Beall or not to Beall that is the question

[Garno]

I’m guessing this is the Pigtail you’ve seen Gary? It looks pretty good if a bit more expensive.

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Yes they are the exact ones William, Worth the extra money, (to me) as it keeps the chuck free and can be a permanent fixture on my old lathe. Nice find by the way

 

[21William]

I use these I bought them from the Tiny turners web site shop. I also bought some of the half bars of compound. The mandrel goes in my chuck and the mops screw into the mandrel they work straight out of the box. They are great for pens and small bowls. I have been using my set for months I highly recommend them they are brilliant.

Chestnut Products - Medium Dome Buffing Mop Set - WITH MANDREL | thetinyturner

They’re called Cabbage Mops and they’re less than half the price at the Polishing shop and you don’t need a “special mandrel”!

 

[21William]

One last post on the subject. A well known UK wood turning supplier sells only two different compounds at £5.40 each for a 110g bar.

A polishing supplier sells 130g - 150g bars for between £1.92 and £3.82. There are a very much larger range of compounds available to choose from. These are just a few.

 

[Dalboy]

Who ever you get the equipment from be aware that if you buy a pigtail that fits into either a chuck or morse taper that it has a thread in the end to secure it to the lathe headstock as either a chuck or pigtail flying out can cause some damage.

Just out of interest I have the chestnut three mop system and only really use it for polishing bowls as I find that when I do make pens I just polish on the lathe especially acrylic ones. I find it does the job just great and only takes seconds to change from one mop to another. Some of the cheap ones I have seen look like they have a small thin mandrel to hold them by.

 

[21William]

I believe Derek means a drill chuck, and yes he’s quite right. Unless a Morse taper tool has end pressure applied (pushing it further in) then you should use a draw bar.

I should perhaps add that drill chucks are not designed to take side loads and as a result are often of the jacobs taper type. I’ve seen a drill chuck drop off the taper on a drill press when a side load was applied. Threaded drill chucks are therefore a better choice for use in the headstock but don’t seem quite so common except for battery drills. I have half a dozen drill chucks and only one has a thread in the back.