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New wood lathe sees me join on Christmas Day...

M

MrTin

Apprentice Member
Joined
Dec 25, 2020
Posts
19
Location
Wisbech
First Name
Martin
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 could make. I prefer to make as much as possible as I am as tight as a duck's derriere!
I am a professional modelmaker, recently retired.

Cheers,
Martin
 
Terry Q

Terry Q

Fellow
Joined
Oct 8, 2014
Posts
3,849
Location
Roanoke, Illinois USA
First Name
Terry
Martin welcome to an addictive hobby and welcome to the forum. My advice is to find a fellow pen maker in your area. We are all friendly and gladly share knowledge at the drop of a hat.
 
flexi

flexi

Executive Member
Joined
Sep 12, 2014
Posts
6,457
Location
Maidstone
First Name
mark
Welcome aboard mate..... Not quite a frugalist's hobby, but it can be done......
Whether you turn between centers or use a mandrel would be the first question...... What kits you want to turn probably next:thinks:
It's a BIG rabbit hole to jump into:banana::banana:
 
A

AllenN

Fellow
Joined
May 20, 2013
Posts
2,245
Location
Lancaster, UK
First Name
Allen
Welcome aboard Martin. You will find plenty to inspire you on here. How much you make is down to you but no matter what you want to try someone on here will be able to advise you.
 
Penpal

Penpal

Grand Master
Joined
May 26, 2013
Posts
25,342
Location
Canberra AUSTRALIA
First Name
Peter
Kind regards Martin as you contemplate location,equipment etc ask around for membership in a turning group ,look into what is used and how,above all have fun and welcome from over here

Peter..
 
F

Frederick

Registered
Joined
Apr 8, 2018
Posts
871
Location
Chatham
First Name
Frederick
Welcome aboard. Not a cheap hobby but a very satisfying one. I would start with the cheaper pen kits i.e. Steamline or Slimline for two reasons:-
(1) They are the cheapest and mistakes don't hurt too much (2) They are good practice and can be more difficult than other kits so if you master these, you will master all. Only my opinion though, others may disagree.

There're a good crowd on this 'ere site and there is a wealth of knowledge. All you have to do is ask.

Cheers
Frederick
 
M

MrTin

Apprentice Member
Joined
Dec 25, 2020
Posts
19
Location
Wisbech
First Name
Martin
Well, what a nice welcome, thank you, folks.

My dear bride also bought me a ProKraft pen kit, a single ended one and a set of exotic wooden blanks. As I also have a modelmakers' lathe with a four jaw chuck and a lever arm tailstock I can drill out blanks without wobbling and face off blanks without resorting to blank trimmers, with or without brass tubes. So, I suppose I am a little better equipped than somebody starting out from absolute scratch.
My little Peatol (Taig) lathe is 30 years old and serves me beautifully as a professional modelmaker. I did buy another, slightly larger metalworking lathe, a Simat, but haven't used it and, as a customer wants one to play with in his man cave, I've sold it to him and that will release the only available space for the wood lathe, When we can finally meet and pass it from my boot to his!
So, until I can mount the new wood lathe, I'm stuck with designing, planning and working on different materials for blanks. My son makes fancy resin blanks for his vape accessory company so I may just order some differently proportioned ones from him, as I hate mixing A with B. I do prefer wood, but I also like that method where splits and cracks in wood are filled with coloured resins. A fascinating mixture of natural and techy man made.
I can also knock up some ally bushes for brass tubes while I'm waiting. Sorry, but to me a cylindrical insert is a bush, not a bushing, but I'm sure we all know what we mean. I've bought a pair fro ProKraft just to make sure I have the right idea, but I think I can soon knock up a pair for any suitable circumstances. And should I ever need a mandrell I can make it to adapt to my faceplate. My wood lathe doesn't have a hollow headstock spindle, just a threaded spigot, presumably metric.

I would love to meet a local pen turner, but The Fens is an area known to be a wasteland of enthusiasms, so I ain't holding my breath!

BTW, does the pen HAVE to be turned or can it be carved with metal additions, say?

Once again thanks for the warm welcome.

Cheers,
Martin
 
alpha1

alpha1

Fellow
Joined
Mar 29, 2018
Posts
1,217
Location
middlesbrough
First Name
Dave
Hi
Depending on your make of wood lathe you could probably add a screw on chuck to it. That way you could cover all the bases. I have an Axminster wood lathe but I do all my pen turning on a metal lathe.
 
M

MrTin

Apprentice Member
Joined
Dec 25, 2020
Posts
19
Location
Wisbech
First Name
Martin
I also have a metal lathe, but my wife bought me the wood lathe for Christmas so I have to use that! I don't know if I can get any other work holders to screw on. I think the thread is 18x1.5 metric, but have no way of checking it.


Martin
 
Pierre

Pierre

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Joined
Sep 2, 2015
Posts
1,022
Location
Southern Central France
First Name
Pierre
M

MrTin

Apprentice Member
Joined
Dec 25, 2020
Posts
19
Location
Wisbech
First Name
Martin
Alas, Pierre, my thread size is not listed there. As far as I can measure it's M18 x 1.5mm pitch. All I can do is make a mandrel that I solder into a much modified 4 claw driver that comes with the lathe, then thread the mandrel steel and centre it and make a knurled knob for it. All of which I can do in the metal lathe. Currently coned piece of wood is gluing to a block I screwed to the faceplate. That will, I hope, press into either the wood blank drilling or the brass insert that'll be glued into it. If I can't get that to turn reliably without slipping, it'll be back to the metal lathe for the blind ended fountain pen (ProKraft). There's a limit to how many hours I can waste trying to get the lathe to do its job.

Martin
 
M

MrTin

Apprentice Member
Joined
Dec 25, 2020
Posts
19
Location
Wisbech
First Name
Martin
Alpha1, my wife bought me a Parkzone lathe from Lidl for Christmas. I am determined to use it or she'd be very disappointed.
There are youtubes showing things being made on them, so it's just a case of how to hold stuff for pen turning. It might be that I have to glue a drive cone in the blank, or make a square socket on the faceplate to take an extended blank which I then cut off when the turning is finished or just ignore the fact that it's meant to be a blind hole, tubeless blank and drill right through to use a mandrel, but then close it off with another piece of wood or a metal end turned on the metal lathe. But I would prefer to save time and just screw something on!

Martin
 
alpha1

alpha1

Fellow
Joined
Mar 29, 2018
Posts
1,217
Location
middlesbrough
First Name
Dave
Martin I am sure you will work it out eventually. These little challenges are what makes life interesting.

Enjoy Dave
 
Pierre

Pierre

Fellow
Joined
Sep 2, 2015
Posts
1,022
Location
Southern Central France
First Name
Pierre
Just screwing and shaping a 60 degree point inside a 7mm bushing sized hole should only take 5 mins at most; hopefully you can open this badly knocked up PDF file to see what I mean and you make it on your lathe since you wont need the tailstock until you make the pen.
 

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