Between Center Turning

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termitedave

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Joined
Oct 17, 2012
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213
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broken arrow,ok
I have seen were alot of you on here are turning your pens between centers. I of tried it and I'm not having to good of luck. Can you use your regular Wall st bushings to do this? I know you will need special ones for slims. I have checked alignment on both of my lathes I'm OCD about this :biggrin: it is dead on.And I'm using a dead center and live center both points line up. But I'm still having a high side on the pens turned this way. Any help would be GREATLY APPRECIATED!!!!!!!!!!!! Thank You for taking your time to help!!!
 
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keithlong

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Mar 14, 2009
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Athens, Alabama
It is not impossible to use standard bushings, to turn between centers, however if the stock bushings are not drilled dead center, you will have problems. I have the BC bushings for some pens and they are wonderful to use. You can also turn between centers using calipers, just don't put too much pressure on the blank.
 

Dan Hintz

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Feb 16, 2011
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477
Location
Columbia, MD
Dave,

I tried what you did... using bushings over the 60 degree points. It was at that point I realized how many of my bushings were not drilled on center. Now I use bushings mostly for mandrel work when it's time to sand and CA finish... never for turning.
 

Boz

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Jun 21, 2008
Messages
371
Location
St. Louis, MO.
I have a friend who is an A+P mechanic. He turns my bushings on his metal lathe and drills the outside centers with 60 degree bits that give enough taper for the centers to get a good grip. When I get close to final size I remove the bushings and make the last couple of cuts with the blank riding on the centers.
 

RSidetrack

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Joined
Feb 5, 2011
Messages
457
Location
Fayetteville, PA
When I turn between centers I use the regular bushings to get it sized down close and the general shape. Once done, I remove the bushings and place between centers without any type of bushing and finish turning down. I also finish without any bushings as well. The issue is if the bushings aren't drilled to a 60 degree taper, it is very easy for them to be slightly off center, even though you would think they would self-center when you put the centers in, but I have found that is most often not the case.

Also - most of your bushings, if they are anything like mine, aren't even centered in the first place. The only set of bushings I have found to be true so far were the ones for the Marksman Pen, not to mention he already tapered them at 60 degrees, so they were great!

In either case, don't worry about using bushings, especially for the final turning process. Get yourself some calipers, I use a digital one from Lowes which is a PITA sometimes, but it works and gets the job done.
 

Justturnin

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Aug 19, 2011
Messages
2,235
Location
Houston, Tx
If I have to use Factory bushings for a mandrel I chuck them up in my pen jaws and run a Center Drill into them to put a 60* taper in them. Like others I only use them to get close then I finish turning w/ no bushings. Digital Calipers are a must. If you have a Harbor Freight watch the adds for the 6" they go on sale often for $9.99, I have three of them and they work great. Sign up for email coupons, that is where they come from. Shoot, let me check my emails and see if I have a coupon that is still valid. If I do and you want it I will forward it to you.
 

Carl Fisher

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Jun 7, 2011
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2,761
Location
Cape Coral, FL
When I turn between centers I use the regular bushings to get it sized down close and the general shape. Once done, I remove the bushings and place between centers without any type of bushing and finish turning down. I also finish without any bushings as well.

Exactly what I do as well. The regular bushings are a good guide to get you in the ballpark without having to stop the lathe every few passes to check your measurement. Once you are close, remove the bushings and chuck directly between centers without bushings and true it up and hit your final dimension using a caliper to match your components.
 

edman2

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Feb 2, 2007
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1,375
Location
Greenbrier, AR. USA.
I also turn between centers. When I get the blank down to near correct size I stop the lathe and rotate the blank between the centers about a half turn and then trim. I repeat this one more time. This usually removes any high side that might be present. It works to my satisfaction.
 

RSidetrack

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Joined
Feb 5, 2011
Messages
457
Location
Fayetteville, PA
Another note on why I don't use bushings. Not all kits are identical. One cigar may be slightly different than another, so I always measure the components to get the size to match rather than go off of the bushing size or even the instructions.
 
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