silent soundly
Member
I was just getting frustrated with my pens being off center (mandrel woes) when I happened upon IAP and began reading everything I could. One thing it looks like I should do is turn between centers and ditch the pen mandrel. I already have the 60° live and dead centers, so why not give it a shot. I figured that I could just use my digital calipers to turn to the proper diameter and ditch the bushings. My question is, how do you set the proper tension on the tail stock. too loose and the blank will spin on the centers, too tight and they will likely expand the brass tube. My first attempt, I thought I was doing ok. Didn't notice any slipping (I had rounded the blank on a pen mandrel before changing to TBC) but there were brass shavings inside the tube and it was chamfered at one end. Any tips from the masters? Should I chamfer the ends before I start to give more contact to the centers? I don't have any sort of countersink tool yet.