Pen Wizard - Owners discussion

[Nick]

Well............ There is one PW heading all the way out west to Lakewood, WA. Ordered it today. I spoke with JR and I must say, What a nice person to deal with and his superior customer service. Other companies should follow his lead.
Merry Christmas to all
Don Nicholas
Lakewood, WA

 

[rej19]

I think Santa has plans to stop by and pick one up for delivery to Indy. Assuming that I remain good at least for another week.

 

[Nick]

Ron, When Santa gets there, let me know since I am west of you, let him know to hurry out west and that the chimmney has been cleaned as well as cookies and milk will be set out. Enjoy your new "toy" and have a Merry Christmas!!

I think Santa has plans to stop by and pick one up for delivery to Indy. Assuming that I remain good at least for another week.

 

[ed4copies]

Let's be clear:
In homes that have no children for Santa to visit,
Can the milk and cookies

BRING OUT THE BRANDY- It's a COLD night out there!!!

 

[rej19]

You gotta be kidd'n. You mean he won't show with no children present. Who is that guy whose been visiting me for the last 30 years after the kids left?

 

[ed4copies]

Ron,

Read the WHOLE entry.

As long as you keep the Brandy comin, so will Santa.

 

[Nick]

Ron/Ed
what Ed said is true, notice my name (Nick) That is "St" Nick, Yes I am 66 years old, have a white beard (short) white hair and my last name is Nicholas. So there you have it.
Just keep the Brandy coming and I will be there.

 

[sbell111]

Who's Brandy?

 

[ed4copies]

Pick your port in a storm!

Who's Brandy?

Well, we know HE's not from "cold country"!!

 

[Nick]

Brandy

One of the lesser known elves here in the workshop

Who's Brandy?

 

[sbell111]

Well, we know HE's not from "cold country"!!

Nope. Luckily, I grew up in Buffalo so I didn't have to deal with 'real' cold.

 

[rej19]

Nick, You should be OK. According to my inside sources my Pen Wizard was ordered yesterday and it showed up today. I can not confirm that but I have been told that I can not enter the spare bedroom. If Santa is that fast he should have no problem making it to the west coast by Thursday! This puts me under extreme pressure to make the right gift choice in return! You don't want this to happen to you! Hilarious:rotfl:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mhv4I2EGFLw

 

[Nick]

Ron, You could buy "her" a new Dremel or Fordom tool

 

[gman]

when do you think it will arive so I can play with it

 

[Nick]

George,
Looks like Wed or Thursday

when do you think it will arive so I can play with it

 

[ScribbleSticks]

Hi Guys,
Just got my Pen Wizard yesterday. Haven't had a chance to set it up or try it out yet. I did pop the CD into the player in the house after I finished out in the shop last night. I got about half way through it before I feel asleep and TLOML had to wake me up. No, the video IS NOT boring, I was just too sleepy to try to watch it that late. I'm going to pop it in this evening and watch the rest of it. Just noticed this thread and thought I'd subscribe and read along. Just want to let you know I'm "in the game" too!!
Best Wishes,

 

[Nick]

It's here

Ron, The little old UPS driver, so lively and quick, deposited the box, after trudging through 12" of snow, on my front porch tonight. He was seen running back to his truck yelling "Another crazy pen turner" Any way It arrived!!

Nick, You should be OK. According to my inside sources my Pen Wizard was ordered yesterday and it showed up today. I can not confirm that but I have been told that I can not enter the spare bedroom. If Santa is that fast he should have no problem making it to the west coast by Thursday! This puts me under extreme pressure to make the right gift choice in return! You don't want this to happen to you! Hilarious:rotfl:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mhv4I2EGFLw

 

[KenV]

My wife dropped one of these under a tree for me yesterday -- JR must be making several runs a day to the shippers. I was looking through the tooling stash and saw a couple of boxes of carbide mills that came 50 in a box that I acquired a few years ago (from the circuit board industry as I remember -} all 1/8 inch shanks.... Hmmmmm

 

[sbell111]

In today's mail, I received Woodcraft's sale circular. As it turns out, Woodcraft's version of the foredom is going on sale from 11/28-12/31 for $143.99.

