Newbie here with questions

[madwood]

Hi all, been lurking around for a couple weeks and this place is awesome! As with most rookies at turning I have a ton of questions, but I'll be good and spread them out over a period of time.

First, how many of you folks practiced on "scrap" before actually diving into a pen? And how many blanks were destroyed before you got a usable one?

I ordered a starter kit from PSI, the basic one. Is a pen press going to be a must have? Or is there another way to put everything all together efficiently?

One thing I did find out already...I look at virtually every piece of scrap before I toss it in the shop wood stove. In fact, I've also considered renaming the scrap bin...the potential pen bin. OMG this is gonna be an experience to behold!

This slope is even slipperier than when I started scrolling!

Thanks in advance for any input,

John

 

[rlharding]

John, I have been turning for over 10 years. Mostly bowls and a small number of pens and I still blow out blanks. If you search through some wood turning libraries, including this one, you will find many articles to help you out. I have seen numerous examples of pen presses, I think the simplest was using a drill press. Many of the members of this site also sell pen blanks, often at very, very good prices. Prices that I am sure would be cheaper than buying 2x4s.

Spend some time reading the articles in the library. Welcome.

 

[Armacielli]

John,
if you've never turned anything befrore some scrap practice b/w centers is a good idea. Personally I'd done some turning in highschool shop shortly before starting on pens, so I had he basics which is pretty much all you need for simple designs. I have destroyed blanks(usually due to shody jobs at glueing the tubes into the blanks. In fact, I broke a big chip out of one my African Blackwood blank the other day, but luckily today I did a crazy awesome repair job on it today IMHO.but be sure to glue your tubes well and you shouldn't destroy any blanks.

A pen press isn't a must have. I don't have one. I use a large bench vise. I'd like a pen press, but I'm a poor college student so I make due.

 

[stevers]

John,
When I got my lathe, It took a couple of weeks to get any kits. While I waited, I turned scraps between centers. It was good practice. Let me get the feel of the tools and how they cut.
I started out small until I knew I like turning then just started collecting tools and accessories.
I also look at every piece of wood. Just wait till you start looking at "any" material for possible turning stack.
Welcome to the addiction. Have fun.

 

[edman2]

John,
When I first started I used my drill press as a pen press. Make you a little ram similar to the one shown below and chuck it into your drill press and you can press pens together without a problem. Welcome to the fun!

 

[R2]

Welcome John. When I began pen turning I was lucky enough to hop in straight away under the guidance of an old friend. My first efforts wereOk but as I progreessed and became more adventurous I began texpeience blow outs and other unpleasant happenings. Stiill happens but not frequently.
If you haven't turned before just practice on some scraps so that you become accustomed to the feel of the tools. If you can get some lessons, all the better.
I use aZylus vise as a pen press but as I bought ir for other purpoaes taht is OK. Too expensive to purchase as a pen vise. Take edman2's advice and make that.

 

[JohnU]

Welcome John I used c-clamps and a vise for about three moths. It Sucked! A pen press is worth the money. Its easier, quicker and you wont crack the pen wood (as much) because you will have more control, and your hands wont hurt. Besides time is money (20 min. with vise....2 min. with press), but this is just my opinion from my experiences. Good luck! JohnU

 

[wizical]

just remember, nobody is looking for wood pens on page two. So you want to be at the top of the list when people do searches

 

[CHICAGOHAND]

Welcome John, I too am fairly new to pen turning in fact I recieved a free lathe about a year ago and after I built a stand and mounted the motor I gathered up all my vast knowledge about this new machine (none), plugged it in mounted a 4 by 4 piece of oak about 12 inches long.I fired up the lathe and it about took my head off. I am still looking for that piece of oak.
Right after that I humbled myself and went into woodcraft with dark sunglasses and a trench coat and started gathering parts to what has become an obsession.

