmer: I use the 7mm one on most things and a disk sander with 200 grit on it for the rest. (bigger stuff)

Pen Press: At first I used a bench vice but then I broke down and bought the nice one from Wood craft. I use it all the time now.

For Drilling blanks: Wood craft has a great vice that holds the blanks perfectly level for a drill press to be used on the blank.

For most of your needs I have found wood craft very helpful But Penn state is cheeper. There is another company out there that uses the Penn state catalog but they are just a lot cheeper than penn state.

http://www.woodturningz.com/
www.woodcraft.com (http://www.woodcraft.com)

There still may be others cheeper than these but Its what I use.

Good luck
Keith

[David Fried]

I would like to start turning pens.

My problem is I don't know every single piece and tool I need.

...

I have read enough to know that I need:

Mandrel- Do I want the Maxi-Mandrel or just the standard? Or somebody else's sooper-dooper do-it-all mandrel??

The standard is good for most pens. Some of the larger pens require a larger mandrel. The Maxi-Mandrel is nice when turning shorter pens (one piece pens, perfume applicators, purse pens, etc) because you can shorten the mandrel. You can also use the standard mandrel just add extra bushings or a piece of scrap wood to fill in the extra mandrel length. I bought the Maxi after I bent my standard mandrel.(Don't over tighten the tail stock!). I like it but don't really think it's worth the extra money, IMHO.



Barrel Trimmer- Which one?

I ended up with the Penn State Universal Barrel Trimmer. I like it. It's nice that it has different size shafts so when you get pen kits with different size tubes you're all set. I use the barrel trimmer in my drill press but I have done it with a hand drill and a bench vise with no problems.



This push-together-tool- Press? Where else do you get it besides Penn State?

I picked mine up at Woodcraft, I believe it is the Penn State one. Before I got it I was putting them together by squeezing them between a drawer and the front of my kitchen cabinets. Not good for the cabinets! I used a bench vise with wood jaws in class and that worked fine.



Bushing insertion tool-

Not sure what that is. I did buy a Pen tube insertion tool. Everytime I tried to use it I glued it in the pen! I gave up on it. It's yours if you want it!



What kind of device do I need to drill my own blanks?

This was a good excuse for me to buy a drill press. I also bought a self centering vise. I think some of the homemade jigs I have seen for holding the blanks work just as well.



What kind of CA glue?

The slower kind! I was using the medium speed stuff with the green label from Woodcraft but I gave on CA and now use Gorilla glue.



I can handle the finish. I blend my own turning finish, so I've got that covered.

Cool!



Tell you what- if someone will put me together a kit that doesn't cost an arm and a leg, that will provide me with everything I need except a lathe and tools, I'll take care of ya.

I'll pass. Thanks anyway.



What I'm trying to avoid is gathering up 90% of the stuff needed, only to find out that I need to order 2 more things for $20 plus $9 shipping and handling. When I order it all, I want to be able to lay everything out and get to work.

But that's half the fun! Really, you seem to have identified everything.



Is that too much to ask?
Nope

[Mark Patoka]

I also recommend talking to Bill at Arizona Silhouettes. His penturning DVD gave me most of the information and good step-by-step I needed to start making pens. Very practical advice and he uses some homemade jigs vs. store bought that I also liked. Penn State was also offering a DVD using their products to make pens.

[Blake McCully]

Terry,
You're in for a great ride. All of the information you have gotten is good, sooo, I'll just throw in some tidbits from my experience. Probably more than you want but like they say take it with a grain of salt.

When I first started turning pens, I got all my supplies from Woodcraft. At that time, the only pens I did were the slim line and the european. Woodcraft is relpleat with all different types of those. I bought what they refer to as their pro mandrel. This works nicely on all pen kits based on a 7mm tube. Even some of their kits that use larger tubes will work since the bushings are based on the 7mm mandrel rod.

As I progressed with my obsession, we now do probably 15 or 20 different kits, (maybe not haven't counted them all) I found that the pro mandrel was not enough. I started buying my kits from Berea Hardwoods. When you buy their bushings, they are in size "A" or "B". The "A" is equivalent to the 7mm mandrel from Woodcraft. So now, I have two Woodcraft pro mandrels, two Berea "B" mandrels and a replaceable "A" rod for my Berea mandrels. Kinda get where this is going?

I initially started out with the pen press from Woodcraft. I got into a couple of kits from Berea that were EXTREMELY difficult to press. Trashed two of those presses within 10 days. I finally bought a 1 ton arbor press from Habor Freight and haven't looked back.

Obviously a method to cut the blanks to size is necessary. Any number of ways that you may already have would suffice for that. But, that's just another reason to bump up the tool crib. You also need a way to drill the blanks in a some manner that the holes are relatively plumb :D I use a Craftsman 15" floor drill press with a commercial centering jig that I got from, I believe it was HUT. This is the one that has 4 arms rather than the three that is sold by CSUSA. Again, my experience your gain.

I also use the green label CA glue from Woodcraft for most glue ups. Occasionally I use gorilla glue, but mostly it's the CA. In most cases, I sand from 320 to 400 then buff with my beall three wheel system. That puts on the finish that I desire with little hassle. Have had no complaints from any of my customers about the finish. And since I'm not making a living at this, I can put whatever finish on them I want :cool:

So, to put it bluntly, you need:
1. Means to cut the blanks.
2. Means to drill a hole in the center.
3. Means to hold the blanks to the lathe.
4. A good kit and wood supplier.
5. Lots of money.
6. Lots of time.

and it will all lead to lots of great fun.

Hope I haven't bored you, just practicing for my next Pens Anonymous meeting.

[Terre Hooks]

I appreciate all the advice and suggestions. Keep'em coming.

I've put this off for over a year, mainly due to being overwhelmed by all the stuff you have to have just to turn a single pen.

I think one thing I'm gonna do is get a tacklebox or the like to put all of this in. I've already got a mess of other stuff to keep up with regarding turning-
chuck, chuck tools, spur center, knockout tool, turning tools, grinder jigs, on and on and on.

[Keith Outten]

Terry,

Look in your toolbox, if you have a center punch with a long tapered shaft it may make a perfect pen tube insertion tool. Take a pen tube and simply slide it onto the center punch shaft, if it will stick just slightly it will work just fine and it is the same basic tool they sell for inserting pen tubes it just doubles as a center punch :)

[Terre Hooks]

Again, let me thank everyone for the responses.

I wandered into Woodcraft yesterday and you all cost me $1000. Thanks a ton.


But, I will soon have a 2nd lathe, and I have the materials needed to turn 6 pens.


Muchia-Gracias. :D

[Ed Lang]

I am sure I speak for everyone when I say "we are happy to help you spend your money", but what did you buy?

[Terre Hooks]

1442.

Turning book at 50% off, 6 pen kits, a mandrel, barrel trimmer, 2 Jorgie clamps (although these aren't mine- they are someone else's), CA glue, bushings, drill bit, and maybe a few other things. Oh yeah, bought about $80 in sales tax, too. :eek:

[Ed Lang]

Sounds like you got a load for sure.

I hope you enjoy pens as much (or more even) than I do.

Watch out for that CA.... it will sneak up on you!

Have fun... be safe.

[Richard Wolf]

Be sure to post pictures of those pens, I haven't seen to many $165 pens.

Richard