Whiteside mandrel

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qquake

qquake

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Feb 8, 2004
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I know a lot of you turn between centers. I really don't have any desire to try that. So, have any of you used the Whiteside Pro mandrel from Woodcraft? Is it really worth $41? I currently use the Maxi Mandrel from PSI, and have been fairly happy with it. But it seems to be running slightly untrue now. I want to replace it, and would pay the extra for the Whiteside, if it's worth it.

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#2 Morse Taper Maxi-Mandrel

#2 Morse Taper Maxi-Mandrel#2 Morse Taper Maxi-Mandrel - This new mandrel features a 7mm mandrel shaft that slides through a headstock collet. This feature guarantees a perfectly concentric pen. The mandrel easily adapts to different length projects. Simply mount your tubes and bushings then slid
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When I decided to change from a couple of different mandrels to something "better" I ended up going with the heavier looking live center mandrel saver system. I know one is from Hold Fast and I believe there are a couple of knock off versions and it was expensive but I have not regretted it.

It has been durable and accurate, easy to use and works well for me. It was more like $60-$65 but has outlasted the other 3 or 4 previously abused by me 50x over.
 
MRDucks2 said:
When I decided to change from a couple of different mandrels to something "better" I ended up going with the heavier looking live center mandrel saver system. I know one is from Hold Fast and I believe there are a couple of knock off versions and it was expensive but I have not regretted it. It has been durable and accurate, easy to use and works well for me. It was more like $60-$65 but has outlasted the other 3 or 4 previously abused by me 50x over.
Click to expand...

I have two different mandrel savers, one from PSI and one from CSUSA. Neither one has worked for me. I have to tighten the tailstock so much, I'm afraid of putting too much pressure on the headstock bearings.
 
When I used mandrels the best one was a Whiteside pro..I went thru a few different ones before I bought the whiteside, i liked the mt2 mount head the most, the way the shaft could collaspe into it would in a way protect it when not in use. I did need to replace the shaft..maybe not exactly need to but I wanted to replace it after awhile.
At the time I definitely felt like it was worth the 40 bucks. Though now I use mainly tbc turning.
 
The white side pro is the one I use. It works great and the shaft is replaceable. I've had mine for two years and have not had to replace the shaft. I do use it with a mandrel saver. It is very well made.


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Whiteside has a great reputation. I went through the commercial shafts for about 3 years including one 8mm, If I remember correctly. If Whiteside had made them back then, I "might" have used mandrels for a while longer. You can just look at the Whiteside ones and see better quality than other commercial ones. That quality is why it costs more.


I have a question for you, if you don't mind, and I am not trying to convert you with the question. You have stated before that you "have no desire to try TBC". I understand those that want to see both blanks at the same time and that is a good valid reason. I missed it when I started TBC. I have run into some who view TBC as more expensive and more complicated (which it is not as expensive as a new mandrel). It does require a few minutes of "figuring out".

I like to present both sides of preferences when explaining to new guys. What have I missed? Thanks in advance.
 
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I'm intrigued Hank by your method. I agree without mandrel could give a more accurate result but surely it's somewhat slower?

I make individual bushings to the sizes I measure ( micrometer used to make and check so it's accurate to + / - 0.1 mm ) from the actual kit parts I use. I do admit to giving some clearance to the mandrel rod by using a 1/4 drill ( 6.25 mm ) and the rod is only 6.2mm so there's 0.15 for clearance and that maybe too much ?

I use mandrel sand have turned both pen parts at once but I generally turn them one at a time to avoid any flexing etc. I have bought , but not as yet used , a hollow tailstock mandrel saver and , from my metal working kit I have an Er20 collet system which I intend to use . This should give me absolute rigidity and centralisation on the mandrel .
I currently suffer a small amount of ovality on blanks due to clearance of the home made rod I use as a mandrel.
It is only bl##dy mindedness that keeps me using the system I've got really as the other stuff has been sitting around for at least 2 years now. I should relegate it to " lacquering duty " really.😳

vernier calipers take some time to learn to use properly and unless you carefully chamfer the edges can mark the work if you're ham handed ? Mandrel just seem easier to start off with , that's my 20c ( correct currency used for over there! ) .
No offence intended to anyone as there s more than one way to get a good result.

