spread sheet

[matvoz]

I am a total greenhorn at pen turning-in fact never turned one. But next weekend I hope to take the plunge. Upon researching I have found that each wood has different requirements for making a pen. For example, the lathe RPM on one wood is 3000 and the next is 2000. Also the drilling of the pen is different. My question is does anybody have a spread sheet that lists desired RPM, Drill speed, type of finish and preferred glue type for each particular type of wood?

I hope I am making sense.

TIA

 

[KKingery]

I'm not sure anyone has actually compiled a spreadsheet on all that type info, but it would be an asset to have. Could be a rather large spread sheet though, based on the number of kits and varieties of wood and other materials.

 

[Mac In Oak Ridge]

TIA,
I think worrying about different lathe speeds for different kinds of wood is going way over board. Just run your lathe at a good medium speed and start turning. If you feel right after a few blanks. speed it up. If you don't feel comfortable with your skill, slow it down. Just start turning things will sort themselves out.

 

[Rifleman1776]

For the small blanks for pens a lot of people just use top speed all the time. A light touch actually will give less chance of a catch. Develop your own techniques. Good luck. BTW, is this is your first time turning ANYTHING I suggest turning some spindles from scrap wood to get to learn your tools and lathe.

 

[Ligget]

I totally agree with Mac, if you worry too much about different aspects of penturning all the pleasure you should be having will be lost!
We all make mistakes, I am still making them, but I am learning and having a lot of fun at the same time..

 

[jrc]

Out of 6000 pens I never change speeds, no reason to. Drilling, same thing. Turning some woods you may go a little easier on the knife and less presure on some for drilling.

 

[KKingery]

I recently discovered that slowing down my lathe speed helped tremendously. I now do everything at 1300 - turning, sanding, everything.

 

[tipusnr]

I've never considered using different drill speeds. I judge my drilling by pressure and frequency of clean-out.

Lathe speed is the same type of thing. I judge it by feel.

 

[Fred in NC]

Surface speed is what is important. IPM, inches per minute. That is the circumference of the piece times RPM.

For example, a 1/2" dowel turning at 3000 RMP has a surface speed of 4712 IPM. A 2" dowel at the same 3000 RPM has a surface speed of 18850 IMP.

That is one of the reasons we can turn pens at high speed, the small diameter.

To turn a 12" dia bowl at 18850 IPM you would have to slow down to 500 RPM. For that reason bowls are turned at slower speeds as they get bigger.

The above numbers are approximate, of course.

The net result is that we can turn pens at full lathe speed IF we feel comfortable with it. Sharp tools are very important at any speed.

 

[jkirkb94]

I don't change speeds, never considered it. Just remember the KISS principle (Keep It Simple, Sucker) [] Kirk[8D]

 

[matvoz]

Thanks for the info. Looks like I was complicating the process. I am planning on going through some scrap pieces before I get into the good wood.

 

[WoodChucker]

Originally posted by matvoz
<br />Thanks for the info. Looks like I was complicating the process. I am planning on going through some scrap pieces before I get into the good wood.

Your a pen turner now and there's no such thing as scrap, it only becomes scrap if you make a mistake. []

I would suggest using a hardwood for practice, because most of the pens you will make are of the hardwood variety. But thats just my way of thinking, it might not be correct. [] Good luck and make sure you post some pics of your first pen.