Help re mandrils please!!

[Hapless]

Hi All, new to the forum and new to turning really! but have a request for info please. I have tried several different mandil systems and still getting oval ends to the blanks. The lates system is the "mandrelless" system that has small spigots instead of a mandrel. The headstock end is perfect but the tailstock bearing is rubbish - waste of £30-00. Can anyone suggest a good reliable system and where I can buy it, for getting perfectly round blanks - getting very frustrated that I cant produce perfect pens !!
The sytem I bought is the MT2 Turn Between Centers Pen Mandrel System form penkitsdirect.

 

[Phil Dart]

Hi Mark - welcome to the Forum

Can you elaborate on why the tailstock end if your TBC system is rubbish? Just wondering what is causing the problem - it's difficult to make alternative suggestions without knowing what the problem is in the first place.

 

[GSteer]

Mark, I have that same system with no concerns/issues with it, it's replaced my mandrel setups which I was unhappy with. As a first step have you contact PKD about it?

 

[Penpal]

Back to seller. Welcome Mark to the settling oin season.

Peter.

 

[silver]

Mark,

I would look at the centres of your lathe first as all the mandrills can't be wrong or faulty.

I would do a "kiss test" with head and tail stock to check alignment.

if you are not sure what that is then all you need to do is put two drive centres in, one in the head stock and one in the. Rail stock then offer both points together to see if they are aligned. They should be "point to point"

If they aren't then you will need to aligne the bed.

That's what I would expect by the symptoms you are describing.

 

[Bill Mooney]

I agree with silver as a starting point. When you check your points check for the points being at the same height as well as in line. If they are out of line nooses the headstock, realign & retighten then check again. My tailstock point was slightly below the headstock point so I put slivers of abrasive under the tailstock to lift it up. Put the abrasive with the grit side up so it grips the tailstock & slides with the tailstock.