bent mandrel

[dachemist]

I've decided to try pen turning again (I was unable to find an emoticon for one crawling back with one's tail between one's legs[B)]) Earlier in the year I sold most of my pen turning supplies against the advice of my wife and a large number of members here. Oops.[:I]

(My wife's 5 nieces/nephews/little brother spent a week with us during their winter break in Febuary, so a little extra cash in the wallet seemed like a good idea at the time).

This time around I decided to try B mandrel kits at first to eliminate as much of the flexing and out of round issues that caused me to give up the first time.

(The actual question is coming, sorry I tend to get a little long winded[:I])

I bought a B mandrel from AS a couple of weeks ago and went to use it for the first time tonight (I forgot to order a couple of minor items like the drill bit and vise to hold blanks for drilling[:I]). I started spinning the mandrel by hand (with and without the end supported by and discovered a rather large wobble at the end. It seems I bought a new, bent mandrel</u>.

My question is has this happened to anyone else? If so, is this common? Also the mandrel is all scuffed up with a number of small rust spots. Should a "new" mandrel look like that? Is it possible to bend a B mandrel to straighten it?

Whoops, that's more than 1 question.

I did a search here first but only made it through 6 pages of hits out of 35.

Thanks for any help/advice, and for reading through all of this.

 

[Woodnknots]

IMHO, a "new" mandrel should not look like that. Have you tried moving the rod in and out of the end, to see of it gets any straighter? They are supposed to be self-centering, so that really should not be necessary, but you may want to try, anyway. I would email Bill at AS (or call him). I'm sure he can make it right for you.

 

[dachemist]

The mandrel screws into the MT adaptor so it has a fixed length. At this point I can't justify springing for (another, I sold the first one, oops[B)]) collet chuck. I tried rotating the MT adaptor in 1/4 turn increments like Russ has pictured on his website but it didn't make any difference.

 

[DCBluesman]

First things first! As Dave said, CALL BILL BAUMBECK. Let him know that you have a problem. He has always solved mine, including once when I ordered a MT1 mandrel (I have a Jet 1014 which takes MT2) and a 15/64 drill bit when I needed a 15/32. He has always backed up his products 100%...at least with me! Also, talk to him about your problem. Before his business went crazy, Bill turned a mean pen! He's probably got answers to questions you haven't even thought of yet![8D]

 

[Randy_]

Before calling BB, the first thing you should do is be absolutely certain that the hole in your spindle is clean and that the arbor is seating properly. A tiny piece of junk in the spindle would cause the arbor to seat improperly and give you a good deasl of wobble in your mandreel.

 

[dachemist]

First of all thanks everyone.

I tried cleaning out the inside of the spinde as best I could with no effect on the wobble. (At this point I got a little impatient.) The arbor that came with the madrel didn't look to be in the best shape either. The only other thing I had that would hold the mandrel was a drill chuck. At this point I figured I had nothing to lose if I tried it. I also figured it may tell me if the arbor was bad or the spindle. The mandrel still had a bit of a wobble but it was much, much less that it was with arbor. Puzzling, but I went with it and turned some blanks on spare tubes. At this point things seemed to be going reasonably well so I assembled the pen. The fit isn't perfect but it's remarkably better than on most of my earlier pens. I'm sorry now that I didn't put more effort into the finish. Oops.[] I made a second one after assembling the first one that is finished a little nicer. If I can figure out my wife's new camera I'll try to post some pictures.

Thanks again.

 

[opfoto]

Mike....

Welcome back to the group.

All of the above are good suggestions to try. I would definitely call BB. He is very helpful and he is known to stand behind his products. Its always a possiblity that the mandrel is defective and it got past the QC crew.

 

[Rifleman1776]

I recently received a new 'A' Berea mandrel and found that it would not line up with the tailstock. My old one lines up perfectly. When placed into the tailstock, this creates a wobble about center to tail end that is unacceptable. I was going to ask for a refund and purchase a new mandrel from HUT where I got my original. Then I learned that Berea supplies mandrels to HUT and many others so I wouldn't be guaranteeing anything. I'll just get and exchange and hope for the best.

 

[challagan]

I just recently bought 2 complete arbor and mandrell set ups in MT2. Got an A & B mandrell for each arbor. Both were as shiney as could be, both the arbor and the mandrells. Used one of them and no problem. I have heard that Bill always fixes his problems and would just as soon any customer called him with possible problems.

Corey

 

[Rifleman1776]

Originally posted by challagan
<br />I just recently bought 2 complete arbor and mandrell set ups in MT2. Got an A & B mandrell for each arbor. Both were as shiney as could be, both the arbor and the mandrells. Used one of them and no problem. I have heard that Bill always fixes his problems and would just as soon any customer called him with possible problems.

Corey

Agree. My problem mandrel came from Bill at Arizona Silhouette. I didn't want to say where I bought mine to avoid wrongly stigmatizing him with defective merchandise. I know he doesn't make this stuff and is a reseller for Berea. It is/was a Berea 'A' mandrel. I believe the problem with this one is that the threaded hole in the arbor was not drilled perfectly straight causing the rod (mandrel) out of kilter with what should be a straight line to the tailstock. It is on the way back for a replacement.
BTW, there often is talk here and other forums that state the Berea mandrels are made of special steels that make them stiffer than other brands. In talking to Bill Baumbeck, I asked about this. He said he is not aware that there is anything special about the steel used in their mandrels.