Getting started supplies

[Banished]

Hi Big!

I'm new to turning also. I was shown how to turn by a friend using a miter saw and a drill press and squaring my blank with a barrel trimmer on the drill press while my friend squared his on a disc sander. Once I started gathering my needs I opted to try and keep my shop small so most of what I do is on the lathe which is the same as yours. I already had a miter saw with a laser so my cuts are dead on. The rest of my work has been on the lathe with a drill & blank chuck, barrel trimmer and the only change I made was I opted to go with a live center over mandrel saver as I have issues with it staying locked in the tail for some reason. The only downside I was told would be swapping out stuff a lot to do something else but I have found that it just becomes routine. I cut my blanks and glue my tubes the day before and the rest gets done the following day on the lathe .I am also a Ca Med fan I hope that helps in some way.

Oh, and maybe I missed the post.. don't forget a pen press for assembly!

Good Luck! Greg

 

[WriteON]

Oh yea... another "must have" for a new turner (especially) would be the harbor freight punch set and soft grip pliers.

You'll want these very soon

and possibly a 7MM disassemble kit.

 

[Quality Pen]

Oh yea... another "must have" for a new turner (especially) would be the harbor freight punch set and soft grip pliers.

You'll want these very soon

and possibly a 7MM disassemble kit.

Not sure what that is?

For a new turner though, that harbor freight punch set is great because you can take apart any common set. The soft grip pliers are worth the 8 bucks to just to make life easier.

 

[Rick_G]

Most of us started with the slim line kit because it's cheaper but if you have a few extra dollars a good kit to start with would be the Sierra. For the most part it makes a nicer looking pen and the blank does not have to be turned as thin as the blanks for the slim. You can usually get 2 pens out of one blank when you come across an exceptionally nice one.

I did not see this mentioned but it may have been. The live center that usually comes with the lathe is not good for pen turning. The angle is wrong for the end of the mandrel. You will need a 60 deg live center such as this one Grizzly.com
I am not familiar with your lathe so am assuming it has a MT2 in the tailstock. The above center is for MT2, if your lathe is MT1 or MT3 you would need to find center to match it. Grizzly has all three. There are other places you can get them including members here. I just picked Grizzly because they are easy to find and have good pictures so you know what you are getting.

Just took a look at the lathe and it looks like it may be a 60 deg. center and in the Q&A someone mentioned it was so don't run out and buy one until you check.

 

[MikeinSC]

I use the Easy Wood tools Finisher tool from start to finish. Works great and I only need to keep up with one tool for now. When the cutter becomes dull all the way around it gets removed and honed on a credit card sized diamond honing plate. A dab of spit or water, twirl it around with the thumb and good as new.
I thank the Charlotte pen turners club president for that tip everytime I don't have to mess with a bunch if chisels, gouges and skews.