I just finished my first pen today and this brought up a question. During
the sanding I needed to turn it by hand and had to grab the spindle to turn
it as I had no handle. A little past wax on my fingers while sanding and I
could not turn a thing. Used a piece of bicycle inter tube for some grip
and got it done. Looking at the outboard side (where you insert the knock
out bar) it looks like some threads on the inside. Does anyone know if they
are theads what kind are they??? I was thinking I could turn a wheel with a
hole in it and bolt it to the threads inside. In the mean time I could make
a wheel and tap the hole for 1X8 threads with a tap I have and screw it on
to turn the spindle. I had made some glue blocks similare to what Darrell
shows on his web site and they work. Thanks Darrell OH, the pen?? It
acually worked ( had some doubts along the way especially putting it
together) and I got it done in 1 day which is a suprise to my wife. She
really liked it and said can you make more of these? Of course I can I am
an expert now with one done. She wants to sell them along with her quilts.
I see quilting and segmented turnings are the same. You chop up good
material then sew/glue it back together to make your project.
Hope everyone has a happy Thanks Giving.

Bruce

"Bruce Ferguson" wroteclip) Looking at the outboard side (where you insert
the knock out bar) it looks like some threads on the inside. Does anyone
know if they
are theads what kind are they??? I was thinking I could turn a wheel with a
hole in it and bolt it to the threads inside. (clip)
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
I have done this, but it's not quite that simple. The internal thread you
are looking at is 12 TPI x 1/2" LH. The standard is 13 TPI. I talked to
Jet about this, and the customer service guy said he had no idea why they
used a non-standard thread. He also said they do not have a handwheel that
fits their own spindle. Go figure.

I have learned since that you can buy a handwheel to fit this from some
aftermarket sources, but I can't tell you who. I solved the problem another
way. I bought a length of 13 TPI left hand Allthread--it's fairly cheap. I
turned a wooden handwheel and epoxied a piece of the Allthread in the
center. When you insert this and tighten it, it goes in a couple of turns
and then binds. That's good, because you want the handwheel to be tight.

So much for that, but I suggest you carry it a step further. You can drill
lengthwise through the Allthread and you will have a passage to connect a
vacuum chuck. Just turn a recess in the outside of the wooden handwheel and
press in a sealed ball bearing, to which you can connect a vacuum line.
Ask, if you want more details.

Southern Tool has one listed for about $14.00 see -
http://www.southern-tool.com/store/w...jet_lathe.html (it's the
last item on the page) I bought a hand wheel several years back, and
have long since forgotten where I got it. The only drawback is that the
wheel I've got is solid, so it has to removed to use the knock-out bar.
Given the size of the interior thread, however, I'm not sure a hollow
one would be strong enough.

Ron