Lathe Mandrel Problem

[ctboy]

Hello,
I recently bought a lathe that has a 7/8 x 8tpi headstock, without any morse taper. I am now looking for a way to turn pens, because the most common mandrels don't fit it, and the tailstock is also not common. Does anyone have suggestions as how to rig the lathe to accept a morse taper mandrel, or, any mandrel? If so, this would be appreciated.
John

 

[gerryr]

Are you sure about the headstock threads? What kind of lathe is it? And welcome to the IAP.

 

[ctboy]

Thanks. It's a Rand lathe. I bought it off ebay. According to the seller, it's 5/8, but I measured it and it was bigger than that. lso, they say it's 11 tpi, but i count 8. Lastly, the tailstock is 3/4 by 16. Thanks for the help.
John

 

[JimGo]

Hmmmm, I had a Rand (or sister company) lathe that was a 1"x8TPI. You might want to double-check your measurements. Especially if you're doing what I did, which is to measure from the inside of the threads - remember, it's the OD of the tailstock threads that you want to measure!

 

[gerryr]

Can you return it?

 

[Randy_]

John: The Rand lathe is very inexpensive; but does have a number of limitations. Wish we could have offered advice to you before you purchased it. Unfortunately, pen making supplies are just not designed to be used with that particular lathe. For the time, money and aggravation that you will encounter adapting that lathe to make pens, you could buy another lathe. If you plan on doing other types of turning, you could use it for that; but if pens are your primary interest, your best bet would be to return it or sell it. You can buy a Wilton on Amazon dot com for about a hundred bucks and for a few more dollars you can get a decent mini lathe from PSI.

 

[ctboy]

Thanks for the help.
John

 

[ctboy]

Oh, and no I can't return it. Shipping would cost around $50, when i paid $30 for it.