A little surprised . . . .

[DocStram]

I'm a little surprised that the Pen Wizard Forum doesn't seem to see much action. Up until this point, I've pretty much stayed away from the forum since I didn't own one. But, now that I have PW I'm wondering why there isn't more activity here. Is there another forum somewhere that PW owners visit??

 

[Rick P]

This is the first time I noticed the forum and I have no idea what a Pen wizard is.........could it be that I am an average IAP member in that regard?

 

[sbell111]

I have yet to devote sufficient time to my pen wizard for it to be anything but an oddity on a shelf. Perhaps some day, I'll have a chance to sit down and figure that thing out...

 

[Texatdurango]

Well Doc it doesn't surprise me. I bought one when they first came out and after a few months I realized it wasn't very robust, lacked a lot in the accuracy department, fell way short of my expectations so I sold it and I believe everyone I know did the same thing.

I'm not saying they are basically useless, I'm just saying that they probably see more activity in the cassifieds! :biggrin:

 

[KBs Pensnmore]

I wouldn't part with mine, I don't use it for pens much, but after the modifications, I use it for making tractor wheels, and S&P Grinders.
Kryn

 

[pens by david]

why you all don`t care for pw

I am thinking of buying a PW please all comments welcome.

 

[BKelley]

I like my PW and although it is not the most used tool in the shop it is a great tool.
Yes, you do see them for sale but mine will never be for sale.

Ben

 

[BradG]

The price tag of $300 puts me off to be honest.. i liked the idea, but looking at the list of parts involved... i cant swallow it

 

[Benjaminhurmx]

Pen lathe

It is a bit pricey for what it does. I imagine it will pay for it self once I figure it all out. I've seen some amazing pens made from it. I would buy it again but I do think the price is a bit much.

 

[ImpossibleTom]

Using mine

I got my PW for Christmas and have made probably 6-10 pens in various styles and have glueups for the "real" attempt at liquid inlay. The test inlay with black pigmented epoxy on maple is actually pretty good. Most of the customer interest is the knife handles. Made 2 sets of steak knives and a carving knife/serving fork that my customers all love. With care, smooth motions (do not reverse or stop your cranking) and careful adjustment my PW has had wonderful results. I have found an Ace hardware that sells the Dremel mini router bits and they work well. Made a drive spur so I don't have to drill the knife handles through and plug the ends.
Impossible Tom

 

[wolftat]

Its a subforum and doesn't show up in the drop down menu, makes it hard to find.

 

[Hexhead]

I'm a want to be a machinist and I made myself a contraption to do some of the things that pen wizard does. I was very limited in designs.

I was a little disappointed when I got the pen wizard the tolerances weren't all that tight, but I found out when everything was tightened up it seemed to work just fine.What I mean by fine is that everything tightens up, I just got mine so I'll keep you updated on my progress.

I'm not saying the pen wizard can't be sold for a more reasonable price, but we must realize that prototypes, research and development, marketing, patents, the price of materials, cost of a lot and lots of money, in the price keeps going up.That's probably why he does his own videos, ever checked out how much that costs? I've got some inventions that are just gathering dust because I don't have the funds to go forward with it.

I've heard more good than I've heard bad that's why I took the plunge.Having done machine work I can see it has everything there to make it work.

You can do some of the designs on the great big ornamental machines on pens and a lot more other woodwork, but look at the price tag on it! It makes the pen wizard seems pretty reasonable. Yes it's limited to one area of woodworking, pens, but that's why we bought it right? I have chronic neck and back pain so I have to work in short spurts.So this should help me.

My two cents

 

[KBs Pensnmore]

Hexhead, I modified mine to do more than just pens, S&P grinders basically anything up to about 3" diam and what will fit in between the points.
I can even mount a laminate trimmer in it, for heavier cuts.
Kryn

 

[jeff]

Its a subforum and doesn't show up in the drop down menu, makes it hard to find.

Fixed that :biggrin:

I try to keep the dropdown clean, but there is a balance between clean and invisible. I'll leave it there at least for a while so people realize it's there.

 

[dogcatcher]

Hexhead, I modified mine to do more than just pens, S&P grinders basically anything up to about 3" diam and what will fit in between the points.
I can even mount a laminate trimmer in it, for heavier cuts.
Kryn

Can you give us some more info on how you modified your Wizard. Especially the laminate trimmer and working on the pepper mills.

Are any of the modifications permanent and not reversible? I would hate to lose the capability of working in pens one day and pepper mills the next.

 

[KBs Pensnmore]

Hexhead, I modified mine to do more than just pens, S&P grinders basically anything up to about 3" diam and what will fit in between the points.
I can even mount a laminate trimmer in it, for heavier cuts.
Kryn

Can you give us some more info on how you modified your Wizard. Especially the laminate trimmer and working on the pepper mills.

Are any of the modifications permanent and not reversible? I would hate to lose the capability of working in pens one day and pepper mills the next.

Hi, the mods are not permanent, I like my tools to be multi purpose.
To mount the laminate trimmer (Makita) I used some 8mm plexiglass or similar and made up some riser blocks from the same, mounted the trimmer after taking off part of the base (that comes off with screws). The 8mm plexi plate was slotted to accommodate adjustment of the trimmer.
I also got some spare gears 60T and 12T (I think from memory) and made them as one ( pinned with some 1/8 brazing rod, they can't be glued using CA, used a 7mm slimline tube as a bush) to drop the gear ratio down lower.
Mounted a 3/8 chuck to hold small diam items like lace bobbins, (using again some spare parts from Beall's) inverted the cone on the (spare) bolt at the adjusting end.
I love to tinker with my tools, nothing is standard in the shed.
Will try to put some pics on here soon.
Kryn

 

[dogcatcher]

Here is where I found 1/8" collets that convert laminate trimmers so they can use Dremel burrs. STEWMAC.COM : Adapter Collet
So the laminate trimmer is something I will be looking at adding to my Wizard