Dumb questions from a first time turner

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Alzey

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Oct 9, 2011
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369
Location
Erwin, Tennessee
When turning pens:

  • Do I need to prep the mandrel and bushings with anything to prevent a CA finish from gluing everything together?

  • With non 7mm pen kits, do I need a different mandrel or do the bushing support the larger tubes?

When tuning bowls, what are some good valued base clamps to use (Delta 46-460)?

When turning spindles, what are some good collets to use to hold the spindle so you can finish the ends?

I plan to eventually make my own segmented blanks and mostly make items for friends and relatives. I am doing this as a hobby to reduce my stress level from my real job.
 
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fiferb

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Mar 20, 2006
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Ninety Six, SC, USA.
No on coating the bushings, just be careful not to get to much on them. And, you may want to loosen the bushings after each coat dries. No need for a different mandrel. Sorry, can't help with your other questions.
 

Boz

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Jun 21, 2008
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St. Louis, MO.
Welcome Alzey to the fun.
I don't do CA finishes so I am sure someone else will chime in.
As for your bushings they are all sized to work on your 7mm mandrel. They will have a step in them to support the larger tubes and sized to produce the correct diameter for the finished pen. Don't trust them completely especially after you have turned a few pens and sanded on them. Use calipers to measure the pen parts and compare to the outer diameter of the bushing. Then use the actual pen measurement and check your turning against that to get that perfect fit you are looking for.
Take it slow and easy keep your stress levels down.
 

navycop

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Nov 4, 2010
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Virginia Beach, VA 23454
Welcome from Virginia Beach, VA. I don't do CA finishes, but I know all my bushings work on my 7mm mandrel. As mentioned before, the step on them fits into the tube. So it doesn't matter if you are doing slimline pens, cartridge pens, cigar pens the bushings work on the mandrel.
 

sbell111

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Jan 16, 2008
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Franklin, TN
A caveat to the all bushings work on the mandrel is that there are actually two sizes of mandrels. Most pen kits (and their associated bushings) use the 'A' mandrel. This is the mandrel that you own if you have been doing 7mm slimlines. There is a 'B' mandrel, however. It is larger and is recommended for some of Berea's kits.
 

sbell111

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Jan 16, 2008
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Franklin, TN
Regarding bushings: It is important to think of these as consumable supplies like sandpaper. Keep a spare set on hand. As the current ones get worn, chunk them in the trash or use them as spacers.
 

sbell111

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Jan 16, 2008
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Franklin, TN
Regarding the prepping of the mandrel and bushings so the CA finish doesn't glue everything together: I don't typically use a CA finish, but I do quite a bit of stabilizing and filling using CA on the lathe. I used to occasionally have a problem getting my bushings separated, so I started giving the bushings a wipe of car wax before I start. I've not had an issue since. There is no need to treat teh mandrel as you shouldn't be getting any glue on that.
 

sbell111

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Jan 16, 2008
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Franklin, TN
My first chuck was an Apprentice Chuck from CSUSA. It is reasonably priced and comes with four sets of jaws. I've since bought a more expensive set, but the quality of the Apprentice set is good. It still lands on the lathe as frequently as not.

My first collet set was WoodCrafts's Turner's Collet Chuck set. It worked fine, but the collets are not a standard size, so I couldn't buy collets to fill the gaps and, therefore, couldn't always use the collet chuck when I really needed to.

My next collet chuck was CSUSA's Apprentice Collet Chuck set. It comes with five collets that are a standard size so I was able to buy additional collets to fill the gaps. It has been a great tool.

I bought both of my Apprentice chuck sets from CSUSA while they were having sales making these items an even better deal. If you don't absolutely need them right now, I recommend that you wait for a bit and get them during one of CSUSA's sales.
 

Alzey

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Oct 9, 2011
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369
Location
Erwin, Tennessee
Thanks for all the great info. I had this vision of putting a CA finish on my first pen and gluing the mandrel, bushing, and blanks into one big mess. :frown:

I was going to turn my first pen tonight but end up working on my drill press. I had to replace all the electrical wiring as it was dry rotted and the insulation was flaking off. But hey, its not surprising for for machine that is about 80 years old :biggrin:
 

JimB

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Mar 18, 2008
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West Henrietta, NY, USA.
A little wax on the bushing will help a lot. Another alternative is to apply the ca finish between centers without any bushings. You will need a live center and dead center and finish one barrel at a time.
 

Alzey

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Oct 9, 2011
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369
Location
Erwin, Tennessee
Thanks for all the great info. I turned my first 3 pens tonight (here). All were finished with Shellawax. Will try a CA finish later this week and maybe a CA/BLO finish.

This weekend I plan to cut my own blanks out of some wood i found in my grandfather's carpentry shop. I think it is red oak.
 
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