 

[fafow]

John, welcome to the addiciton. I have only been making pens for about 2 months. I have yet to blow out a blank. One reason for that is that I pull the drill bit out frequently when drilling and use a metal brush on the drill bit when it is out to remove the wood that is on the bit. Going slow and easy seems to work the best for me. Of course, there is no guarantee that a blown blank isn't in my near future []. I used pieces of 2x4 or other scraps left from my wife's woodworking projects to practice on for a while. I had a number of episodes where the skew dug in. This gave me the time I needed to get comfortable with the skew and gouges. I read somewhere that the best way to get control of the skew and reduce the number of dig-ins was to do some on purpose and see just when the dig-in happened. That way you got a better undertanding of what causes it and then you can more easily avoid them in the future. That helped me.

I started out using a vise for assembling my pens. I cracked a couple pieces when pressing in the nib. I had a tough time getting it to go in straight. The vise was a rather small one and was stretched to its limits for the pens. Last month I bought a 1 ton arbor press from Harbor Freight for about $32. It is rock solid and I have had no problems assembling pens and disassembling them using that. It requires little effort and easily presses the pieces in straight. Before I bought the press I checked this site out for the pen press. One person had a couple of them bend on him. A couple people used an arbor press and never mentioned any problems. So, since it seemed to have no problems, was rock solid, and was even cheaper, it sure seemed to be the way to go. I have not regretted it yet. If you have a harbor freight close by, go to their website adn print out the web page showing the sale price and then take that to the store.

One thinkg I was a bit surprised about was that I spend at least half of my time on a pen just sanding and applying the finish. I'm also on my second set of micro mesh pads because I was too aggressive with them and a few of the finer ones melted some. Now I go slower when I sand and don't apply a lot of pressure with these pads.

I have commented to a few people that this is a very forgiving hobby. The first pens I made were not exactly masterpieces, yet those receiving them thought they were great. Most of the people I gave my early pens to just looked at the wood and were amazed at the natural beauty of the wood. They didn't look to see that there were scratches on the pens or that the end of the wood didn't meet the nib or center band or cap just right. The really neat thing also is that even those early pens are advertisements and I have received some orders for sales based on people seeing those early pens.

Good luck. Do a good job on your pens and make us all proud.

 

[wdcav1952]

Originally posted by Armacielli

John,
if you've never turned anything befrore some scrap practice b/w centers is a good idea. Personally I'd done some turning in highschool shop shortly before starting on pens, so I had he basics which is pretty much all you need for simple designs. I have destroyed blanks(usually due to shody jobs at glueing the tubes into the blanks. In fact, I broke a big chip out of one my African Blackwood blank the other day, but luckily today I did a crazy awesome repair job on it today IMHO.but be sure to glue your tubes well and you shouldn't destroy any blanks.

A pen press isn't a must have. I don't have one. I use a large bench vise. I'd like a pen press, but I'm a poor college student so I make due.

Just a guess, but I imagine you are not an English major. [}]

 

[aurrida]

i brought a yard of beech dowel, drilled 6.5mm and placed directly on mandrel. great for practicing using gouge and skew. then practiced sanding and a ca finish.

i then turned two blanks on spare brass tubes was happy with the results and away i went. then the headaches began but its all part of the learning curve. but its all worth it.

have fun

 

[Russianwolf]

Hey John,
Not only did I start by practicing on scraps, but when I run low on kits, I STILL work on scraps. My favorite practice is just a 1" square by 12-18 inch long piece. I turn this into a "magic wand" ala Harry Potter. The kis love them and you can practice whatever technique you like on them.

 

[Armacielli]

Originally posted by wdcav1952

Originally posted by Armacielli

John,
if you've never turned anything befrore some scrap practice b/w centers is a good idea. Personally I'd done some turning in highschool shop shortly before starting on pens, so I had he basics which is pretty much all you need for simple designs. I have destroyed blanks(usually due to shody jobs at glueing the tubes into the blanks. In fact, I broke a big chip out of one my African Blackwood blank the other day, but luckily today I did a crazy awesome repair job on it today IMHO.but be sure to glue your tubes well and you shouldn't destroy any blanks.

