Help a soldier get started

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armyturner

armyturner

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Joined
Sep 1, 2006
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425
Location
Oil Trough, AR, USA.
Hello everyone from sunny Iraq. I am a soldier in the US Army and I am very intrested in getting involved in pen turning. The last time I worked on a lathe was in high school and I have wanted to get started again every since. I do quite a bit of work in the wood shop on post at Fort Carson, CO (when I am there), but due to other projects I have not had a chance to get on the lathe.

I have spent many hours reading threads on here and the amount or information is very informative, if not overwhelming. I am looking for suggestions on equipment to start out on. I am willing to pay what is necessary, but I plan to bring everything over here to Iraq next time around in order to have a hobby (I am still here now and will be back again next Oct). I would hate to buy a more expensive lathe such as a Jet or a Carba-Tec right now just to have the sand gods (or a mortar round) get the best of it. Does anyone have input on the Grizzly G9247 VS, Wilton 99177, or Turncrafter Plus? They are all in the lower price range yet still have the varible speed controls, and it would be less of a poke in the side if something were to happen to one of them over here.

Also, I think that I have managed to find the websites of most of the major companies dealing in supplies but I see a lot of acromyns for other companies in the treads that I can't seem to figure out. I would appreciate input on where to get the best deals from.

Thanks much and have a fine ARMY day.
Jeremy
 
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I have a feeling you will be able to start a PLATOON, COMPANY or BRIGADE of penturners over there!
Along with everything else I am imagining unless you figure out a way to turn sand you will be needing blanks.
When you say youa re returning NEXT oct I am taking it to mean 2007.
Am I correct?
If so with that amount of time I am sure we can get you set up with just about all the info you will need.(or not)
Will you be coming back to the states soon?
If so where is home?
 
Hey Jeremy, glad to hear you're wanting to keep busy over there. I'm Navy, but still happy to help the Army. If it's just pens you want to turn, Woodcraft has a pen lathe that run's about $90 that is a 1/12 hp, so only good for pens. It's extremely small with a 2" swing, so also easy to tote around. I've never used one, but it seems like something I may even take on deployments in the future (I'll be in Bahrain sometime next year).
 
Originally posted by daveturns05
<br />Hey Jeremy, glad to hear you're wanting to keep busy over there. I'm Navy, but still happy to help the Army. If it's just pens you want to turn, Woodcraft has a pen lathe that run's about $90 that is a 1/12 hp, so only good for pens. It's extremely small with a 2" swing, so also easy to tote around. I've never used one, but it seems like something I may even take on deployments in the future (I'll be in Bahrain sometime next year).
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If it is the JHET pen lathe there are better options in that size range
 
Jeremy, if you are near Northern Virginia, there's a bunch of us here. You could come to my shop any time, we can show you the ropes, and even get you a pen to use of your own design and construction!!
 
Hey Armyturner,I am new to this also and was in the army a few years ago. This is a great site and you will have no problem getting information from the people here. Thanks for your service!!!!!!!!!!
 
Welcome, Jeremy! I've heard good things about the Wilton concerning pens and have seen it on sale at Amazon for under $100. Like you, I think the sand may be relatively harmful and would hate to see a good lathe ruined.
 
I have used the Wilton for about 5 months. It has performed satisfactorily and I have had no problems. When I bought mine, you could sign up for Amazon's credit card and get a $30.00 credit. I paid $70.00 by using that credit.

Good luck, and thanks for what you do for the freedom that we have.
 
Jeremy,
My son came home last February, he was in transportation based out of Nazariah. When your ready let me know and I'll help ya get hooked too.
 
cteaglesc, first of all I was thinking that if I get hooked as quick as I think I will there may be the opportunity to pass this hobby along to others that I work with once we come back over here. I have been deployed since Nov 2005 and will be leaving in the next few weeks only to come back in Oct 2007. I am sure that the sand will be tough to turn as would the date palm tree wood, and since it takes mail 3 weeks to get here I will probably just bring a large enough supply of blanks and kits to keep me busy for a while. As far as home, home is Oil Trough, AR. I am currently stationed at Fort Carson, CO.
 
Jeremy,
My son is also in Irag now, stationed in Fort Carson and scheduled to come home soon only to go back in Oct. of 2007. I wonder if you might know him: SPC Nathanial Pace. He is an tank mechanic. Good luck with your pen turning experince.

Dale Pace (rochester)
 
Mr. Pace,

If your son is the SPC Pace in 1-68 CAB at FOB Warhorse then I do know him. I am a Tank Commander in D comapny and he is one of our mechanics. What a small world we live in.

