making pens for the first time ???

[big soft moose]

Hi folks - despite being an (eight years) experienced turner i have never made a pen - up to now my work has been bowls, forms, clocks etc and i have never made a foray into small stuff.

however inspired by some on here - particularly rodNs first turning i would like to have a crack and wondered if folks on here could give some advice.

1) can i turn pens on my "big" (axminster M900) lathe or do i need to invest in something smaller (like maybe the one blister has for sale)

2) similarly do i need special tools - i have all the normal stuff but my smallest gouge is 3/8 ins and scraper 1/2ins

3) there is a mutitude of pen kits, blanks, and bits out there - whats a good one to start with ?

4) any good books on pen making that you guys would reccomend ?

 

[beejay]

Your lathe is fine for pen turning.
I bought this and it got me started staright away, all i needed were some blanks http://www.turnerstoolbox.com/product_r ... uct_id=130

I used the tools I had and setteld eventually for Skew and a small continental gouge.

I found slimlines great to learn with and still turn lots of them as you can have great fun with the shapes. These are available from most woodturning retail websites.
There is a good book but cant remember what its called. The cover looks like a page of Bassetts allsorts
regards, Bill

 

[Dalboy]

have a look at stiles and bates web page and look at their how to section they also do a kit that has everything you need except lathe and tools to turn 10 pens http://www.stilesandbates.co.uk

 

[Paul.J]

Do you mean This one Bill.

 

[greggy]

hi bill, you dont need anything different in the tools dept that you already have. the main things you need is...
a 7mm drill bit,,,for doing the slimline kit
a pen mandrel 1 or 2 morse taper for your lathe
a barrel trimer ( to square the ends of the blank )
1 set of bushings for you pen kit ( 7mm slimline )
6 penkits ( slimline ) cos you will get hooked & want to do more
all this gear you can get from this guy on ebay who is great to deal with.
now a word of warning the 24k gold plating will wear off after 2 months
so go for any of the following platings,,
titanium gold
black titanium
rhodium
chrome
ebay link

 

[Woodmagnet]

have a look at stiles and bates web page and look at their how to section they also do a kit that has everything you need except lathe and tools to turn 10 pens http://www.stilesandbates.co.uk

I got their catalogue sent to me, it's a very entertaining read.

 

[colin macdiarmid]

Hi plenty of pen turning videos on "you tube" see the link and take your choice. Hope it helps

http://www.youtube.com/results?search_q ... oq=pen+tur

 

[Argee]

PM sent, bsm.

Ray.