Pen Turning (Newbie)

[CJ Courtney]

Guy's, I have never turned a pen before.What does a newbie need to turn a pen for the first time? (tools, etc.web sites)I have watch Woodturning Basics on pen turning and learned alot, but what supports the other end of the mandrel? Only thing I have is the lathe and afew turning tools. Do you need special turning tools for pens or will the norm work?I have turned a few spindles and thats it. I went to Berea's web site and found lots of choices.What's needed for a beginner?Is the Slimline better to start? Thanks for the help again,just trying to keep my mistakes down.(I make them every day) CJ Courtney

[Ken Fitzgerald]

CJ.......I just got into turning pens a couple of weeks ago. They are a fun and quick project. My mandrel has a #2 morris taper on one end and is supported by my live center in my tail stock on the other end. There are several different kinds... I use my common old lathe tools for the pens. Nothing special. This week I posted a thread where the LOML turned her first pen. If you look close at the photo you'll see she's turning it with my 3/4" Robert Sorby roughing gouge......Yup a big tool. Primarily I use my Robert Larson 3/4" skew for turning pens. It works quite well. But then, I decided a last spring and then again recently, that I was not going to be skew challenged so I've been doing a lot of turning with my skew.

PSI had and maybe still has a free DVD on pen turning that will teach you the basics.

Good luck with your pens!

[Ken Fitzgerald]

CJ.....you'll need a mandrel.....I use a pen trimming/milling kit to square up the blank to the brass tube........some sort of finish.......I sand through 600 grit then micro mesh....then friction on the finish....followed by Beal buffing.I've been frictioning a finish of BLO frictioned on; followed by dewaxed shellac frictioned on; followed by Deft gloss brushing lacquer frictioned on. Seems to work well.

I bought a pen press for pressing the pen parts together but others use a standard vise or even a drill press to press the parts together.

You'll need pen blanks, kits and of course the appropriate sized bushing for the mandrel.

I started with slim lines and find them quite easy. A lot of family will be getting them for Christmas this year.....:D

Good luck with your pen turning!

[Dario Octaviano]

Check your PM and try this tutorial http://www.woodturnerruss.com/Pen10.html

You will need the following:
saw
drill press
drill bit (size may vary per kit)
vise to hold the wood while drilling
pen kit
pen end mill
bushings (different per kit)
mandrel (there are 2 sizes A and B)
Turning tools (skew, gouge, etc)
pen press
glue (CA, Gorilla glue, etc.)
finish (of your choice)

Good luck!

By the way...check the kits from
CSUSA http://www.woodturnerscatalog.com/catalog/pen_kits.html
and
Berea's at ArizonaSilhouette http://www.woodturnerscatalog.com/catalog/pen_kits.html

[Jon Shively]

I just bought a lathe and started turning pens a couple of weeks ago myself. Received a lot of good advice on this forum, one of which is to join a turner's club. Not one in a general proximity of me and I am not much of a joiner of clubs anyway. Haven't met in person yet, but Chris Chavez on this forum hinted strongly for me to take a pen turning class at Wood Craft Store. Looked up the map, one was close, didn't really know what to think of signing up for a class. But after looking on line and not finding the specifics of what I needed and how to do it, decided to go to Wood Craft and talk to a salesman and get all equipment and go home and do it. Long story short, there was a pen class going on, they let me jump in and I caught up during the lunch hour break and turned my first pen! If this is a possibility for you I strongly suggest this as it is very very nice to have on hand at a second's disposal a mentor to fix, help, encourage, teach and the whole other host of things my teacher did for me that day. Have turned about 6 pens now and am playing with an antler for a pen. At the moment have a chunk of wood from the roadside that I want to make a captured ring in. Just messing tonight with that. I know this isn't exactly the answer you were looking for, but after class, the men in the store gathered up everything from mandrel to drill bit to sand paper to HUT wax to pen kits to pen blanks. Yep, figure the first pen cost me $100.00. But an education can never be taken away from you. Good luck and where are you located? I am in North West Indiana.