I went to Franklin Tenn. Sunday and took a class on turning a cigar
pen. Man, did I enjoy that class and had loads of fun. I recommend
anyone interested in pen turning finding one of these classes and
taking it. There is a lot more to making pens than I would have ever
thought about and now know that I need this and that and something else
and one or two of those and a gillion of that....LOL

But I now have a very nice pen that I made. The cost was reasonable
and the family got to go on an overnight excursion, which they enjoyed
as well.

Now that you are hooked, check out the penturners group on yahoo.

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/penturners/

Brad
hardingpens.com

Well, I checked out my lathe and found it to be a very cheap one. It
will not take a #1 or even a #2 taper as it is a solid shaft with
threads only. Of course I knew it was cheap when I bought it many many
years ago. Now what I ask myself? Is my new found talent gonna break
my bank? Will I invest fortunes to get all I need to turn pens? Well,
not right away I says to me. I just cannot justify $500plus right now
for a one item setup. Meaning that with as much as I have used my
present lathe, I have barely recooped my investment in it and that was
less than $150. I got nothing but time, more time than money. I will
continue to look at my options and home cooked ideas to full fill my
pen obsession, such as it is.

But all is not lost, this all inspired me to chuck up a chunk of
firewood and turn my wife a lamp base to replace the glass one I broke.
But my greeness to turning green wood has cost me as the nice turning
I made now has cracked pretty bad. I knew it would crack but I never
expected it to crack so much or so fast. Bummer! It maybe salvagable,
time will tell. It would be a real waste of hickory. Nice coloring
and a quarter sized knott in just the right place to make it
interesting. I have not bored the hole all the way from end to end
yet, but not sure that would help any now. Any advice is readily
accepted as I surely don't know what to do now. Other than start over
with dry stock. The piece I used was 16" long and close to 8" across
at the base and only 4" across at the top. A pretty good sized piece
of unbalanced mass spinning in front of me for a long time.

Nuff rabbit chasing.....Thanks for the pointer to the group!!

TerryB wrote:

Well, I checked out my lathe and found it to be a very cheap one. It
will not take a #1 or even a #2 taper as it is a solid shaft with
threads only. Of course I knew it was cheap when I bought it many many
years ago. Now what I ask myself? Is my new found talent gonna break
my bank? Will I invest fortunes to get all I need to turn pens? Well,
not right away I says to me. I just cannot justify $500plus right now
for a one item setup. Meaning that with as much as I have used my
present lathe, I have barely recooped my investment in it and that was
less than $150. I got nothing but time, more time than money. I will
continue to look at my options and home cooked ideas to full fill my
pen obsession, such as it is.

Take a look at Penn State Industries http://www.pennstateind.com. They
have pen mandrels for 3/4x16 and 1x8 threads as well as one for a drill
chuck--look on page 21 of the online catalog.

But all is not lost, this all inspired me to chuck up a chunk of
firewood and turn my wife a lamp base to replace the glass one I broke.
But my greeness to turning green wood has cost me as the nice turning
I made now has cracked pretty bad. I knew it would crack but I never
expected it to crack so much or so fast. Bummer! It maybe salvagable,
time will tell. It would be a real waste of hickory. Nice coloring
and a quarter sized knott in just the right place to make it
interesting. I have not bored the hole all the way from end to end
yet, but not sure that would help any now. Any advice is readily
accepted as I surely don't know what to do now. Other than start over
with dry stock. The piece I used was 16" long and close to 8" across
at the base and only 4" across at the top. A pretty good sized piece
of unbalanced mass spinning in front of me for a long time.

Nuff rabbit chasing.....Thanks for the pointer to the group!!

--
--John
to email, dial "usenet" and validate
(was jclarke at eye bee em dot net)

Welcome. My sympathies. Yes, pen turning and all other types of turning
can be addictive. Yes, you CAN break the bank with new stuff to turn pens,
but you don't have to.

My suggestion is to buy your self a Jet or Delta Mini Lathe, although you
can go for a Oneway 1018 or 1224 if you are determined to break your bank
account. Actually, the Jet Mini is my choice for quality and value. Don't
bother with the variable speed model........not worth the cost in my
opinion. You can add tools and other accessories as your skills develop.

In the end, you will have a great pen turning setup. But you will also have
a great paperweight/box/ornament/small bowl turning setup for a very
reasonable cost. Don't buy mini chisels. Buy standard size tools. They
are easier to sharpen and use. And when you do trade up to a larger lathe,
you don't have to buy all new tools.

Barry

PS You might want to consider joining Tennessee Association of
Woodturners. We meet 1st Tuesday of every month. I understand our meetings
have just moved to the Tennessee Baptist Children's Homes Campus in
Brentwood, TN. Email me if you want more details. www.tnwoodturners.org/



"TerryB" wrote in message
ups.com...
Well, I checked out my lathe and found it to be a very cheap one. It
will not take a #1 or even a #2 taper as it is a solid shaft with
threads only. Of course I knew it was cheap when I bought it many many
years ago. Now what I ask myself? Is my new found talent gonna break
my bank? Will I invest fortunes to get all I need to turn pens? Well,
not right away I says to me. I just cannot justify $500plus right now
for a one item setup. Meaning that with as much as I have used my
present lathe, I have barely recooped my investment in it and that was
less than $150. I got nothing but time, more time than money. I will
continue to look at my options and home cooked ideas to full fill my
pen obsession, such as it is.

But all is not lost, this all inspired me to chuck up a chunk of
firewood and turn my wife a lamp base to replace the glass one I broke.
But my greeness to turning green wood has cost me as the nice turning
I made now has cracked pretty bad. I knew it would crack but I never
expected it to crack so much or so fast. Bummer! It maybe salvagable,
time will tell. It would be a real waste of hickory. Nice coloring
and a quarter sized knott in just the right place to make it
interesting. I have not bored the hole all the way from end to end
yet, but not sure that would help any now. Any advice is readily
accepted as I surely don't know what to do now. Other than start over
with dry stock. The piece I used was 16" long and close to 8" across
at the base and only 4" across at the top. A pretty good sized piece
of unbalanced mass spinning in front of me for a long time.

Nuff rabbit chasing.....Thanks for the pointer to the group!!