Hi Folks, and a few questions.

[Al_T]

I am new to the forum as well as turning in general. I have turned a few slim-line pens before but that is about it. I have been lurking for a little while and love the information and help that y'all provide.

My mini lathe should be here in the next few day's and am looking to get going making pens as well as other turning projects.

Looking for suggestions on what would be a good start for me far a tooling goes. Mandrels, drilling fixtures, presses, etc. I am sure I will want to expand on the tooling as time goes buy but I don't mind buying good quality stuff either.

Basically just looking for suggestions on what to get so I can make a decent quality Slim-line, Euro pens etc. I can already see that my interest are am being drawn towards the advanced side of Pen making. However for now just want to get into the swing of things.

Thanks for the help and information.


Alan

 

[ronhampton]

alan,harbor freight has a cheap set of turning tools that will get you going.they are cheap but mine have been going strong since 1st.of jan. and they are still like new. i hope this helps you some.--and welcome from georgia!

 

[jskeen]

Hey Al;

Where in the Lone Star State are you?

As for the startup equipment there are tons of threads in the forums here on what the minimum needs are, and you will find that opinions vary widely. But the consistant thing is that you will eventually end up with lots of stuff. My best advise is to find a penturner in your area and try to work out a time to meet them in their shop for a visit. A few minutes looking and touching can save hours of reading and typing. Not that you won't do that anyway, but the basics are much more easily absorbed in person if possible.

If there is a woodworking club or woodturning club in your area, that's a good place to find somebody, but they are usually limited to major cities. Most woodcraft/rockler type stores have a lathe setup for classes, and you can always try there for some starting advise, but beware, they will try to sell you stuff.

I'll start out with an invite. If you are anywhere near the east side of Houston, drop me a email and we'll see what we can do. I'm willing to bet that wherever you are, there's somebody on here close who will make the same offer.

Enjoy
James

 

[hilltopper46]

Welcome to the site, Alan.

 

[great12b4ever]

Al, welcome to the addiction!
As far as your questions go, the absolute best way is probably between centers, second best would be the Beall collet systems, and mandrels from a member hers, along with bushing etc. Third best would be the basic pen mandrels that are available at almost all of the suppliers (check out the IAP home page).

Drilling fixtures the best is Paul in OKC, on this forum!! Second would probably be Woodcrafts or Rocklers drilling fixtures, and third would be a homemade fixture using the big wooden clamps and "V" grooves cut into the clamps.

Presses The Harbor Freight arbor presses are talked about in this forum a lot, also many use their drill press. I personally use an aluminum 16" bar type clamp from Harbour Freight, but I mounted it to a flat plywood, base, made special routered correct length pieces to go between the jaws, added Delrin pads on each of the jaws, and have a felt lined tray in front of the unit to layout all of my component parts. Seems to work well for me.

For turning tools, always buy the best you can afford, as these will be the basics for several years of turning.

Don't forget a good quality sharpening system.

Now before anyone knocks this thread, this is my opinion and my opinion only. several people will have different opinions, and that is their right. Basically, it depends on what works best for you!!

Hope this helps, and also, Where in Texas are you?? If you are in the Houston area, PM me, or Monty, or Jskeen and lets open up some communications to help you, and even direct you to some turning clubs!

 

[papaturner]

Welcome from Georgia.

 

[woodworker]

Welcome from South Florida!

 

[Al_T]

Thanks to everyone for the warm welcome. Let me tell you what I already have. I have a basically new PSI Turncrafter Pro VS. I have a Doug Thompson 1/2 V bowl gouge for my endeavors into beginning bowl turning. I also have a set of the cheap HF lathe tools to learn sharpening on an to learn basic use of tools. For sharpening I have had a Jet Wet sharpener for a couple of years that I really like. I ordered the Tormek Gouge jig and the multi jig as well as the setting jig/fixture. I am getting ready to order a Nova G3 chuck for small bowls. I am sure I will want a better live center. I also own a Foredom wheel buffer that might come in handy for buffing out pens.

James, thanks for the invite. I do get to Houston from time to time so I might hit you up. I live in the San Antonio area and there is a pen club here. I know they meet at the local Woodcraft. I know many of the guys at the local Woodcraft and they are nice guys. I will not be able to go to the club meeting until next month. I missed this last month's meeting.

I have a fair bit of experience as a wood worker. However I do mostly Mission Style stuff. There was just not that much spindle turning in the Arts and Crafts Movement.

I am planning on getting a Beall chuck at some time. But for now would like to either get a morse taper mandrel based setup. Such as an adjustable mandrel? Are they worth getting and if so which one? Or I might just get a dead center and a decent live center and then just get the bushing to turn between centers.

So I guess other items on the list should include a drilling vise, barrel trimmer, I could use my Drill press for assembly for the time being, drill bits, and Of course sand paper, micro mesh, finish, glue etc.

What I am wanting to do is get started at least making some of the basic pen/pencil kits get a feel for it. It is always possible that I will wont to take it further and explore more of the advanced side of pen making. but really just want to get the feel for it first.

I hope this explains a little better what I am wanting to do.

Thanks again

Alan

 

[Fred]

Alan, Welcome to the best Forum around.

As far as tool suggestions I would advise you to go to all the local stores that sell wood turning tools and such and handle them to get a feel for what seems to be right in your hand. Depending on your physical size you will see what I mean. Grab a handful of tools and go to one of their display lathes ans see how comfortable you are standing there. I am 5'8 and DO NOT like short handled tools for any reason. The longer handles and extra weight make my turning experiences to be very comfortable. Let the tool take the blunt of the work and you stand there and control what and when things happen. Make life easier on yourself from the beginning and the woodturning experiences will grow and grow.