Item 147220 Wecheer 1/4 HP Flexible Shaft Carver Kit

1/4hp 120v reversible motor
flexible 42" shaft
variable speed foot control
Standard rotary handpiece
3 collets (3/32", 1/8", 1/4")
wrench
tool hanger

Incidently, the handpiece by itself costs $43.99. I wonder if it will fit my old foredom (or HF's variant).

Earlier in the week, I noticed that Sciplus had a foredom clone on sale for $65. I needed a new speed control for my ancient foredom any way, so I picked one up. I got it yesterday. It works just fine and my foredom #30 handpiece swapped over to it with no problems.

 

[Bob Roehrig]

Well, here is my first assessment of the PW. First of all, since I have the MillLathe, I have another mill with which to compare the PW. I used the foredom handset and the rope twist router bit mentioned earlier. There is what I consider a problem with the PW using this bit. The platform on which the cutting tool rests is free floating. Because the cutter floats and the rope bit takes such a large bite(1.2 inch diameter), the bit itself did not stay at the depth I had it set. Several passes were necessary and I finally had to hold down on the cutter mounting platform to keep the bit at the depth I wanted. This may not be a problem using bits that take smaller bites. Or, maybe I'm missing something and will get it figured out.

The MillLathe has a mechanism that locks into place once the cutter depth is set. I've attached a picture of my millLathe for those who aren't familiar with it.

The PW does do have the Guilloche attachment and the Milllathe does not. This is my main reason for getting the PW.

The PW has GEARS and my MillLathe has belts that tend to slip. I love the gears instead of belts.

I'll be playing with the other features of the PW tomorrow and will probably continue to do the rope twists with the MillLathe.

But, the PW is a fun tool and I look forward to the many things it will do that my MillLathe will not.
Do a good turn daily!
Don

Hello once again Don, In my digging around to still find myself a Pen Wizard I came across a post of yours from eighteen years ago regarding the use of your MillLathe. You mentioned slipping belts and that seemed to be a huge issue to everyone that has the machine. Have you ever thought about taking the discs on the side of the machine and putting equal notches around the outside using an indexing head? You could then by a notched belt (I've seen them) and use that. Bet that would elimate the slipage..........Just a thought. Have a good day.

 

[its_virgil]

Hello once again Don, In my digging around to still find myself a Pen Wizard I came across a post of yours from eighteen years ago regarding the use of your MillLathe. You mentioned slipping belts and that seemed to be a huge issue to everyone that has the machine. Have you ever thought about taking the discs on the side of the machine and putting equal notches around the outside using an indexing head? You could then by a notched belt (I've seen them) and use that. Bet that would elimate the slipage..........Just a thought. Have a good day.

Not familiar with notched belts. I did entertain the idea of gears and a "transmission" like on the pen wizard. But, im not knowledgeable enough to do it myself.

Never had the slippage issue with the pen wizard.

 

[Bob Roehrig]

Not familiar with notched belts. I did entertain the idea of gears and a "transmission" like on the pen wizard. But, im not knowledgeable enough to do it myself.

Never had the slippage issue with the pen wizard.

Hi Don, Attached a picture of a smaller size "notched" drive belt that are on the market. Quite common since they grip nicely.

 

[Bob Roehrig]

Well, here is my first assessment of the PW. First of all, since I have the MillLathe, I have another mill with which to compare the PW. I used the foredom handset and the rope twist router bit mentioned earlier. There is what I consider a problem with the PW using this bit. The platform on which the cutting tool rests is free floating. Because the cutter floats and the rope bit takes such a large bite(1.2 inch diameter), the bit itself did not stay at the depth I had it set. Several passes were necessary and I finally had to hold down on the cutter mounting platform to keep the bit at the depth I wanted. This may not be a problem using bits that take smaller bites. Or, maybe I'm missing something and will get it figured out.

The MillLathe has a mechanism that locks into place once the cutter depth is set. I've attached a picture of my millLathe for those who aren't familiar with it.

The PW does do have the Guilloche attachment and the Milllathe does not. This is my main reason for getting the PW.

The PW has GEARS and my MillLathe has belts that tend to slip. I love the gears instead of belts.

I'll be playing with the other features of the PW tomorrow and will probably continue to do the rope twists with the MillLathe.

