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larydactyl

larydactyl

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Joined
Jan 26, 2020
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6
Location
Texas
My only experience with a wood lathe is making an ash tray in the high school shop back in 1964.

I have ended up with an old Rockwell lathe which was left in the garage by the previous owner. It came complete with no accessories other than a dead cup center and a sanding disc. Not even a tool rest for the banjo. But I have finally gotten around to getting it up and running and I think it is in fairly good shape even if it is missing many of the modern features such as variable speed, but it is American made of heavy cast iron and does have the jack shaft for more speed choices at least. The bearings are good, the tailstock lines up with the headstock, and it is made of heavy cast iron in the USA. I think it is at least as good as any lathe that I could afford to buy new.

Back when I had a metal lathe 30 or so years ago, my favorite use of it was to turn a totally random bit of aluminum or steel (uaually stepped, tapered and grooved to make it look important). When I would catch a technician with a bunch of parts scattered around his workbench from a part he had disassembled I wold drop that random bit i had turned in with all the parts he needed. I would give them plenty of time to try to figure out where that part went in the assembly.

So I am obviously not a pen turner, or turner of any kind at this time. But that could change. I've always wanted to make pens but never felt that it would be worth the expense of acquiring the tooling to do so. The "free" lathe changed that.

I'm still in the process of tooling up and have yet to turn my first pen. I'm looking forward to learning from this group.
 
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Edgar

Edgar

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Feb 6, 2013
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Alvin, TX 77511
Welcome from Alvin, TX, Larry.

Be sure to check out the Super Bowl Pool and Birthday Bash posts on our Home Page.
 
magpens

magpens

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Feb 2, 2011
Messages
15,912
Location
Canada
Hi Larry !! . Welcome to IAP !!

Making pens never justifies the expense involved .... so just accept that, carry on, and enjoy some fun !!

Tossing a weird part in amongst the technician's disassembled array of parts was a hoot, I am sure !! . But now you are in a position to enjoy some serious fun experiences of your own ... and this time ... of a more practical nature. . You will be amazed at how people oooH and aaaH over a custom made pen ... and, of course, especially if it is a gift ... that's where the real enjoyment is !

Take it slowly and carefully and you'll be "on the road" before long.

If you want some advice on which pen style/kit to start with, I would recommend a PSI 30 Caliber Bolt Action pen kit ... you don't have to buy from PSI. . That particular kit is so popular that a lot of vendors sell them, and I would recommend ... www.BearToothWoods.com ... as probably the closest comprehensive vendor of quality pen parts and supplies ... have a look on their website.

I would not be starting with a slimline pen kit, if I were you. . Most of us did, but the kit that I recommended is much more gratifying for starters, and it does not have any of the frustrations ... it is plain and simple and you will love showing it off to family and friends. . And, I dare say, you will get plenty of requests !! . It is more expensive, but that extra expense is WELL WORTH IT in order to get off to a great start !!!
 
larydactyl

larydactyl

Member
Joined
Jan 26, 2020
Messages
6
Location
Texas
MTViper said:
Greetings from the Abilene, TX area. Where in TX are you? There's probably a wood turning club near you.
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I'm in Kerrville now, moved here when I retired about 12 years ago.

There is a very active woodturners club here. In fact my wife is director of the arts Center where they meet. I'm sure I'll attend at least one meeting soon.

I do have a fairly complete woodworking shop and I expect the lathe to support some of the projects that I have avoided because I did not have a lathe. Like most home woodworkers most of my projects are gifts,repairs, or shop improvement. The house is already full of furniture.

This is the lathe.

20200124_151618.jpg
 
larydactyl

larydactyl

Member
Joined
Jan 26, 2020
Messages
6
Location
Texas
dogcatcher said:
That is a Delta Rockwell 46-111 lathe, It will last longer than you will. Sold in the 1970's.
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You are right it is a 46-111 and it has already outlived it's original owner. and I am already 70 years old so it won't have to last long to outlast me. Ha!

When I first plugged it in and tried it a couple of years ago it was making a knocking noise and since it had none of the required accessories I just moved it into a corner out of my way. But I recently decided to see what bearing was making that noise so I could try to find one to replace it. After all that it turns out that the pulley on the head stock was loose. I tightened the set screws and the knock went away. All of the moving parts were kind of sluggish due to the dried-up oil and sawdust but a good cleaning and everything is working fine.

I have already gotten a lot of use out of it and I've only had it running for a couple of months. That Nova chuck that I bought has made it extremely useful even for a few metal working projects. But I need to make about 20 pens for Christmas gifts and I still need to get together the tooling to make them.
 
Curly

Curly

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Joined
Nov 20, 2010
Messages
4,839
Location
Saskatoon SK., Canada.
Welcome Larry.
Before you dive into spending a lot on tooling look into turning between centres (TBC) instead of spending money on mandrels. Also since you have a disc sander do your blank squaring on it instead of spending money on a pen mill. A very simple jig using transfer punches that you can get cheap from Harbor Freight (which do double duty for disassembly of pens) is al you need. Here is a link to the one I made and use. #16 There is a wealth of knowledge in the forum library, past threads and the members will be happy to answer your questions.
 
larydactyl

larydactyl

Member
Joined
Jan 26, 2020
Messages
6
Location
Texas
Curly said:
Welcome Larry.
Before you dive into spending a lot on tooling look into turning between centres (TBC) instead of spending money on mandrels. Also since you have a disc sander do your blank squaring on it instead of spending money on a pen mill. A very simple jig using transfer punches that you can get cheap from Harbor Freight (which do double duty for disassembly of pens) is al you need. Here is a link to the one I made and use. #16 There is a wealth of knowledge in the forum library, past threads and the members will be happy to answer your questions.
Click to expand...
I appreciate your input here. I have been doing a good bit of research and a little experimenting with what I already have. In fact I will try to post a picture of what I am planning to use instead of a pen mill. The transfer punches have been used as transfer punches for about 20 years now. the v block would be more expensive than a pin mill but it too has been an important part of my shop for many years.
20200130_161317.jpg
 
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