GRRR banging my head on the lathe

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seht

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Warning this is a rant!
OMG frustration has set in.

I'm trying to get ready for a show this weekend, so I'm making some more pink ivory pens, they seem to be a favorite of the ladies. I sell those almost as fast as I make them.

I cut the wood for 3 of them drill the holes, (dang 10mm drill bit cuts like a butter knife on concrete.) I get the tubes all glued in and switch over to the pen mill. Lets just say this is making that 10mm drill bit look brand new. I hate those waxed pink ivory pieces. Even after scraping the wax off, they still want to slide in the vise. One of them gets hot enough to losen the glue on the tube and it backs itself out and then sets again. So now I have 1 piece of pink ivory with a brass tube sticking half way out.

Take a deep breath and move on. I finally get 2 pieces of wood on the lathe and go to work. I get the bottom half turned and all is good. I start working on the top and I must have caught an edge because it split in half.

Deep breath and some mild cussing.
look at the pen mill and see how sharp it is. hmm not very encouraging. I wonder if I can sharpen it myself. I found out that I couldn't, at least not well. Well let's try and see if it works. I manage to get another piece trimmed and turned, try to match it with the first piece, and the colors are way off. The first piece was a gorgeous pink, this is half pink with some brown in it.

Now I'm looking for things to throw.
Back to the drill I manage to get another piece ready for turning.
I put it on the lathe get it turned, and it's a good match for the other half. I get the pieces out and start to assemble the pen. When I press the first piece into the pen, the wood splits.

This is really getting to me now. I'm starting to think about how I make pens for fun, and this is not fun. Back out to the garage and cut some more wood. I'm down a blank and a half now and still don't have a useable pen.

one more pen cut, drilled, and trimmed. Back to the lathe I manage to get a piece turned with no cracks, explosions or loss of body parts. I take it back inside to assemble and it doesn't really match the color of the first piece I made, but it is better than anything else I have done for the night, so I put it together.

At this point I'm not caring if the colors match or if my lathe blows up. I go out and cut one more piece and manage to eek out another pen. So 4 hours of frustration and I have two pens that I wouldn't buy if I was the customer. they are fine structurally, I just don't care for the way the colors look.

Oh well at least I didn't get CA in my eye or catch a finger between the tool rest and a spinning block of wood. So I guess it could have been worse.

Scott
 
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gerryr

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Sounds pretty frustrating. It sounds like your drill bit needs sharpening and so does your pen mill. You can sharpen it yourself with a diamond hone. Here's a link to a page full of articles. http://www.penmakersguild.com/articles.htm There are two articles by Rich Kleinhenz about sharpening pen mills. If you have a Drill Doctor, you need to sharpen the drill bit. If you don't have one, you can either find some place local to you that does that or buy another one. Dull drill bits can cause all sorts of problems.
 

Skye

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Bump on the drill sharpening and mill sharpening.

Also, put a small block of scrap wood under the ivory next time while in the press. It'll keep it from sliding down, you can just drill all the way down to the scrap wood.

Sometimes this hobby sucks, sometimes it's heavenly. It's a crapshoot, lol
 

kent4Him

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I've had those types of days. I usually take it as a sign that I need to get out of the shop and spend more time with the kids.

I've heard that pink ivory can be a pain. I hate making pens that I wouldn't care to own. Unless it is paid in advanced. In that case, I'd make a pen from a 2x4 if it was already paid for.
 

bjackman

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Salt Lake City, Utah, USA.
Originally posted by seht
I'm trying to get ready for a show this weekend, so I'm making some more pink ivory pens, they seem to be a favorite of the ladies. I sell those almost as fast as I make them.

So you're saying the're a PITA to sell?? [:eek:)][}:)][}:)]

Sorry, couldn't resist, I think we've all had those kinds of days in the shop too. As someone already said, I usually take it as a sign to go do something else for a while. Hindsight usually shows me it was me, in my rush to get something done, get something finished, etc that created my problem. When I've got "all the time in the world", murphy seems to stay a half step further away.
Hope your show goes well.
 

ctEaglesc

Passed Away Jul 4, 2008
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"Oh well at least I didn't get CA in my eye or catch a finger between the tool rest and a spinning block of wood. "

Yeah? I bet the lathe is pretty dented not to mention the black and blue marks on your head.[:D]
 

Rojo22

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some days you are the windshield, some days, you are the bug....Hope things get better for you, I have the T-shirt for those kinda days....LOL.....
 

blodal

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Apr 11, 2006
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Arlington, TX, USA.
Thanks for the warning on Pink Ivory. I think the one piece that I have will stay in the storage box for a long time.

Oh yes, I have had many a day like you had. Hang in there.
 

usfwood

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Oct 25, 2005
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Kissimmee, Florida, USA.
Moral of the story: Dull tools, bits, mills, files, saws, knives, etc. suck.

It no fun when things seem to be working against you. But, at least days like that are not common.

And if anyone has some pink ivory wood that they no longer want to turn, I will be glad to dispose of it for you. I have never tried pink ivory, and have many women folk in my family that would probably like a pen from the material.

Have a great day.
 
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I have never had the probs w/ PI. Another trick to use for drilling is to glue a small piece of sandpaper in the jig which will grip the block and prevent it from sliding.
 

GBusardo

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Beachwood, NJ, USA.
I have only turned two pens and one pencil out of PI and havent had a problem. I have two blanks just waiting to be made into pens that will probably explode the second I touch them. This hooby of ours is a lot harder than it looks! [:)]
 
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