But, the PW is a fun tool and I look forward to the many things it will do that my MillLathe will not.
Do a good turn daily!
Don

Hi Don,
As you probably know, after 3 months of looking for a Pen Wizard I finally have one. Was reading eighteen year old posts from when IAP had a users group for the Pen Wizard. Looks as if this group no longer exists......that's ashamed since many people such as me are fianally getting their hands on one. After reading your post you made I believe we both are on the same page regarding the Rope Twist. One of my intensions was to use the PW to cut rope twists. The Legacy mill and your MillLathe were at the time the only two machines that could do this. You mentioned you attempted it with the PW but ran into some issues but you were going to try again to see if you could solve the problem. Would love to know if you solved the problem and if you did, how can I go about cutting the rope twists with my PW. I own one of the rope twist router bits with a quarter inch shank. I planned on attempting to cut a twist using my Fordeum tool. Would love to know either Yes you can do it or No, it's not going to happen. Your MillLathe by the way looks more ridgid whereas the PW looks not so. If there's anything you can tell me I'd certainly appreciate it since I don't want to have an accident or damage my machine by doing something I shouldn't. One other question......do you think the PW users group interest could be rekindeled. Certainly looks as if it's dead now. Would be a nice group to once again discuss issues. Thanks..

 

[its_virgil]

Hi Don,
As you probably know, after 3 months of looking for a Pen Wizard I finally have one. Was reading eighteen year old posts from when IAP had a users group for the Pen Wizard. Looks as if this group no longer exists......that's ashamed since many people such as me are fianally getting their hands on one. After reading your post you made I believe we both are on the same page regarding the Rope Twist. One of my intensions was to use the PW to cut rope twists. The Legacy mill and your MillLathe were at the time the only two machines that could do this. You mentioned you attempted it with the PW but ran into some issues but you were going to try again to see if you could solve the problem. Would love to know if you solved the problem and if you did, how can I go about cutting the rope twists with my PW. I own one of the rope twist router bits with a quarter inch shank. I planned on attempting to cut a twist using my Fordeum tool. Would love to know either Yes you can do it or No, it's not going to happen. Your MillLathe by the way looks more ridgid whereas the PW looks not so. If there's anything you can tell me I'd certainly appreciate it since I don't want to have an accident or damage my machine by doing something I shouldn't. One other question......do you think the PW users group interest could be rekindeled. Certainly looks as if it's dead now. Would be a nice group to once again discuss issues. Thanks..

HI Bob,
I'm glad you found a PW. You will enjoy using it once you get some practice. I do not remember exactly what I did to make the rope twist on the PW. I think, as I mentioned in the post you quoted above, I just had to hole the cutter/platform assemble so it would cut the depth I wanted to cut. I think i may have made the rope twist dimeter a little larger and turned the ends to meet the pen parts. I only used the sierra kit for rope twists.

Attach your PW to a platform if it isn't already. Seemed to make it fill more steady and secure.

Maybe the IAP thread can be revised. Be sure to read through the entire thread. There seemed to be a lot of links to other places with information.
Don

 

[Bob Roehrig]

After months of searching, I have finally acquired a Beall Pen Wizard. I'm into Ornamental Lathe wood turning and have several other machines including a small Rose Engine lathe. I'm just thrilled to have finally added a Pen Wizard into my arsenal of ornamental turners. I'm still a rookie with this machine and am learning the in's and outs and must say that I'm thrilled thus far in what it can do. I'm also somewhat miffed in the fact that I wonder "What happened to the Pen Wizard in regards to popularity on this IAP site? Going back to old posts from 15-20 years ago, it was the rage and members were posting great information everywhere on this site......now I see not much...... in fact next to nothing. I'm hungry for information on it's use and cannot find anywhere to go to access information. I realize that the original members have aged (aren't we all), but really thought the Pen Wizard would hold it's own. Even thought that on Facebook there would be Users site, but nothing has come up. After going through the basic paces with this machine I find it fascinating to see the capabilities it has. Now I need to learn more.....HELP!!!