Ian
 
howsitwork said:
I'm intrigued Hank by your method. I agree without mandrel could give a more accurate result but surely it's somewhat slower?
Ian
Click to expand...

Thanks Ian, for the reply.

For me and the way I work, TBC is considerably faster, and it is probably my technique with mandrels that is somewhat slow. I promise you that I dropped at least one of those spacers at least once every other pen I made. I spent more time hunting those dropped spacers. I lived overseas and didn't have access to parts readily - at least a week for shipping at a minimum. TBC does use less parts than mandrels do and therefore less parts to drop for me. But Mandrels do allow the pen turner to do two parts at a time.
 
I use an adjustable mandrel, and only turn one body at a time. Much less flex that way. I've been turning pens with bushings for 21 years. It works for me, I see no reason to switch at this point.
 
qquake said:
I have two different mandrel savers, one from PSI and one from CSUSA. Neither one has worked for me. I have to tighten the tailstock so much, I'm afraid of putting too much pressure on the headstock bearings.
Click to expand...

You realize lathes are *designed* to have a lot of axial load on the headstock bearings, right?
 
I decided to clean the Morse taper in the headstock. It was much dirtier than I expected. I also cleaned the Morse taper on the mandrel. I'll see if it helps.
 

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I have used both TBC and mandrel and also mandrel using a mandrel saver. I stopped using the mandrel saver because it would allow movement or flexing due to the imprecise size difference between components which I believe may sometimes cause some turners (me) to apply too much end pressure as there is no way to know how much to apply. I bought a Whiteside mandrel and its an excellent quality product but my hope of fixing the problem was dashed when I didn't get any better results from it than the cheap Chinese ones while still using the mandrel saver. At least it was straight when I took it out of the box. The size issue on the mandrel saver was compounded by bent mandrels. Using the mandrel saver and over tightening the tail stock can bend a mandrel very easily.

Nothing was going right and then I found a you tube video on how to straighten my mandrels and I haven't looked back. I started using the 60* live centre in the tailstock to control the mandrel after I straightened it and also went back to using the brass nut to hold the blanks on the mandrel being careful not to over tighten it as that can also cause issues. I have not had any issues with mandrels since and a quick touch up with a small mallet and dial gauge is all that is needed if I do. The video link for the you tube video I saw showing how to straighten or just check if a mandrel is bent is below. He doesn't use a dial gauge but I find it a more precise method of checking the run out. I am not a metalworker but found it easy to follow the method shown to straighten the mandrels which actually surprised me. I only attempted it because I was desperate at the time to get a commission pen finished. I have no affiliation with the author of the video, my only wish is to show there is a way to fix a bent mandrel. Hope this helps,
Ian

 
Greetings. Well, I'm not going to be any help, but that isn't going to stop me from taking the opportunity to add some commentary.

I often use the PSI "Turn Between Centers Mandrel System" for turning, although some have stated somewhere in another thread that they have had problems with them wearing out. Then I use the PSI "Maxi-Mandrel" with a PSI "Pen Mandrel Saver" for finishing and sanding/polishing. Sometimes I will use the Maxi-Mandrel and Mandrel Saver for turning too. However, I have replaced the mandrel portion with pieces of hardened drill rod from Grainger ($6 bucks for a 3-foot piece). I typically use "D" (0.246 inches) unless I am turning kits with 7mm tubes that are are too tight, then I switch to a "C" (0.242 inches).

I have used Whiteside router bits before and they are very high quality. It looks like their mandrels use the same "Collet Chuck" type of system for gripping the rods so I doubt that they are exceptionally better. I think the majority of the higher cost of Whiteside is because it is a USA manufactured product (North Carolina) - not that that is a bad thing.

Regards,
Dave
 
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