Okay, I got my pen mandrel, now what?

[bmyers]

I picked up one of the pen mandrels at Woodcraft. It's the $28 dollar one, on sale for $19. I also got one of the miniature chisel sets, on sale too. So now what? I have some plans printed out for a pen press. What else will I need?

Anyone else have one of these mandrels? How do you use it? Do I still need collars for it? There are 0 instructions included with the mandrel itself. I'm supposed to just know what to do. Use the force maybe..

I'm looking to turn some pens as freebies for my consulting customers. They like free stuff.

Any sage advice is welcome.

Bill

[mudder]

Join here:
http://www.penturners.org/forum/portal.asp

Go to this page and read:

http://www.woodturner-russ.com/Pen10.html

Another good source is the Dick Sing penturning books avaliaable at Woodcraft.

http://www.woodcraft.com/depts.aspx?DeptID=2195


Psi also has a free DVD on penturning:

http://www.pennstateind.com/Merchant...Category_Code=

You should have the correct bushings for the kit you choose. Something to sharpen your tools is helpful. Finsihing supplies, a way to square the blanks when you glue in the tubes. Glue for glueing in the tubes.

and I'm sure there are a half dozen things I forgot.......

Oh yea, check out Kenneth's page....Why? cause he is one of the best turners and teachers I have come across....And, he SUCKS!

http://www.theturnersshop.com/turnin...en/slpen1.html


This should either help or scare you away

[Ken Massingale]

Well, I can't see anything to disagree with mudder about, all the points are good ones. Wish I could tho! ;&gt
ken

[Tom Miller]

The first thing you'll want to do is check your mandrel for runout. I had very bad luck with this type -- 2 of them from Craft Supplies that I returned, and one from Woodcraft that I checked before (not) buying. All three had over 10 mils [:0] of runout.

That was nearly two years ago, and may have been a faulty production lot. (I've heard speculation that Woodcraft gets some turning stuff from the same supplier as Craft Supplies, so maybe there's a connection.)

Check the runout right where the mandrel exits the collet. If you don't have a dial indicator, clamp a flat-surfaced object very close to the mandrel to be used as a reference. Then use calibrated shim stock (i.e. Post-its = 3.5 to 4 mils, each) to get a measurement.

I don't mean to drizzle on the parade, but this info sure would have saved me some time if it had been available.

Otherwise, if everything checks out, the only difference with this chuck is that the length is adjustable. So follow all other instructions you have for pen turning from the links above.

Regards,
Tom
p.s. I ended up using replacement shafts for this type of mandrel in my Jacobs chuck. The replacements are ~$3-$4. Less than 1 mil runout.

[kwgeorge]

Bill, I have that one and have no issues with it at all. I like the collet system better as I can change the length of the shaft I can just insert more into the collet instead of adding more bushings.

Here is my notes on this mandrel;

http://www.theturnersshop.com/turnin...ropenman1.html

As too turning a pen I did a small tutorial that will get you started right away;

http://www.theturnersshop.com/turnin...en/slpen1.html

If there is anything I can do to help just let me know.