thewishman
Member
A few years ago, making pens became more trouble than I wanted to put up with. My lathe was not properly aligned, and despite attempting many work-arounds, my pens were not meeting the parts correctly. I greatly cut back on my turning for almost two years.
The new Delta 46-460 lathe made turning much better, but I was still having problems getting my pen barrels to match up with the pen parts. It was very discouraging. Now that my lathe was in alignment, I needed to get rid of the mandrel and stock bushings that were making my turning work frustrating.
I scraped together some money and ordered cigar bushings and the 7mm triple play (slim, euro, streamline and comfort bushings and adapters – a great idea!) from Penturners Products. I added those to the live and dead centers and custom tool rest I'd bought previously and tried the turning-between-centers method. What a miracle! My barrels matched the parts exactly!
I really cannot express how much more fun it is to turn now. The increase in the precision of my pens has given me the confidence to make more sales calls and to raise my prices.
John, thank you for such a great product! You have made my pen making work a joy.
P.S. Got some of John's Sierra Vista bushings a few days ago and turned two Geared Carbon Fiber and two circuitboard pens with them right away. The fit was spot-on!
The new Delta 46-460 lathe made turning much better, but I was still having problems getting my pen barrels to match up with the pen parts. It was very discouraging. Now that my lathe was in alignment, I needed to get rid of the mandrel and stock bushings that were making my turning work frustrating.
I scraped together some money and ordered cigar bushings and the 7mm triple play (slim, euro, streamline and comfort bushings and adapters – a great idea!) from Penturners Products. I added those to the live and dead centers and custom tool rest I'd bought previously and tried the turning-between-centers method. What a miracle! My barrels matched the parts exactly!
I really cannot express how much more fun it is to turn now. The increase in the precision of my pens has given me the confidence to make more sales calls and to raise my prices.
John, thank you for such a great product! You have made my pen making work a joy.
P.S. Got some of John's Sierra Vista bushings a few days ago and turned two Geared Carbon Fiber and two circuitboard pens with them right away. The fit was spot-on!
