New guy here. Equipment issues/suggestions needed

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H

HwlngMdMurdoch

Member
Joined
Mar 16, 2021
Messages
21
Location
Pennsylvania
Hello everyone. New to pen turning, so please forgive any questions that might seem a bit repetitive or silly. lol
Anyway, I first started making rings (using ring cores), and decided i was eventually going to turn my own, which led me down the rabbit hole of pen turning. So, research started, lots of videos watched(and many more on my "watch later" list).
Decided on going basic to start: Penpal pen making lathe from PSI(comes with the mandrel), and of course the turning tools (im going with carbide right off the bat). Now, at first I'll be getting the pre-drilled blanks until I get the hang of turning, then I'll drill my own. Which brings me to my questions.
First, planning on getting the Wen 3959 9" benchtop band saw for cutting the blanks. The drilling is where im coming into a conundrum. PSI has the drilling chuck accessory set for the lathe, just not in stock. My brain is saying have patience and wait til its in stock. But i kinda want a drill press, but space is a bit of an issue. Thought the Wen 4208 8" 5speed drill press would do it, but I dont believe thats big enough for the job. Someone correct me if im wrong, that'd be perfect if its doable. Then I came across a video where the Milescraft 1318 Accudrill Mate was used. Has anyone used that method?
Of course I'll probably need a sander, but thats easy enough to figure out. The rest of the stuff I need (drill bit, bushings, etc etc) I have in my wishlist ready to order(or visit the showroom when it finally opens after relocating)
Apologies for such a rambling first post lol And thanks in advance for any and all help and suggestions. :)
 
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Firstly Rik, welcome to the forum and to the great addiction.
Secondly, if you have yet to buy the lathe get a 2MT one and you should be able to get a 2MT Jacob's chuck easily enough.
I started drilling my blanks on a drill press and now every one is drilled on the lathe. This ensures better accuracy. I don't think that my drill press is used for any pen related jobs now.
I would buy jobber bits rather than brad bits especially if segmenting or both if the budget allows.

Alan
 
A lathe is always to small, mine is 20 inch diameter, but it is long enough.
As stated, get one with 2MT or 3 MT in the headstock and also 2MT in the tailstock
Many tools have 2MT connection what is so easy to use.
My lathe has 2 pulleys (4 speeds) and a motor with 2 speeds.
Get one that has electronic speed control.
For the rest, get addicted to woodturning....
 
I too suggest 2MT lathe, often these come with a 1"x8tpi adapter on the headstock for chucks and accessories. With a scroll chuck and a jacobs chuck you can drill on the lathe. You can also use the lathe to square/trim blanks. And you can use the lathe as an assembly press. You can even use the lathe to cut blanks to length on the lathe. But that said, I wouldn't want to go this route with the penpal lathe. Even if you already bought the penpal it might make sense to upgrade your lathe, especially if you can find one used. I recommend the Jet 1014 belt driven (or similar, there are 1013s and 1015s, all are very similar). In my opinion doing all of the operations on the lathe is the most cost efficient and space-efficient method.

When I first started I used a cordless drill and clamps to drill, not super accurate but for a plain wood pen it worked fine. Unless you have other uses for the drill press, bandsaw, and sander I would skip those for now and get a better lathe with tooling.
 
Dehn0045 said:
I too suggest 2MT lathe, often these come with a 1"x8tpi adapter on the headstock for chucks and accessories. With a scroll chuck and a jacobs chuck you can drill on the lathe. You can also use the lathe to square/trim blanks. And you can use the lathe as an assembly press. You can even use the lathe to cut blanks to length on the lathe. But that said, I wouldn't want to go this route with the penpal lathe. Even if you already bought the penpal it might make sense to upgrade your lathe, especially if you can find one used. I recommend the Jet 1014 belt driven (or similar, there are 1013s and 1015s, all are very similar). In my opinion doing all of the operations on the lathe is the most cost efficient and space-efficient method.

When I first started I used a cordless drill and clamps to drill, not super accurate but for a plain wood pen it worked fine. Unless you have other uses for the drill press, bandsaw, and sander I would skip those for now and get a better lathe with tooling.
Click to expand...
Thank you. Cost is/was a factor is putting things together, as well as space for everything. My line of thinking was start off small and "basic" (although going right for a carbide tool is probably not basic haha), get my feet wet, and then upgrade down the line. The fact of being able to buy the pre-drilled blanks is a plus, so I can learn with those to start, flip them and put them in my "upgrade bucket list". Eventually, i want to do acrylics as well, so that's where cutting and drilling will come in handy. Bigger stuff like bowls, i don't see those being a project quite yet, one thing at a time to learn and perfect. I'll definitely keep an eye out for something used as an option as well. Thank you again.
 
Just wanted to come back and do a little update.
Received my Penpal on Monday. Went out and bought a miter saw then realized that was a bad idea. So, i picked up a Rockwell Bladerunner X2, and that work perfectly for cutting blanks. For drilling, I went to the local Woodcraft store and got the Pen drilling vice. While not perfect, it does the job.
Now, as for turning, that's a whole other kettle of fish *lol*. I definitely need to practice! My first blank hasn't been going as smoothly. I just cant seem to get the hang of rounding out the blank. Lathe wants to slow down (or stop) and I attempt to turn which tells me I'm going in to heavy. I was given a carbide tool, which I figured the learning curve wasn't as big as traditional tools. I'll end up watching more videos to see if im missing something.
It's all a learning process, but i'm having fun.
 
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