Mandrel-less turning

[broitblat]

I was lucky enough to win a set up from John Goodin's (johnnycnc) holiday give away and had a chance to turn a Sierra today. This setup is really sweet! There's no mandrel -- you line up your blank and bushings between centers. It runs so true, you're hard pressed to tell the lathe is even running when you touch the bushings. I think it is quicker and easier, too.

The pen is nothing special, but it was especially fun to turn.



-Barry

 

[Firefyter-emt]

Welcome to the dark side! Quite a revelation, Eh? Now combine that with the ability to pull th eblank off in seconds to check measurements in your hand with calipers, plus the ability to apply CA without bushings to stick and chip your finish and you can see why so many have started to go this route.

Oh, and the other plus side is the fact that the bushings FIT the pen tube!

 

[Firefyter-emt]

Duplicate post..

 

[R2]

Waddaya mean the pen is nothing special!?[][}]

 

[leehljp]

As Firefyter Lee said, welcome to the dark side and enjoy the simplicity! []

 

[johnnycnc]

Barry,
Nice work on the pen,it looks great.
I'm glad you got a chance to try the setup,
Thanks for the kind words.[]

 

[txbatons]

Very nice pen! Now about the process....because I obviously haven't been paying attention and have never shied away from dark sides, I will now go off and search for this "set up" you speak of. Or maybe John can shoot me a quick link?

 

[Ligget]

I have stopped using my Beall collet chuck in favour of using the dead/live set-up.
That was a few months ago and I`ll never go back to a mandrel!

 

[TBone]

Originally posted by txbatons
<br />Very nice pen! Now about the process....because I obviously haven't been paying attention and have never shied away from dark sides, I will now go off and search for this "set up" you speak of. Or maybe John can shoot me a quick link?

Brian, try this

http://www.penturners.org/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=29489

 

[txbatons]

That's greatness. Thanks Tommy. Mark sounds solidly converted doesn't he! Now...off to decide which ones to get!

 

[broitblat]

Dark side? Nothing dark about it (except that I'll have to get new bushings for everything [])

-Barry

 

[Firefyter-emt]

Barry, you "can" use the pen kit bushings but you will become so spoiled using proper fitting bushings you will not be able to!

Brian... Here is a photo without the bushings used while I apply a coat of CA on this pen blank.

 

[TBone]

Originally posted by Firefyter-emt
Brian... Here is a photo without the bushings used while I apply a coat of CA on this pen blank.

Lee, last time I tried that, I had as much CA on the centers as I did on the blank. []
How do you keep them so clean?

 

[leehljp]

Originally posted by TBone
<br />

Originally posted by Firefyter-emt
Brian... Here is a photo without the bushings used while I apply a coat of CA on this pen blank.

Lee, last time I tried that, I had as much CA on the centers as I did on the blank. []
How do you keep them so clean?

If you get that much on the centers, how much do you get on bushings that butt up directly against the blank?

I get CA on my centers but scrape it off gently and easily as compared to bushings. The drop off between the end of the blank and down to the center creates enough space that it prevents sticking and helps make a natural break / brake for the CA flow.

 

[BHofmann]

Hi there

Thank you so much for showing that image of the pen part on the lathe. I didn't quite understand until I actually saw what you were doing. As fate would have it, the 18 British Pounds I was going to spend on a mandrel are now staying in my pocket!

I turned up a pair of "bushings" from some soft steel rod on my lathe and they seem to do the job. Here's my very first pen, turned from Yew:

<br />

With thanks
Bernie
Exmouth, Devon, UK

 

[GaryMGg]

Welcome aboard Bernie. Nice pen.

 

[theturningcircle]

Hi Bernie,
We've met on a few occasions before. Welcome to the site. Nice pen!!
Ian Woodford.

 

[Larry Gottlieb]

Is there any way that this method can be used to turn a slimline in which the center band is not used?

I can't think of how this can be done because of the need to sand the junction between the two blank halves.

Larry

 

[BHofmann]

Thank you very much.

In case anyone is interested, here are some snaps I took of the tube holders I made from some cheap 8mm steel rod. Here you can see the tailstock end that was turned to fit over the live centre. The brass rod is lying down next to it.

<br />

Here's the brass tube held at both ends by the turned steel rod:

<br />

And in this picture you can see the mark I filed on the headstock piece which I hold in my chuck jaws. The file mark is aligned with jaw number one to maintain consistency:

<br />

Happy turning!
Bernie

 

[Firefyter-emt]

Bernie, that is one way to work it. The only "down side" is by holding it in your chuck, you can still have some run out from the chuck. This all depends on the lathe and chuck, but you have a good point on the notch.

One other point, what did you make the cener hole with? From here it does not quite look like a 60 degree hole, it appears "wider" to me. They make special "center point" drill bits that pilot the hole and then cut it to 60 degrees. This would show the center point cutting about a 1/8" hole in the center of the taper which I do not see. You may be just running on the tip of the live center in that hole which will wallow it out and start to slop if this is the case.