mandrel question

Signed-In Members Don't See This Ad
Signed-In Members Don't See This Ad

wood-of-1kind

Member
Joined
Jul 10, 2005
Messages
4,114
Location
Toronto, ON, Canada
Quick answer is NO. In terms of popularity there are "A" and "B" sized mandrels and depending on which style of pen kit you are turning you need to distinguish which one you need. The A is slightly smaller (diameter) than the B.

Typical Mandrel Sizes:
A= .247 dia
B= .291 dia
 
Last edited:

Haynie

Member
Joined
May 20, 2011
Messages
3,516
Location
Page Arizona
will be turning an artists sketch pencil and probably some small 2 or 3mm lead pencils to start. Will I need an A or a B?
 

wood-of-1kind

Member
Joined
Jul 10, 2005
Messages
4,114
Location
Toronto, ON, Canada

Mariner1

Member
Joined
Apr 11, 2011
Messages
93
Location
Tennessee
I have only made a few pens to date so I am by no means an expert. I have a Mandrell I bought at woodcraft and so far it will do every pen I have looked at. I do buy the bushings that the kit calls for and so far they have all fit the shaft of the mandrell. And I did turn the artist sketch pencil that woodcraft sells on this mandrell.

O.K. I was going to add a picture of the thing here, but have no idea how to do it. I blieve it is called the professional mandrell and has a shaft that can be varried in length so you don't have to add spacers on the end of short pens.

Karl.
 

jlord

Member
Joined
May 16, 2009
Messages
133
Location
Whittier, CA
Are pen Mandrels Universal, or will any one do the job?
Hi & Welcome,
Most kit bushings will use the "A" mandrel. The Professional mandrel mentioned is just an adjustable mandrel where you can adjust it's length. Comes in handy when turning kits that have only one blank. But you can also turn one blank kits with the standard mandrel, you just add some spacers to take up the slack.
Don't tighten these to much as they might bow & cause out of round turnings.

http://www.rockler.com/product.cfm?page=10667&filter=mandrel
 

its_virgil

Member
Joined
Jan 1, 2004
Messages
8,101
Location
Wichita Falls, TX, USA.
Only a few kits, sold by Berea Hardwoods and their resellers, use the B mandrel. I have not seen any other company's kits use the B mandrel...although I could be wrong....I have been before...more than once.
Woodcraft sells Berea kits and all of them use the A mandrel...even if Berea suggests the B mandrel. Woodcraft has the bushings for the A mandrel for all of their kits. If I purchase a kit that requires the B mandrel I get bushings from Woodcraft for that kit. It is a little confusing because Woodcraft changes the names of some of their kits from the name used by Berea. You will soon learn how all of this works.

Do a good turn daily!
Don
 
Top Bottom