A pen press isn't a must have. I don't have one. I use a large bench vise. I'd like a pen press, but I'm a poor college student so I make due.

Just a guess, but I imagine you are not an English major. [}]

It is true that I'm not an English major, but rather Forensic Science. While I've always considered myself rather adept in my English skills, the real foundation of my aformentioned problem is that I'm not a gifted typist. Typing annoys me because I type only with one hand due to a stroke I suffered at 14. Because of this, I rush my typing and make myriad mistakes. (unless I'm trying to defend my English skills in which case I carefully type my response to circumvent hypocrasy)

 

[RonInSpringTX]

When I decided to start this my wife said, "go ahead & get the pen press" ...That was good advice, I've never had a problem pressing pens/whatever together. If you don't feel like spending the $ Edman had a good design, but do you have a drill press??? Edman's suggestion is the way to go, just make sure the quill has the length (thrust). I'm sure it will, just make sure the bottom of the upper wood is perpendicular (90 deg) as well as parallel to your base wood. (need to have a piece of wood on the drill press table)
keep your chisels sharp, sharper, & sharpest!!!

 

[Daniel]

My first turning experience was exactly the same as Daves, a 4X4 I was thinking of turning to a gobblet for my brother. I get hit by mine when it left the lathe. It is a gobblet today though. my next trunings where for pins for a game I still have to finish making. it required 20 pins that each have a long section about 1/4 inch in diameter. At the time I didn't even know this was concidered turning miniatures. the first two or three came out jsut fine. then I broke the next 8 in a row, gave up. SInce I have learned that my tools where ready to be sharpened and trying desperatly to tell me so. For my first pens I bought 20 slimline kits and stuck with it til it was all done. nervewracking does not really describe what I went through but it is a close as I can get to the discription and keep my language nice. Blow outs, undersized barrels. cracked barrels during assembly, lousy finishes that got even worse in a few days, blanks cut to short, coves where I intended no coves to be, humps where I intended no humps to be. pretty much you name it, I did it. But what I learned was priceless. I would recommend to any beginner that they get cigar kits rather than slimlines though. As for a press. I used my drill press for a few years. it works just fine. I now use a HF arbor press but that is more about pampering myself than necessity. Good bits, sharp tools, and a lathe that runs true are the real important things.

 

[marionquill]

John,
I've been turning pens for over a year now - I just went straight into making them - didn't practice on scrap or anything. I've had two blow outs, both while drilling the hole and both were segmented wood and both I pushed too hard on the drill press. I don't have a pen press, I just use my vice. I did cut some peg board and screwed that to the insides of the vice though. You can use rubber too - I just used what was handy -- anyway, you don't really need pen press unless you just want to spend the $$.

 

[alphageek]

You want a decent pen press w/o a lot of spend? I use this:
http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/displayitem.taf?Itemnumber=92731
Add an extra face if you want for the pen to protect it, but this works great.. You can make tiny adjustments due to the screw drive.

 

[fritz64]

mount it on a base ,make a small v block to lay pen on ,and go.

 

[RMB]

I assemble my pens with a plastic hammer.... yeah, go ahead and tell me thats wrong, it works. Actually I have a lot more problems getting alignment right with slimlines than larger kits, but I've still only damaged a couple. Now that I'm trying CA/BLO finishes though, I think I need to switch to something more sophisticated, cuz the CA cracks or becomes cloudy if its stretched or distorted any.

 

[loglugger]

I use HF 1/2 ton arbor press that works good. Some place I have seen a press made out of a pipe clamp that looks like it would work very well and was cheap.
Armacielli, we realy don't care how you spell as long as we get to talk about wood working or turning.
Bob

 

[MikeInMo]

I use one of those pistol grip squeeze clamps with a couple of adapter blocks (v-notch, hole to center nib/clicker on click sierra. I have tried my f-i-l's pen press, and I like the clamp better. I think it is quicker, and I have a better feel for how things are going together. So far no cra....never mind, not gonna say it.