 

[jttheclockman]

After months of searching, I have finally acquired a Beall Pen Wizard. I'm into Ornamental Lathe wood turning and have several other machines including a small Rose Engine lathe. I'm just thrilled to have finally added a Pen Wizard into my arsenal of ornamental turners. I'm still a rookie with this machine and am learning the in's and outs and must say that I'm thrilled thus far in what it can do. I'm also somewhat miffed in the fact that I wonder "What happened to the Pen Wizard in regards to popularity on this IAP site? Going back to old posts from 15-20 years ago, it was the rage and members were posting great information everywhere on this site......now I see not much...... in fact next to nothing. I'm hungry for information on it's use and cannot find anywhere to go to access information. I realize that the original members have aged (aren't we all), but really thought the Pen Wizard would hold it's own. Even thought that on Facebook there would be Users site, but nothing has come up. After going through the basic paces with this machine I find it fascinating to see the capabilities it has. Now I need to learn more.....HELP!!!

Bob I am glad you found your new toy and hope to see some great pens and other items from you when you zero in on how to use it. i think I wrote somewhere in one of your thread postings as to my opinion as to what happened to this form of pen making. First and foremost you touched on one important reason. When that tool first came out there were alot of members here that were into making pens with a flair such as segmenting, casting, and ornamental designs. Over the years those members passed on in different ways but none the less the fad sort of died away. If you look back there are other threads and topics that were started up and one of them was mine that I teamed up with Mike ( mikespenturningz ) who was into segmenting as much as I was and we started this thread that grew over the years. https://www.penturners.org/threads/no-comments-just-post-new-segmented-pens-and-likes.111419/. This site has changed from when it first started. Many members have died and others have moved on. Pen turning is not popular any more. This site has fallen off with members for various reasons. Creative minds and members who pushed the boundries are very limited here these days. The forum has taken on different looks over the years and with it comes changes in ideas. There are less segmenters than once were here. It takes skill and tools as well as desin ability to create. Discussions are not so involved any more because of less participation in those areas. I remember when certain new designs such as the herringbone designed showed up and even the Celtic Knot was introduced and how secretive it was. There are not many new designs coming forward any more.

You ask about the tool you have and why intesterst has dwindled. It basically comes down to exposure and cost. That tool is very expensive for what it does. It is like the Brynes tools that were popular. Not many people could afford them to be able to play with them. Lathe and tools for basic pen turning is expensive hobby as it is. Now that both makers of their tools no longer do it for reasons and they have not been picked up basically because interest is not there. Today what you want to do with designs can be done with cnc machines and people are into those who can afford them. We see some makers here that use lasers and cnc machines that make beautiful pens. But again limited. Maybe you can rekindle the passion for use of the PW. But I do wish you all the best in your journey down this road. I hope your passion and desires stay lit for a long time and we get to see the fruits of your labor here.

 

[Bob Roehrig]

Bob I am glad you found your new toy and hope to see some great pens and other items from you when you zero in on how to use it. i think I wrote somewhere in one of your thread postings as to my opinion as to what happened to this form of pen making. First and foremost you touched on one important reason. When that tool first came out there were alot of members here that were into making pens with a flair such as segmenting, casting, and ornamental designs. Over the years those members passed on in different ways but none the less the fad sort of died away. If you look back there are other threads and topics that were started up and one of them was mine that I teamed up with Mike ( mikespenturningz ) who was into segmenting as much as I was and we started this thread that grew over the years. https://www.penturners.org/threads/no-comments-just-post-new-segmented-pens-and-likes.111419/. This site has changed from when it first started. Many members have died and others have moved on. Pen turning is not popular any more. This site has fallen off with members for various reasons. Creative minds and members who pushed the boundries are very limited here these days. The forum has taken on different looks over the years and with it comes changes in ideas. There are less segmenters than once were here. It takes skill and tools as well as desin ability to create. Discussions are not so involved any more because of less participation in those areas. I remember when certain new designs such as the herringbone designed showed up and even the Celtic Knot was introduced and how secretive it was. There are not many new designs coming forward any more.

You ask about the tool you have and why intesterst has dwindled. It basically comes down to exposure and cost. That tool is very expensive for what it does. It is like the Brynes tools that were popular. Not many people could afford them to be able to play with them. Lathe and tools for basic pen turning is expensive hobby as it is. Now that both makers of their tools no longer do it for reasons and they have not been picked up basically because interest is not there. Today what you want to do with designs can be done with cnc machines and people are into those who can afford them. We see some makers here that use lasers and cnc machines that make beautiful pens. But again limited. Maybe you can rekindle the passion for use of the PW. But I do wish you all the best in your journey down this road. I hope your passion and desires stay lit for a long time and we get to see the fruits of your labor here.