Have a blast...

 

[Ligget]

Welcome to the IAP!

 

[Jim15]

Welcome Alan.

 

[rherrell]

Welcome Alan!

 

[mitchm]

Allan, welcome from South Africa!

 

[jskeen]

One more note on the basic pen turning equipment. You will probably want to start out with a mandrel for your initial turning experience, mostly because the basic slimline/euro kits use bushings that do not lend themselves to turning between centers. A mandrel is also still useful after you switch to turning larger diameter kits between centers to buff the finished sections on, and for making bushings for your end mill from spare 7mm tubes and scrap wood. An adjustable one is worth the extra money over a set length version. I have the basic psi/woodcraft version that uses two large wrenches to adjust. Not the most convenient method. If I was doing it again, I would probably go with one of Bill's allen wrench adjustable versions here. http://arizonasilhouette.com/Pen_Madrels.htm He also has one of the best deals on Micromesh, both the set of assorted 3x6 sheets, and I would get a couple of the 2400 sheets in addition, as this is the one that seems to quit on me first.

Be sure to order an extra large refill for your sense of humor, you will need it

 

[karlkuehn]

Hi Alan, Welcome!

I don't know if it's the right path or not, but I did the HF thing, all cheap tools to start, and slowly replace them with something real.

If I could go back and do it again knowing what I know now, here's my list:

1) turning tools - HF stuff works great until you figure out what you use the most. I've since upgraded to 'real' stuff, but I mainly use my skews (1/2", 3/4", 1"), a 1/16" parting tool that I got from Woodcraft for like $2.50 out of their 'compulsive shopper' bucket by the register, KC wireburners (for burning in the fancy rings) and that's about it.

2) sandpaper - Norton 320 3X paper for rough sanding (anything that the skews have trouble with, but mostly they leave a finer finish than what this stuff gives), The standard Micromesh set for like $12.95 from pretty much anywhere, but after a good skew cut, I only use the 2400 grit on up for anything that I haven't hit with the 320.

3) big tools - Cheapo Ryobi table saw, small band saw, splurge on the drill press, get something that strokes 3" at least. A belt/disk sander is nice, too.

4) oddball stuff - get a good mandrel! I recommend Bill's stuff (Arizona Silhouette). His mandrels are a little bit more money, but they beat the socks off of the 'Pro' mandrel crap that's out there. I'm still not sold on the mandrel-less turning, I've tried it, but it's no easier, IMO, than turning a single tube at a time on a real mandrel. (I'll probably get stoned for saying that, and not the good kind of stoned - not that I do that, but it's better than being hit in the person with rocks by an angry mob)

Also, invest in a decent digital camera, nothing fancy, but something that you can take good pictures of your pens with. We've sorta turned into photo snobs around here, and you'll want to be able to display your work in a professional manner someday anyways.

I didn't hit on nearly all the good points here, but it's what was on the top of my head. (aside from the propeller beanie, at least). heh []

 

[its_virgil]

Welcome Alan! I did the HF thing too. But hey, I'm still doing the HF thing. I just wish HF would sell a set of bowl gouges. I have no problem with their tools...they perform great for me. You mean, my HF tools are not real woodturning tools. I must somewhat agree: the $10 set isn't much but the set that sells for $50+/- is the set I consistently use.
Do a good turn daily!
Don

Originally posted by karlkuehn

Hi Alan, Welcome!

I don't know if it's the right path or not, but I did the HF thing, all cheap tools to start, and slowly replace them with something real.

 

[karlkuehn]

Originally posted by its_virgil

Welcome Alan! I did the HF thing too. But hey, I'm still doing the HF thing. I just wish HF would sell a set of bowl gouges. I have no problem with their tools...they perform great for me. You mean, my HF tools are not real woodturning tools. I must somewhat agree: the $10 set isn't much but the set that sells for $50+/- is the set I consistently use.
Do a good turn daily!
Don

Originally posted by karlkuehn

Hi Alan, Welcome!

I don't know if it's the right path or not, but I did the HF thing, all cheap tools to start, and slowly replace them with something real.

Heh...not to mislead, I've made some beautiful pens with HF tools. When I say 'real' I mean like 'expensive'. My current turning tools (almost exclusively Patience & Nicholson stuff) definitely hold an edge better than my HF tools, but on the same note, I coulda bought like 4 sets of HF stuff for what I paid for one 'real' tool. You just have to sharpen the HF stuff more often.

For what it's worth, I still have several HF tools that I go to when things get weird, just because I have no reservations about regrinding any of them to suit my needs.

Also, the nice thing about cheaper tools is that when you sharpen them willy-nilly (at least on my Wolverine setup) and screw something up because you're learning, it doesn't cause your sphincter to shrink and involuntarily lodge itself into your esophageal neighborhood. heh [][B)]

The thing about sharpening is that with HF tools, you have to do it a lot, so you get kinda good at it. With the 'real' tools, the more money you spend on them, the less you have to sharpen them, which isn't real conducive for learning how to NOT screw up. You know what I mean?

 

[Al_T]

Thanks to everyone. This is the kind of information that I am looking for. I will go ahead and get the mandrels from Arizona Silhouette. They do look like a better way of doing it. Also any other advice on trimmers, vises, etc. is more than welcome.

I hope to get all my stuff in soon so I can get to work.

Thanks,

Alan

 

[wm460]

G'Day Alan,
Welcome from the Territory, Australia.
Cheers,
Bob.