lathe

A few last Bullet pens to come off the lathe.

Hi everyone, Today I have ran into a couple of problems that I do not know how to solve. 1) What way is the thread on a screw chuck, clockwise or anti-clockwise? I have got the chuck off the lathe but for the life of me I just can not budge the tiny bowl that is attached to it. The bowl is...

Hi all thanks for letting me join. My name is Tom and I'm from Northern Ireland and have just started learning wood turning. Unfortunately I don't have my own lathe, but at present I am currently learning the different tools. Trying to get the touch with a roughing gouge but get it started OK...

I have decided to invest in an engineering lathe for Kitless/ bespoke pens and am completely uninitiated with such equipment. Cutting threads has been too hit and miss on my record DML320. On good advice, I think the issue is the tail and headstock are not aligned and there appears no way of...

Hi, I’d like to get back into turning and am looking to buy a smallish lathe (sub £500 I guess), but just about everything is out of stock. I’d normally go to Axminster or Record power, but the only thing available is records £250 lathe. I’d prefer something with variable speed, but I don’t...

I currently have a Clarke CWL325V 13" ( Clarke CWL325V 13" Wood Lathe with Electronic Variable Speed - Machine Mart - Machine Mart). It's been ok but it's lacking in quality :(. The tail stock moves no matter how tight you get it and you need a spanner to do that as the plastic handles slip. So...

Hi I'm Mike just joined. I turn wood for fun not profit started about 12 years when I retired Other interest Golf. I make anything and everything if it fits into the Lathe. Pens I find interesting but I like making Bowls, Boxes and Clocks. Mostly given away to friends and family also if I can...

Hi, new here as per the intro section. I just drilled out a blank in maple and pressed in the pen ferrule. I did these jobs on my metalworking lathe with the 4 jaw chuck set up. But now (as soon as I have cleared a space for it!) I must do the wood turning bits. I can either plunge the 4 claw...

Hi all, guess what I got for Christmas! A nice new wood lathe. I think my wife would like me to follow a new hobby. I am completely new to pen making, but I already have a Peatol modelmaker's lathe , so I am aware of methods of the actual making, but have no idea what I have to buy and what I...

Hello friends I'm looking for ideas on an indexing jig for a 12" Lathe as my Axminster lathe doesn't have this feature I can't even lock the head drive in place. James

Hi All, Been turning pens since a got a small wood lathe in October and really enjoying it. Had a general wood working interest for a number of years so was pretty much kitted out before I got the lathe. Working for the NHS I have found it relaxing to come home and transform a square of wood...

Hi there and thankyou for allowing me to join the forum. I am pretty new to pen making but not new to spinning a lathe. I make traditional fishing floats and other items of tackle. I recently purchased the Axminster Pen Lathe for my floatmaking and it came witha mandrel etc so i thought i would...

Hi all, This was a piece of Oak that I picked up from my local firewood supplier. It has good figure but it was really punky in places. It was classified as not even fit to burn so I bagged it for a pint. It measures 14in diameter (the maximum my lathe will take) by 3 inches. The wood...

Dear All, The first memory I have of my father is 65 years ago and I was 5 years old when I helped him make his shed. He bought an old watchman's cabin from the iron works where he worked, the story goes that he paid £0-3s-6d for it, and it was very old then. This story occurred long before...

Hi, I started looking how to turn a pen. Apparrently the first thing I need is a lathe. Started building the aformentioned lathe last week, until it is in a useable state I am reading all the tips and tricks here and gathering bits and bobs that may be useful. If I can start a pen early next...

Hi all Needed to get away from it all and spend sometime in the workshop. Someone gave me a fair sized piece of field maple that they were going to burn on the log burner. I had sometime to myself and spent a few hours in the workshop........oh what bliss; the sound of the lathe, the shavings...

It normally takes me about one and half hours to get to Yandles but thanks to road works and lots of Holiday traffic over three hours yesterday. Took that long I had to wait until today to set my new lathe up. All done now and a lot dirtier than in the photo. First impressions are that this is...

Do any of you sand the square edges off your pen blanks before you turn them on the lathe ?

That’s my new lathe cabinet finished, I’m sick to death of making & installing drawers, might be able to find time to do a bit of turning now ?

Hi to all Thanks for allowing me to join this forum. I am not totally new to turning wood in general but have never turned pens. I am from Cambridge and work as an electronic engineer, maintaining large machinery controlled by PLC's and inverters this is the job that puts the bacon on the table...