Anyone turning pens on a drill press?

[railrider1920]

Hi folks,
I was just wondering if anyone is turning pens on a drill press. If you are or used to, how did it work out?

Right now I have a cruddy HF lathe. There is so much play in the tail stock and play in the screw in the tailstock. I'd like to get a jet mini lath or something like it, but not now, maybe in a month or two. Too close to christmas.

I was thinking that I might give turning on the DP a try until I get a decent lathe. Here is a link to the parts needed to use the DP incase anyone is interested in looking at it.

http://www.pennstateind.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?

Thanks for any opinions offered.

 

[leehljp]

I don't think there is any serious turning done on the drill press. It seems like I have only seen a reference to this only once and that was in a question also.

It can be done obviously, but . . .

 

[jimmyers]

I am turning them on the drill press.

I do not have any frame of reference as to how different it is from a lathe (because I have never done it).

I really am just getting started but it seems to work for me. Kind of hard doing everything vertically but I get the job done.

I will be getting a lathe eventually but for now this keeps me going in an interesting hobby.

 

[edman2]

Rob,
The first pens I ever turned were on my drill press. There was an article in WOOD Magazine that told how to do it. It was probably in the early 90's. You basically sanded the blank into shape. As I remember, you wrapped your sandpaper around a block of wood and kept the block an even distance from the spinning blank which sanded it into the proper shape. I made several pens out of walnut using this method. If the old WOOD magazines indexes are available you might could find the article. So, yes it can be done although it is a very slow process compared to turning on a lathe. If I remember correctly, they were comparable to the slimlines of today.

edit: I think the issue was August 1991 if anyone has it tucked away.

 

[arioux]

Hi,

My first pens where made on a drill press, few year ago. My father used to do it for a while too.

Here are some klit to do it

http://www.houseoftools.com/product.htm?pid=170935

Alfred

 

[railrider1920]

Thanks for the replies. I guess I'll probably skip this too, unless I happen to find the parts needed really cheap at a yard sale.

Thanks again

 

[johncrane]

Never say it cant be done! but l would be taking a few weeks off till l had the cash, and then buy the best wood lathe you can find.[]

 

[Randy_]

Originally posted by railrider1920
<br />.....Right now I have a cruddy HF lathe. There is so much play in the tail stock and play in the screw in the tailstock. I'd like to get a jet mini lath or something like it, but not now, maybe in a month or two. Too close to christmas.

If it is only going to be a month or two, I would save my money and put it toward the new lathe. In the meantime you might be able to tune up the HF lathe a little and make it work better. If the quill is really sloppy in the tailstock, you might be able to find some thin brass shim stock and make a sleeve to eliminate some of the play.

Which model HF lathe do you have?



<b>I think this is the link you were trying to post.
http://www.pennstateind.com/store/dplathe.html</b>

 

[les-smith]

I looked at that when I was first starting, but after looking for a while and doing some research I passed on buying it.

You might look into the Wilton mini lathe. That's what I use and I think the quality is good. It's an electronic variable speed, no changing belts at all. Amazon sells it for around 100.00 dollars and sometimes they offer free shipping. WMH Tool Group owns Jet, Wilton, & Powermatic so the lathes have some of the same qualities.

http://www.wmhtoolgroup.com/Products.aspx

Also, there has been a lot of talk about the Wilton lathe on the Sawmill Creek forum so you could probably go there and do a search and get some more opinions on the lathe. That's how I found out about the lathe.

 

[broitblat]

I started out on a drill press using the PSI set up a number of years ago. It was fairly straightforward, inexpensive, and worked reasonably well. I think you have less room to manuever for anything fancy, but it works. It does put a bit of reverse (pull instead of push) pressure on the quill, but that didn't seem to be too much of a problem.

-Barry

 

[alamocdc]

Using the DP on acassion might be okay, but the bearings aren't really made for the side stresses that will be delivered by turning. This could create runout in the DP and I wouldn't be willing to take that chance with mine.

 

[railrider1920]

Originally posted by Randy_
<br />If the quill is really sloppy in the tailstock, you might be able to find some thin brass shim stock and make a sleeve to eliminate some of the play.
Which model HF lathe do you have?[/font=Comic Sans MS][/teal]

<b>I think this is the link you were trying to post.
http://www.pennstateind.com/store/dplathe.html[/size=3]</b>

I think I am going to save up for a new lathe. The next debate, which one? lol I have the HF 45276-7VGA, 14" x 40" with 6" sander. I have an idea on how to tighten up the tailstock as a whole, but how would I use the thin brass shim stock to tighten up the quill? Unscrew it, wrap it in the shim stock and then screw it back in? Is this type of stock available at Ace hardware or one of the big box stores? Thanks for the correct link. That's it.

les-smith, thanks for the idea on the wilton. Now it is at $180, on sale for $140 at Amazon.

The DP I have isn't that great as it is, so I don;t think I'll put too much pressure on it and ruin it completly

Thanks

 

[Paul in OKC]

My first pens were on a drill press. Had an 8" Delta. I made a jig for the table and used a pen mandrel in the chuck. I layed the drill press on its side, supported the back side with a couple of 2x4's cut to fit between the dp and the back of the work bench. Clamped a piece of angle iron to the bench top, ground an old file into a 'one sided' skew of sorts and wah-lah. Made probably a dozen or so this way before buying my lathe. (Jet mini, non-vs. about 7 years old and no problems).

 

[leehljp]

Some of you guys are too much! I "could" probably move all of my belongings across the US with a Volkswagen if I tried, but it would sure be better, easier and more rewarding to bite the bullet and rent a U-Haul truck.

I think the "greatest" thing that will come out of drill press pen turning will be the "satisfaction" that you did one, or a few, on a drill press. A drill press, to me, places the emphasis on the "act" of making a pen. A decently set up lathe will let you go from that "act of making" to concentrating on the finished pen even to the point of art.

There will be one or two who will stay with it, perfect it and present a few nicely, well done pens. But it is more likely to discourage most people from going beyond the original few. IF you look at the "0" posters and "1 and 2" post members here, you can deduce that the majority of those got into pen turning and figured it wasn't for them. A drill press would double the difficulty of achieving a fine finished pen, IMO.

 

[Randy_]

Originally posted by railrider1920
<br />

Originally posted by Randy_
<br />.....I have an idea on how to tighten up the tailstock as a whole, but how would I use the thin brass shim stock to tighten up the quill? Unscrew it, wrap it in the shim stock and then screw it back in? Is this type of stock available at Ace hardware or one of the big box stores.....

Yes, the shim stock is usually available in "real" hardware stores and hobby shops. Don't think I remember ever seeing it in a place like Home Depot or Lowe's.

Unfortunately, the lathe you have appears to be of a different tailstock construction than most. (from what I see in the manual posted on the HF web site) That being the case, I'm not sure the shim stock would be of much help in tightening up your loose spindle.

After looking at the pictures in the manual, I would think about finding a nut that has the same thread as that on your spindle. (probably metric) Remove the spindle from the tailstock and thread the nut onto the spindle and then thread the spindle back into the tailstock.

When you have your work on the lathe and everything snugged up like normal, then tighten the new nut up against the tailstock jamming the spindle up tight.

Other thing I would do is contact HF. If they have a lathe like yours in a local store, you should be able to see if the store model is as sloppy as yours. If not, you should try for a replacement. If you bought the lathe on the Internet, you should email them and see what they will do if anything.

While on the Internet, I noticed that HF has marked those lathes down to $85 from their normal price of $140. I don't think they are probably very good lathes; but it bight be a good choice for someone looking for a dick sander and dedicated buffing machine.