Do you mean that the lathe drive has a 3/4" threaded spindle? I'm wondering
if the mandrel here
(http://www.penkit.net/catalog/produc...cts_id=331&osC
sid=06a3c80a8c68d86e42e6f221f8c6a899) would fit.
"Dr. Deb" wrote in message
...
Jeremy Gibson wrote:

I'm wanting to get into turning and pen making. It's hard to resist the
$99 lathe from Harbor Freight
(http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/cta...emnumber=36066)
as an inexpensive startup...but I can't determine if there would be a
pen
mandrel that works on that lathe. Is there anyone who has this lathe
and
is making pens?

I bought one of the HF 40" lathes and really had no complaint with it. I
jury rigged a chuck for the headstock by using a 3/4" threaded rod
connector and a chuck that I had laying around. Now I want to admit that
I
got lucky and that the weld job gave me almost no wobble. The whole thing
worked well.

But if you want to get into pen turning on the cheap I have a better
suggestion, provided you have a drill press. For about 6-10 bucks you can
make a verttical lathe that will turn pens just dandy. If you are
interested, let me know. In fact it may cost you less than $6.00,
depending on what you have laying around.

Deb