Christian from Germany

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chris_11

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Dec 28, 2020
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Luedinghausen
Hello,

I am from Germany and new to wood turning and pen making. I work longer on a metal lathe, self build CNC mill and have now since a few weeks a wood turning lathe. First bowls from plum are made and I am now looking into pen making. Hope that I learn a lot here and will show my first most likely ugly results hopefully in the next few weeks. I am almost 60 years old and have an electrical engineering job, so it is something different. Any help, recommendation and critique is welcome.

br
Christian
 
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magpens

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Hi Chris !! . Warm welcome to IAP !!! . :D

You want my recommendation ? . Start making pens with your metal-working lathe .... right away !! . You have the experience with that lathe so use it !

I have been making pens of all types (about 3000 so far) for over 10 years using only a metal-working lathe.
 
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chris_11

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Dec 28, 2020
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Luedinghausen
Hello,
the Metal lathe is a 3.75 ton 600x1000mm VDF 3K beast made 1959. The biggest drawback is its 475 RPM Limit. For short time I can run it faster but with a 315mm chuck and Mk5 Tailstock I think a bit oversized for pen maling. However perfect to make whatever metal tools are needed. The wood lath is a "midi Pro". Here the Link to one German vendor.

I don't want to make any advertisment, only that you get an idea how it looks.
 

magpens

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@chris_11

I see ! ... Yes, a bit on the big size ! . Thanks for explaining ! :) . But I am pretty sure it would turn pens OK.

BTW, I rarely go over 600 RPM and spend much of my turning time at around 250 RPM. . The lower speeds are good for acrylics, and are actually adequate for hardwoods. . After all, you ( or I ) always sand before finishing, so the the low speed is not really a disadvantage.

The low speed is actually really good for drilling your pen blanks. . Many people complain that wood lathes won't go slow enough !
 
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Curly

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Nov 20, 2010
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Saskatoon SK., Canada.
Hi Christian
You have a German company that has a lot of wood turning stuff including some unique pen kits. I wanted to give a few a try but haven't due to the costs of shipping etc. Being close to home they might be something you would want to play with. https://www.drechselstube.de/zubehoer/schreibgeraete-und-zubehoer/

The wood lathe you have looks like a pretty nice one. One thing you could make for it with your metal lathe is a double ended #2 morse taper alignment tool. It will allow you to get the tailstock and headstock aligned especially after swivelling the headstock for larger work. Something like this one for Nova lathes. https://www.teknatool.com/product/nova-acruline-2mt-alignment-lathe-accessory/

Pete
 

LK&T

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Dec 1, 2020
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Sedro Woolley, WA
Hello,
the Metal lathe is a 3.75 ton 600x1000mm VDF 3K beast made 1959. The biggest drawback is its 475 RPM Limit. For short time I can run it faster but with a 315mm chuck and Mk5 Tailstock I think a bit oversized for pen maling. However perfect to make whatever metal tools are needed. The wood lath is a "midi Pro". Here the Link to one German vendor.

I don't want to make any advertisment, only that you get an idea how it looks.
You just have to make really big pens! 😆
 

darrin1200

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Mar 17, 2010
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Lyn, Ontario, Canada
Hello Chris.
Welcome from Ontario, Canada. I spent 4 years in Germany where I met my fabulous wife. She is from Meissenhiem in the Schwarzwald.
You and I have actually worked opposite directions. I started with a small woodlathe to make pens, then built a hobbie CNC and am now trying to learn the metal lathe.
I look forward to seeing some of your work.
 

chris_11

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Joined
Dec 28, 2020
Messages
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Location
Luedinghausen
Hello,

that are my pen #2 and #3 I made in my life. One is cherry and one is oak. TBC and my first CA finish. Any hints, help, critique welcome.


27486056-B446-4EE3-87F5-01059E939FA4.jpeg


br
Christian
 

howsitwork

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Jul 9, 2016
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Thirsk
Very nice Christian

And welcome for the UK, now sadly outside of europe !

For the cherry pen perhaps you could taper the body towards the central band more as there looks to be a sharp edge there? It might be the photograph though.

Happy New Year

Isn
 

chris_11

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Dec 28, 2020
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Luedinghausen
You are right. This was my #2 and I did measure with callipers turning TBC both parts individual. As a beginner it takes some time until you are comfortable to what dimension to turn.

Happy new year.
Christian
 

howsitwork

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It still looks " sehr gut" to me .

Entshuldigung , amber mein Deutch it's alt und ich teste jetzt mit Google.
 

egnald

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Columbus, Nebraska, USA
Greetings from Nebraska - and welcome to the IAP community. Where in Germany is Luedinghausen? I was the Director of Engineering for one of the divisions of Vishay, corporate headquarters in Selb. Before retiring I had the pleasure of visiting many locations in Germany. I especially enjoyed Landshut and the North Sea area near Heide. Perhaps with good fortune I will be able to find my way back to Germany some day on holiday.

Best Regards
Dave

Gluck und Erfolg im neuen Jar!
 
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chris_11

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Joined
Dec 28, 2020
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Location
Luedinghausen
Hello,

Lüdinhausen is in the north part about 40min drive north of the Ruhrgebiet. Somewhat between Dortmund and Muenster. You find it on google maps.
 

howsitwork

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spalted beech can be especially beautiful but can be difficult if the wood goes soft. With lots of CA glue it can often still be turned though.

Happy New Year
 

chris_11

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Dec 28, 2020
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Location
Luedinghausen
I did stabilize the drill hole with CA before I glued the brass tube with epoxy into the beech. Did give no problems.

This was wet plum dried on the brass tube in two days. I did cut diagonal through a plum branch to make some blanks.

F672D5D7-5EDC-4FB9-AFB3-F9E57139F872.jpeg
 

peter1958

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Dec 11, 2020
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Location
Netherlands
Hello,
the Metal lathe is a 3.75 ton 600x1000mm VDF 3K beast made 1959. The biggest drawback is its 475 RPM Limit. For short time I can run it faster but with a 315mm chuck and Mk5 Tailstock I think a bit oversized for pen maling. However perfect to make whatever metal tools are needed. The wood lath is a "midi Pro". Here the Link to one German vendor.

I don't want to make any advertisment, only that you get an idea how it looks.
Hello Chris, schöne Maschine, better for pen making i guess.
Welcome from the Netherlands, 20 km from Aachen
 

chris_11

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Dec 28, 2020
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Location
Luedinghausen
Yes I do the pens on the Midi Pro. But the VDF is nice if you make larger bowls and need to make the wood somehow round first. That is a lot safer than on the Midi with large heavy unbalanced turning pieces. I have still some thread milling project for multistart threads for kitless pens in mind where I plan to use the metal lath for milling the threads with a router motor in the support.

br
Christian
 
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