When I first started this adventure I didn't want to put a bunch of money into a new lathe. I bought the Penn State Pen Pal package figuring if it didn't like turning pens I could sell the entire system and recoup most of my money.
As to the Pen Pal lathe, it's compact, runs well although I don't care for the speed control and I only turn pens and key chains on it. It says that it can handle bottle stoppers, but that's really pushing it. In my opinion it's a bit under-powered for larger items. Everything else I turn, coffee scoops, ice cream scoops etc, and all larger items get turned on my larger lathe. My larger lathe does not bog down like the Pen Pal when turning larger items.
The Pen Pal is quiet and for apartment use would probably not attract any neighbors attention if used inside. But it does have restrictions on what it can handle size wise.
I figure at some point I'll burn this lathe up and will replace it with a different one, but for now I'll still use it for smaller items. And it does have a verry small foot print.
