Drilling on the lathe

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CMC75

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I am trying to pick a setup for drilling blanks and would like some opinions or reviews of the dedicated pen blank chuck from PSI.

Just purchased a lathe and getting started. Need to buy the drill chuck and turning chuck. Cost is adding up quickly so looking for a lower cost to mid-priced starting option.

Any negative feedback about the dedicated pen blank chuck?
 
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The negative feedback that I would give is that you can only drill pen blanks on it. But, if you get a chuck with pen blank jaws, then you have what you need now and will likely want to experiment later. Pens aren't the only thing to turn on a lathe! And the price difference isnt much for the right chuck. Buy once, cry once.

And yes, drilling the lathe is much better
 
Absolutely no negative feedback and in fact I highly recommend them. I did at one time buy a couple from PSI but they broke and they sucked. So I spent bigger money and got a good quality one from Nova. but here is one, https://www.turnerswarehouse.com/products/dedicated-pen-blank-drilling-chuck#:~:text=With two and a half times the capacity,blanks up to 2-1/2" square and 5" long.. Now people use pin jaws in a basic chuck but I do not like that because pen blanks are never square and you want to grab the blank from 2 opposite corners because that centers the blank at all times. This is not an inexpensive hobby for sure but with the better tools you can perfect your techniques and quality of your work. It makes things easier and more enjoyable. Always try to look at it that way. ye more than one way to skin that cat but one way maybe easier than others. good luck.

I would caution on the above statement that only pen blanks can be drilled on it. If the blank fits between the jaws anything can be drilled such as call, bottle stopper blanks and much more. I drill billiardballs with it.

One other note, if you get one, get the largest one.
 
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I am not a fan of the PSI chucks - our club used them and the failure rate is not great. Rockler has been selling a few Nova knock offs, the latest is branded as a Rikon chuck and they seem to be fairly well made. Buy a set of pen jaws for any standard chuck and you are good.

I don't agree with @jttheclockman statement that non-square blanks are an issue - few blanks are perfectly square or round, so always figure out the center point before mounting and mount it to get the most material around the center on all sides.

A few of the items you use turning need to be pretty durable, like a chuck, so cost is often an indicator of quality.

Kevin
 
I would highly recommend the Nova G3 (or similar, e.g., Record Power, Sorby Patriot)) as they are all reputed to have compatible jaw sets. They each have dedicated pen jaw sets that work with square or round blanks. The problem with the Penn State pen drilling chuck is that it can ONLY be used for drilling while the other chucks can be used for almost any other turning application using a chuck (spindle work, bowl turning, etc.). The initial cost is higher, but in the long run, it works out to be cheaper than just having a single-use, dedicated pen drilling chuck.
 
NJturner said:
I am not a fan of the PSI chucks - our club used them and the failure rate is not great. Rockler has been selling a few Nova knock offs, the latest is branded as a Rikon chuck and they seem to be fairly well made. Buy a set of pen jaws for any standard chuck and you are good.

I don't agree with @jttheclockman statement that non-square blanks are an issue - few blanks are perfectly square or round, so always figure out the center point before mounting and mount it to get the most material around the center on all sides.

A few of the items you use turning need to be pretty durable, like a chuck, so cost is often an indicator of quality.

Kevin
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One thing I will say is those that are telling you to get a chuck with removable jaws is wise but remember for each new operation you may need to change the jaws out. Not a big deal but extra work. If you are doing lots of pens then a dedicated chuck works well and at some time buying a full set of chuck jaws to go with a good quality chuck such as the NovaG3 is also a good idea. I have a couple different chucks over time. yes this is an expensive hobby.

What Kevin is saying can be true but not necessary. When you use a chuck like the one I shown, no measuring is needed. The blank centers itself between the 2 jaws no matter how out of round or square it is. You load in the chuck with opposite corners in the jaws. This is the dedicated pen chuck I use. Timberbits use to sell 2 different sizes. I got the large one. https://www.timberbits.com/vicmarc-pen-blank-chuck In the photos you see how a pen blank is mounted in the jaws. It centers the blank all the time. No measuring needed.

Get good quality tools from the start and be happy for a long time. It does pay off even if you get out of the hobby. They resell for more money too.
 
Its no doubt asking experienced people is the first step in making good decisions. I'm glad I asked and feel like the majority of answers is the best way to go. I will probably go with a Nova and truly appreciate your guidance. Thanks!
 
I have a G3 with pen jaws that I used until I bought a collet chuck. Now I round blanks between 60 deg centers and then drill using the collet chuck, which I have found to be a very reliable way to get clean centered holes. If I was debating between G3 with pen jaws vs the PSI pen blank chuck, I would choose the G3 because it is more versatile, as has been suggested.
 
I've been using the PSI drill chuck and mandrel saver for five or six years. I've had no problems at all with them. FWIW, it looks exactly like the one from Turners Warehouse mentioned above.
 
Woodchipper said:
IF I'm doing several pens at one time, I install the pen jaws, sort kits according to bit size and go from there.
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Agreed. I think drilling many blanks at once is the thought process for us. Now if I can keep everything organized to the kit sizes is going to be interesting. Thinking of the clear fishing tackle organizers for keeping organized.
 
I'm in the Nova G3 camp also! So far I have accumulated 3 of them since I don't like to swap jaws, one is fitted with pen jaws. I also made sure the model I was buying used the NOVA Chuck Insert with threads to fit my lathe rather than getting one that had a fixed thread size, that way they can be adapted to a different lathe with a different spindle thread if needed. I bought my first chuck with a set of Nova 6034 Pen Plus Jaws. Over time I expanded to turning other stuff so I bought Companion Chucks, essentially chucks without jaws and then bought various sizes of jaws separately that I can swap out. - Dave
 
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