 

[rascle1966]

I use a bessey duo clamp at lowes under $30.00 works great but I am a newbie to turning.

 

[wickford]

Welcome to the addiction!!

I think a pen press is definitely a good investment. At least for me it was. I started out using a bench vise, then tried clamps, then I made a pen press with some T-track, plywood and a horizontal hold down clamp. Didn't really get enough leverage with the small handle so I added a 1/2" pipe about 12 inches long to the handle, well that gave me too much leverage and I bent the clamp, so I went to Harbor Freight and bought their 1/2 ton arbor press for around 30 bucks. Well worth it!! I now have VERY sturdy device for pressing pen parts together...

Bottom line is the best thing is whatever works best for you! Whatever method you decide, good luck!!!

 

[R2]

Sorry Cav. You are undoubtedly a good bloke but you can also be a supercilious pain in the nether regions.[:X]
If you insist on correcting people why not correct all contributors?

 

[constamj]

Originally posted by wdcav1952

Originally posted by Armacielli

John,
if you've never turned anything befrore some scrap practice b/w centers is a good idea. Personally I'd done some turning in highschool shop shortly before starting on pens, so I had he basics which is pretty much all you need for simple designs. I have destroyed blanks(usually due to shody jobs at glueing the tubes into the blanks. In fact, I broke a big chip out of one my African Blackwood blank the other day, but luckily today I did a crazy awesome repair job on it today IMHO.but be sure to glue your tubes well and you shouldn't destroy any blanks.

A pen press isn't a must have. I don't have one. I use a large bench vise. I'd like a pen press, but I'm a poor college student so I make due.

Just a guess, but I imagine you are not an English major. [}]

I just hope that all the members on this site are not so critical of peoples typing skills or their use of the English language. This should be a place where we can help others.[xx(]

 

[igran7]

You can spend the money on a dedicated pen press, but I have been using a Bessey K-Body 12" clamp for over 5 years now. I like it because it is portable and it can be used as a clamp or spreader for other projects. I get more bang for my buck. Unlike a pistol grip clamp, the K-body doesn't squeeze in incriments. You can regulate the pressure while clamping the pieces together. Cost is about $30.00, but you can often find them on sale. I have used a pen press and a vise in the past, but the K-Body clamp IMHO is far superior to either of these because of its portability, and ease of use.

 

[Scott]

Originally posted by igran7

You can spend the money on a dedicated pen press, but I have been using a Bessey K-Body 12" clamp for over 5 years now. I like it because it is portable and it can be used as a clamp or spreader for other projects. I get more bang for my buck. Unlike a pistol grip clamp, the K-body doesn't squeeze in incriments. You can regulate the pressure while clamping the pieces together. Cost is about $30.00, but you can often find them on sale. I have used a pen press and a vise in the past, but the K-Body clamp IMHO is far superior to either of these because of its portability, and ease of use.

Me Too! The Bessey K-body 12" clamp is perfect for me. And I have put a FEW pens together this way!

BTW, welcome to the addiction! Just start turning, and don't look back!

Scott.

 

[madwood]

I wish to thank all those who have responded to my call. Although I have yet to turn pen one, your input is greatly valued. As soon as I can get a few other projects finished up, I will get to pen one and be sure to post a pic or two.

Again, many thanks,
John

 

[W3DRM]

Well, it's obvious this subject has numerous suggested answers to it. That's what makes this forum so great - lots of differing ideas and ways to do things. As for me, and since I have a Harbor Freight close-by in Reno, I bought their 1-ton Arbor Press. I removed the standard rotating base and placed a piece of hard 1/4" plastic over the hole and another piece on the press bar. It works great and so far, no problems have been encountered with it. A link to the HF 1-ton press follows:

.....http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/displayitem.taf?Itemnumber=3552