Pen Turning - Carbide Chisels

[Skeety]

Hi All,

Hope you are all well, i haven't been around for a couple of years or so. I bought a Draper mini lathe off a gent on here a couple of years ago and have finally managed to get together everything i need to start turning pens and small things to get started.

In an ideal world i would like to use normal chisels, get into sharpening etc. but at this juncture that's another learning curve and cost i can't meet currently.

So, in order to get started and keep me going for a while i have decided that a small set of carbide chisels (3 or so) is the way to go. I'm mainly going to be turning (read making piles of wood shavings and acrylic shavings) and hope to get something nice at the end

Can any of you recommend a set, I have seen a few but not knowing much about them despite watching many Youtube videos i don't know good from bad and that's where you help is required.

I'm thinking in the £70-£100 range and hope that will get me something half decent to get started Any recommendations greatly recieved.

Cheers,

Jon.

 

[rob1693]

https://ukwoodcraftandcarbidechisels.co.uk/penturningchiselset.html


I have the large set they're pretty good calue for money and got me started since then ive moved to hss tools

 

[Robbo3]

Not small but good value for money
Glen Teagle - Our Carbide Wood Turning Tools are hand crafted and are economical priced and are ideal for pen and bowl turners alike

 

[Dave Moore]

Hi All,

Hope you are all well, i haven't been around for a couple of years or so. I bought a Draper mini lathe off a gent on here a couple of years ago and have finally managed to get together everything i need to start turning pens and small things to get started.

In an ideal world i would like to use normal chisels, get into sharpening etc. but at this juncture that's another learning curve and cost i can't meet currently.

So, in order to get started and keep me going for a while i have decided that a small set of carbide chisels (3 or so) is the way to go. I'm mainly going to be turning (read making piles of wood shavings and acrylic shavings) and hope to get something nice at the end

Can any of you recommend a set, I have seen a few but not knowing much about them despite watching many Youtube videos i don't know good from bad and that's where you help is required.

I'm thinking in the £70-£100 range and hope that will get me something half decent to get started Any recommendations greatly recieved.

Cheers,

Jon.

Hi,
When I was pen turning I only used a cheap 1/2” skew chisel, easy to sharpen and plenty good enough for pens.
Regards,
Dave

 

[Yorkieguy]

For a little while now, I've used carbide tipped tools for pen turning. They're fine, but are more like a scraper, in that whereas with a skew, you get a much cleaner 'slicing' cut, rather than scraping off the wood/acrylic, but the skew calls for more skill to master. I don't find any use for the diamond-shaped tool for pen turning - I mainly use the square-tipped tool at a slight angle. Pen turning doesn't place much demand on the tool, unlike say bowl turning, so the tips last for ages and you have four sides of the square one to use when eventually one side gets blunt. Likewise you can rotate the round one for a new cutting surface.

There was a forum thread earlier this year on this topic which might help:

Carbide tool choice help please for lathe turning

You'll have your own ideas on how to sand and finish your pens.

For sanding, like many pen turners I use micro-mesh pads which come in packs of nine progressively finer grits:

Micro Mesh Soft Touch Pad Abrasives Pen Turning 50x50mm 9pc Set 2" x 2" | eBay

For finishing, I use medium '20 seconds' CA glue. This video might be of interest:

pen turning using CA - Bing video

Hope that might help a bit.

Good luck with your pen turning.

David.

 

[Skeety]

Many thanks all for your help!

Have ordered a set which should be here tomorrow

Cheers,

Jon.