NoOne N Particular wrote:
So here is the question. Do any of y'all have problems like this, and
what do you do to resolve them? (I guess that is two questions).
Yes. Tighten the nut holding the wood & bushings together so that they
move as a unit. Discard loose bushings. Check mandrel OD's with a mic.
They vary ... even within a brand. You may just have a bum mandrel
shaft. They got the money, you got the shaft. Welcome to pen turning.
Beware of tailstock creep. The sharp tailstock center provided with your
lathe is meant to dig into end grain. Get a 60deg. center. HARDENED, if
you can find one. Vary the rpm's at which you spin. You may be getting
bitten by harmonic vibrations. See next answer.
Let's go for the triple. As a third question, what mandrels and so
forth do you use?
I use the collet-type mandrel & chuck from PSI. In fact, I use several
of them so that I can prep more than one pen at the same time. I DO NOT
use 'spacer bushings', I push the mandrel into the collet as far as
possible to reduce runout. The mandrels are soft and will flex. One tip:
once I chuck up a mandrel and turn the wood, it doesn't leave the lathe
until it is completed. I don't count on a dead-true re-chucking. Maybe
it happens, maybe it doesn't. When it happens, I try not to act too
surprised ... I want the lathe to think that this is how things are
supposed to be. ;-)
OK. FOUR questions. Where do you get your supplies and kits? I have
found several places including Rockler, Woodcraft, Craft Supplies, Berea
Hardwoods (I really likey), and Arizona Silhoutte (also likey but they
provide mostly Berea), and of course, Penn State Industries. I also
found out the other day that Berea is the supplier for Rockler.
I primarily get my kits from Woodturningz. Their online catalog is the
pits. Period. However, they carry all of the pen kits in the PSI catalog
(and most of the small tooling, as well) so you can just grab a paper
catalog from PSI and fire off an e-mail to ryan woodturningz dotcom with
your order. He'd prefer that you call in your order, but -I- prefer to
have a written record of what I ordered and when. Not just my notes, but
an actual, traceable, copy of the order. My experience with verbal
orders has not been good ... they give me the hives. When an order gets
scrambled, you can't be certain who is responsible and even if you are
99.9% certain that you didn't order 'this' or that you did order 'that',
you certainly can't prove it to a third party.
I get my pen blanks from all over, and even have a few to sell on my own
web site. If they have the species you want, I can recommend The Rivers
Edge Exotics (eBay). I have curly tamarind and will soon have others.
OK OK OK, FIVE questions. Last one I promise. What is your favorite
style of pen and why? (OK, that makes 6 questions.)
I like to make the Designer, Sculptured and Cigar pens. They are both
stylish and easy to hold and, as the baby boomers age, that is becoming
more important to people.
And since I already broke my promise, which style and type of pen do you
sell the most of?
Names quickly get confusing (on purpose, I think). I sell the most of
the above pens and have repeat customers for each. The Polaris and
Executive styles also sell okay.
Lastly, what is the difference between a ballpoint and a roller ball?
A roller ball generally uses a gel-type ink. I haven't any direct
experience with them so I can't give any further information. Other have
replied with tips for additional resources.
Thanks,
Wayne
You're welcome.
Bill
--
http://nmwoodworks.com/cube
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