Thanks John and what you say certainly makes sense. I still see quite a bit of pen turning, but not as much today as in the past. I understand turners especially hit the stale points and they like to move onto new things. I myself over the years have gotten more into Ornamental turning and now own two dedicated machines. The Pen Wizard is a type of Ornamental turner and that's what caught my eye. The Pen Wizard can do things that not many other machines can. It's unique in that aspect. To bad it's not more robust. If I still had the machinery I once did I'd remake the entire machine .....larger and heavier....maybe the size of a mini lathe. It's certainly looks like a great little machine, but does have lots of negatives such as runout and vibration. These could be elimated with a heftier machine. Of Couse Jerry Beall didn't help the situation by retireing but that's a natural part of life and we all have to hang it up sooner or later. I'm sure his brain told him no but his body said YES. Jerry is now in his 90's and certainly had a great head on his shoulders. I look at the tools he provided our turning community and it just amazes me. Also glad Lee Valley picked up most of his line, but as of yet, not the Pen Wizard. Not sure we'll ever see it come back on the market but it is a rather small unit for the amount of money it cost . I've been in contact with Customer Service at Lee Valley and that was some of the important same issues they had. If they knew tomorrow they could repoduce it, market it and make money, you'd see it being sold next month. I'm a new user and it blows my mind just setting up the gears to imagine what had to go through Jerry Beall's mind to come up with such a great machine. For it's size it's absolutely remarkable. I'm already thinking of a few things that Jerry never got to and maybe I can figure them out. Stay tuned.....if things go right I may have something interesting for "Show & Tell"....... As long as this thing keeps my mind busy thinking of new things, I'm going to have fun and that's what it's all about. Maybe more turners will get theirs out of the corner and dust it off.

 

[jttheclockman]

Thanks John and what you say certainly makes sense. I still see quite a bit of pen turning, but not as much today as in the past. I understand turners especially hit the stale points and they like to move onto new things. I myself over the years have gotten more into Ornamental turning and now own two dedicated machines. The Pen Wizard is a type of Ornamental turner and that's what caught my eye. The Pen Wizard can do things that not many other machines can. It's unique in that aspect. To bad it's not more robust. If I still had the machinery I once did I'd remake the entire machine .....larger and heavier....maybe the size of a mini lathe. It's certainly looks like a great little machine, but does have lots of negatives such as runout and vibration. These could be elimated with a heftier machine. Of Couse Jerry Beall didn't help the situation by retireing but that's a natural part of life and we all have to hang it up sooner or later. I'm sure his brain told him no but his body said YES. Jerry is now in his 90's and certainly had a great head on his shoulders. I look at the tools he provided our turning community and it just amazes me. Also glad Lee Valley picked up most of his line, but as of yet, not the Pen Wizard. Not sure we'll ever see it come back on the market but it is a rather small unit for the amount of money it cost . I've been in contact with Customer Service at Lee Valley and that was some of the important same issues they had. If they knew tomorrow they could repoduce it, market it and make money, you'd see it being sold next month. I'm a new user and it blows my mind just setting up the gears to imagine what had to go through Jerry Beall's mind to come up with such a great machine. For it's size it's absolutely remarkable. I'm already thinking of a few things that Jerry never got to and maybe I can figure them out. Stay tuned.....if things go right I may have something interesting for "Show & Tell"....... As long as this thing keeps my mind busy thinking of new things, I'm going to have fun and that's what it's all about. Maybe more turners will get theirs out of the corner and dust it off.

Everything you say is true. One thing that became interesting to me and I pursued was attaching a router to a lathe. others too have done this and the results are amazing there as well. Add a indexing wheel and the designs work well with pens too. SkipRat used a metal lathe and was able to do amazing work because he had the ability for different axis turning which is basically what a PW is. As mentioned YoYO Spin was also doing simple designs that look like a PW was used. But again different time and era. Just maybe if you develop a following here then maybe the conversations will once again open up and ideas will flow. That happens alot with segmenting but again the membership that was doing many types have moved on for various reasons. What helped many times the Bash contests we use to run. They created excitement and when photos of finished pens were shown interest did pick up. But again much of this has gone by the boards here. Again good luck an we look forward to seeing your work.