new member and n00bie turner

Signed-In Members Don't See This Ad
A

andy close

Member
Joined
Apr 23, 2017
Messages
5
Location
Naperville, IL. U.S.A.
Hi everyone

I'm looking forward to getting sucked into another woodworking hobby :cool:
I haven't done any turning aside from a very terrible candlestick in HS shop class, but recently took a pen turning course at my local Rockler and had a blast.

I live in the west suburbs of Chicago (Naperville) and would classify myself as an advanced beginner woodworker. Pen turning looked interesting, so when I heard there was a class being offered at my local Rockler and a Pen Turning club meeting beforehand, I figured I'd check it out.

Any suggestions on a good beginner lathe?
 
Signed-In Members Don't See This Ad
Welcome from VT

Welcome, Andy.
There are a lot of good lathes out there. Almost anything will work as long as the head stock and tail stock are in alignment. Be sure to check that before you take something home.
AS long as you're already familiar with Rockler, take at look at their Excelsior tabletop lathe. It is a 5-speed and built pretty well. Also, they often go on sale for only a couple hundred dollars. I purchased one as a second lathe and I find that I prefer it over the more expensive and larger one I already had.
 
Your local Rockler store is a very nice store, everyone is helpful,and Mark there is great person all around! When you go there, look at the nova comet II lathe as well, its quite a bit more money, but has many more features. The Chicagoland IAP meets at that store, its nice to support the ones that support us!
 
Hi from Avon Lake, OH

I'm relatively new to pen turning, but a long time woodworker. (50 years +)
I acquired my dads large lathe after he passed 40 years ago but never used it much until my sons bought me a Wall Street II kit for Christmas in 2015. I made the 2 pens in the kit and was hooked.
I gave one to a friend, who is an expert woodworker. The first words out of his mouth were "you made this? How did you do that? He came to my shop and watched me make the next pen and he was hooked. Since then we bought a small Jet lathe together at an estate sale, carbide tools, etc. We live close to Berea Hardwoods & are on a first name basis with the employees. It is much better to see the blanks, kits, etc than to use mail order.

As a long time woodworker who never threw away a scrap of hardwood bigger than a toothpick, I have an almost unexaustable supply of blank material. So far I have made about 110 pens and my friend has made about 50.
I have only sold a few but have gifted about 75 to family, friends, doctors & nurses who tended to me during a hospital stay, etc.

I am interested in learning to make blank glue ups and other more exotic pens to sell at craft shows. Attached are photos of recent projects. The jewelry box was made for my new granddaughter. The Curly Maple scraps are being used for blanks.
 

Attachments

  • IMG_1069.jpg
    IMG_1069.jpg
    201.8 KB · Views: 102
  • IMG_0859.jpg
    IMG_0859.jpg
    185.3 KB · Views: 105
luckyscroller788 said:
Your local Rockler store is a very nice store, everyone is helpful,and Mark there is great person all around! When you go there, look at the nova comet II lathe as well, its quite a bit more money, but has many more features. The Chicagoland IAP meets at that store, its nice to support the ones that support us!
Click to expand...

Yup, I attended the last meeting which was right before the pen class. Amazing the number of world class turners we have in the Chicagoland, and near Chicagoland, area.
Mark assisted with the pen turning class stepping in to answer questions and demo when the instructor was working with other students. Very cool.
Having that Rockler so close to home is a bit dangerous though. :D
But I do plan to continue supporting them!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom