Drill Press as a Pen Press?

[bmyers]

I was wondering if you really need a pen press while making pens? I have a DP and thought I might turn some fixtures to make it into a pen press. Anyone else done this yet?

Thx,
Bill

[kwgeorge]

I just use a Erwin Quick Grip clamp and have no problems at all.

[Zich]

I agree, I am just getting into pen turning and a quick-grip style clamp works like it was designed for the job

[bmyers]

Cool. It didn't look like you HAD to use one to make pens. So a mandrel, some blanks, and some pen kits will get me going on pens/pencils? I'm putting together a pennstate order now. How about the barrel trimmer thing?


Thx,
Bill

[Scottydont]

I used to use an Irwin quick clamp which works OK. You can make your own pen press and it's a fun project. If not I bought a small arbor press on clearance at Grizzly for under $20 that works great. They are pretty common at import tool stores.

[kwgeorge]

I really think that the trimmer is a must for getting the blank nice and square fast.

[Jim Boyd]

quote:Originally posted by kwgeorge

I really think that the trimmer is a must for getting the blank nice and square fast.

I'm with you on that. No monkey business with one of those. For a press I built one then discovered my bench vise works faster[]

[Zich]

The barrel trimmer is definitely a nice thing to have. Much better likelihood of not having gaps at the joints when you use it.

[sdmaker]

Yeah a drill press will work, but here is a way to get rid of some scrap wood and have fun at the same time.

[Hal4son]

What about needing a drill press vise? Something to vertically support a pen blank is necessary, but I haven't seen anything that I could use as a substitute. Thanks in advance.

[Whaler]

I tried several different methods of drilling blanks and finaly purchased a center drilling vise from Woodcraft.
Once it is set up on the DP table you simply pop the blank in tighten the vise and drill. Every blank will be center drilled regardless of size. It works great.

[sdmaker]

quote:Originally posted by Hal4son

What about needing a drill press vise? Something to vertically support a pen blank is necessary, but I haven't seen anything that I could use as a substitute. Thanks in advance.

Actually you can hold the parts together by hand while pressing them together, so a vise is not needed. If you are talking about a vise for drilling, then what i use is a cross sliding vise, works great for me.

[Hal4son]

I may try building my own. I have several large Vases that need to be hollowed, but since I don't have a chuck and have to do all my turning between head/tail stock, I tried to use a forstner bit to drill down into one of them last night. clamps loosened in no time and vase went flying - spent an hour back on the lathe resmoothing / resanding everything. Need a pen vise, upsized to hold tall 12 to 15" round things securly in the drill press. Any ideas??