There is a penturners group located at
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/penturners/
that would probably be able to help you a lot.

Just started a while back myself. I might have missed something but from
the top of my head here are some things to think about:

1) Mandrels, the rods that hold the parts as you lathe them. Buy the
correct Morse Taper that matches your lathe. I have five mandrels because
at times I work on multiple pens at once.

2) Its nice to have a pen mill set which is what you use to square and trim
the ends of the blanks once the tubes are glued in. You can do that by
sanding but the pen mill is nicer and more accurate. This is re-usable for
all pen kits.

3) When you buy a pen kit you need to look and see what size drill bit (or
bits) it uses. Most of them are probably going to be metric so you have to
buy metric bits (7mm, 8mm, 10mm, 'O', etc). Obviously these are re-usable.
Buy good ones not cheap ones.

4) The style pen you buy has a set of bushings that you put on the mandrel
to use as guides to lathe the wood. You have to buy the bushings to match
your pen style. These are re-usable for subsequent kits of the same type.
I have some multiples of the same style so I can work two pens of the same
style at the same time. It also helps to have multiples because these can
get damaged as you lathe. I accidentally touched one the other day and the
lathe chisel shaved off some metal.

5) You glue the brass tube into the wood blank after you cut and drill it.
You can use cyanoacrylate (super glue or CA) or I use Gorilla Glue.

6) To sand a set of Micro Mesh is really handy. Its sandpaper that starts
at 1200 grit and goes to 12,000. By the time you finish with that your pen
is smooth as glass. If doing acrylic material then there is a set similar
to Micro Mesh but made for acrylic (can't remember its name right off).

7) To finish the wood you can use multiple things. CA used as a finish (I
have not tried this myself). Polyurethane, woodturners finish, Shellawax (a
friction wax). The choice is yours and each person will have a favorite.
If finishing

8) To put the tubes into the wood when it is all covered with glue a Pen
Tube Insertion Tool is handy.

9) To assemble the pens you need good pressure. The pen vises that most
places sell don't seem to get good reviews from most people. I got a tip to
order and use an Arbor Press from Harbor Freight. It works great but you
have to realize it can literally crush your pen if you get carried away with
too much pressure.

10) Do you have good lathe chisels? Buy pretty good ones, not cheap ones.
I have some full size ones and some for doing smaller turning (like for lace
bobbins and pens).

11) You need some way to accurately sharpen the chisels.

12) I made up a binder and keep all my pen kit instructions as well as other
useful info there. One place to go when I want the info.

13) I get some wood from eBay auctions. The rest I buy from the same stores
I get the bushings, mandrels and other stuff from.

14) You have to have an accurate way to drill through the center of the
blanks. Sometimes you are drilling about 3 to 4 inches and you have to
drill accurately through the center.

Here are some sites that might help you. They are in no particular order,
just some of my bookmarks. I have ordered a bunch from three of them so far
but not much from bereahardwoods.

http://www.woodturnerscatalog.com/

http://www.bereahardwoods.com/new/index.cfm

http://www.woodcraft.com/

http://www.pennstateindustries.com/






"BumHead" wrote in message
...
Got a Grizzley mini lathe for X'mas. QUESTION IS..... WHAT ELSE DO I
NEED TO GET TO MAKE PENS.
wood is not a problem. I have bunches of scrap from other
projects. Walnut, white and red oak, cedar, maple. I have some
large limbs from a pecan tree, and several pieces of mesquite large
enough for pens. Any suggestions or advice would be more than
welcome.
Beside the metal parts for the pens, what tools and accessories
do I need to buy? Good reliable sources would also be appreciated.


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