SSG Jeremy Freeman
 
Originally posted by armyturner
<br /> Does anyone have input on the Grizzly G9247 VS, Wilton 99177, or Turncrafter Plus?
Thanks much and have a fine ARMY day.
Jeremy
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I have a new Grizzly G9247 and I am very happy with its performance and ability so far. The variable speed is great (0-4500 rpm). It has a very precise milled cast bed. It cost me $155 delivered to my door.


On a side note, I would put in some blanks for donation if a turning group started over there (Iraq), with our service people. We send finished pens, why not hobby material.[;)]
 
Originally posted by mrplace
<br />
On a side note, I would put in some blanks for donation if a turning group started over there (Iraq), with our service people. We send finished pens, <b>why not hobby material.</b>[;)]
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I agree [^]
 
Hi Jeremy--I've had a Grizzly G9247 for 4 or 5 years and it needs some work to the variable speed control. It's been a fairly good little lathe, but I really would not recommend it---it has no through headstock or tailstock, so removing tooling can be a pain especially from the headstock. I got a variable speed Shop Fox model W1704 which is quite similar to the Wilton and maybe a little more deluxe than it and I think mine was $129 plus shipping. I'm very happy with the Shop Fox and it does have a through head and tail stock and is easy to knock out tooling.
 
Welcome to the forum, welcome back to turning, and I thank my God for brave men like yourself. Our church lifts you in prayer very often.


For the price, go with either the Wilton or a Turncrafter Plus. Both have a good reputation.


Second, be sure to ******BRING BACK AS MUCH WOOD AS YA CAN***** from Iraq, even if you don't know what it's called. When you get old and crusty, you can have some precious momentos of the days you fought for Freedom. I'd trade nearly anything to have something like that from my dear Dad's days in Korea. All I have of him now is some old Army graduation photos, his Flag, and my granddaddy's old 12 gauge.

Again, thank you for what you do.
 
If and when you are ready I will give you some desert Ironwood blanks. All you have to do is give me a address where to ship to. I will ship them to you as soon as you get a mailing address. Reed
 
Welcome Jeremy! I have the Turncrafter Plus. It's ok, and I've made some nice pens with it. BUT.... I had to do a little work on it right out of the box. The tailstock and headstock wouldn't line up closer than 0.030 inches. This is a problem because it places an off-center load on the mandrel, causing it to bend. I had to machine the tailstock casting to make them line up. Also, the live center that comes with this lathe requires you to grind the point back some so it doesn't bottom out in the mandrel. The mandrels on the market usually don't have the same taper as the live centers, so you might have to do this with any lathe/mandrel combination. If you don't do this you'll get chatter while turning. That said, I reported in another post that I had checked out a Jet mini lathe after buying the Turncrafter Plus, and it also had too much runout! I would say the Turncrafter is a good lathe for the money. Once I fixed these two minor things I was good to go. It appears from the numerous posts many people have found this true with many lathe brands. I would bet you could find a maintenance battalion with a Bridgeport type mill and they could make sure the headstock and tailstock were lined up good for you. Or you might luck out and find they line up fine from the box. Put the drive dog in the headstock, the live center in the tailstock, slide the two points up close (pull the tailstock square against the lathe bed), and eyeball it from the top and the front. You want the two points to be at the same height and in line with each other.

Thank you for serving. I appreciate how much you are giving when you are in the Army, I spent 77-84 in the Army in 18B MOS (guess they call it CMF now?). When you get a lathe and want to get going, send me a mail at the address below. I'll send you some supplies at no charge. And when you get back to Ft. Carson, I'm in Loveland Colorado, about 2 hours north on I-25. Consider yourself invited to come up and poke around my shop some weekend. There's always something turning, sawing or drilling, and we usually have better chow than the mess hall.... [:D]

Gregg
 
Hi Jeremy,

Welcome to the group! Glad to see that you've found a few minutes and internet access to say hi. There are plenty of folks in IAP who will be glad to help you out, whether with experience or with shipping you stuff when you go back downrange.

A couple of thoughts. (1) You might be able to get MWR to spring for a lathe, esp if there are several folks who are interested. Ask your Ombudsman back home to give it a try. When I deployed to Bosnia in '97 my first shirt got MWR to send us a foosball table (no joke). Not that we had anywhere to put the darn thing, but still. (2) If you can lay your hands on some Iraqi wood, put it up for sale or auction here on this site. Might well help pay for that lathe! Maybe the doorposts from Zarqawi's house....

Cheers Eileen [8D]
 
Originally posted by mrplace






On a side note, I would put in some blanks for donation if a turning group started over there (Iraq), with our service people. We send finished pens, why not hobby material.[;)]
Click to expand...


If this idea develops, count me in!!
 
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