Wooden pens

[RPM]

Hi all.

Can someone tell me how the pen making mandrel fits onto the lathe?
I have a drive centre on at the moment that screws on. Do I need a chuck to make pens? Or is there another way to do it?

I have the SIP 01488 lathe.

Sorry….total newbie question I know.


Thanks.

 

[Anonymous]

Hi RPM

The pen mandrel usually comes supplied with an Morse taper to suit the lathe, i believe that some are availabe to fit into a chuck...

I find the 'Planet' mandrel very good

 

[cd]

Hi RPM,
My pen madrel is a two part one the mandrel has a straight section that fits into the morse taper part. I guess this straight section could be gripped by the jaws of a chuck rather than using the morse taper.
The mandrel came from turners retreat, part of the kit on this page. I would give them a ring there really helpful people and I'm sure they would be able to advise you.

cd

 

[Russell]

The planet mandrel is excellent and comes with 7mm pens bushings and comes for larger diameter pens. It is held in the lathe with a morse taper and the mandrel can be shortened to turn short sections of pens singularly which is sometimes desirable. The craft supplies mandrel I believe works in the same way.

The Turners retreat pen mandrel system can be held in a chuck or taper the mandrel is in 2 sizes 7mm diameter or 8.5mm diameter the different sizes related to different pen kits. The turners system comes with options of 7 or 8 bushings also dependant on the pen kit. These help with holding different diameter tubes and for sizing the pens. Different diameter bushings are used instead of cones for holding larger brass tubes because they do not flare the ends of the brass.

I use both systems with equal success and both have advantages over each other.

 

[RPM]

Hi,

Thanks for all the replies and help on this but I am still a little confused?
The part of the lathe that I need to attach the mandrel to is screwed on.
Do I need to get an attachment to fit the lathe so that it will hold the mandrel?

I have been looking for a picture to explain this better (maybe I should take my own photos) but I cannot find any.

Would it help if I took some photos?

The closest I can find that explains this is called a ”spur centre”?

I think I am starting to confuse myself now! Let alone you guys.

Thanks

RPM

 

[Wanlock Dod]

RPM,

Have you taken the drive centre, or chuck, off the lathe? Do you not have a slightly tapered "tube" behind it (which the drive cebtre seats in)? If so, then this is probably the morse taper.

As a last resort it might be worth a look at the instruction book if you have one :shock:

Cheers,

Dod

 

[duncanh]

I did a quick search for your lathe and as far as I can tell it doesn't have a hollow headstock since none of the adverts mention a morse taper size and there's no hole at the back of the headstock. All the pen mandrels I've seen require this.

As CD suggested, you could get a chuck that fits your lathe and hold the mandrel in it.
http://www.toolpost.co.uk appear to sell chucks that would fit your thread size but you may be looking at £100 or so. Also try Axminster. Both of these should sell mandrels that are parallel rather than morse taper.

I've never tried this and I don't know if it would work, but if you have a faceplate then you could attach some wood to it, drill a hole the size of the parallel diameter of the mandrel and use it as a friction drive. It would certainly be a cheaper way to start off.

Duncan

 

[mudman]

I did a quick search for your lathe and as far as I can tell it doesn't have a hollow headstock since none of the adverts mention a morse taper size and there's no hole at the back of the headstock. All the pen mandrels I've seen require this.

Can you actually buy lathes like this?
How would you use a drive centre? Wouldn't this restrict you to faceplate and chuck work only?

 

[duncanh]

I've never seen one in person but see them mentioned every now and again. Take a look at http://tinyurl.com/pbr2e for a picture of the lathe that RPM mentioned (the link goes to an ebay auction).

I guess it comes with a drive centre that screws on to the spindle. And the tailstock in the picture looks as though it might have a non-replacable centre.

 

[RPM]

Hi all,

Yes....that is like the lathe I have!

The closest picture I could find is this but where this fits
into the chuck, mine screws on.

I am still looking to find a way to fit the pen mandrel.
I might phone Axminster tomorrow if I have no luck in getting one.

 

[mudman]

Ah I see! :shock:
Bit of a problem then.

As Duncan suggested I would try to create a block that you can mount on your faceplate that will take the mandrel.
The chap that wrote 'Work holding on the lathe' includes a description of making a morse taper. Can't remember offhand if that was a female or male fit though.

Another thought that might be an option.
If your mandrel is like mine, then the male morse taper part will be removable from the shaft that holds the blanks. You could mount a drill bit in the tailstock and bore a short hole into the headstock shaft to make a tight fit on the mandel shaft. This would then be held in place by pressure from the tailstock. Would that work? :?

 

[Colin C]

I am glad some one started this as I have an Elu 180 lathe and have a Sorby
chuck on it ( does not have a morse taper ).
So if I have this right :? , I can use the straight section on the mandrel to hold it as I have been thinking of trying to turn up some pens

 

[RPM]

Thanks again for all your help.

I sent Axminster an e-mail last night....no reply as yet still it's early days.

I think I might bite the bullet and go for the mandrel and try to MOD it to fit.
So in short, in the next week or so you may see a pen (of sorts) or you may hear a tale of woe. :shock: :lol: .

 

[Russell]

Colin C You will need a jaw set that can grip a 7mm daimeter bar this may be a problem I am not sure in Th e Supernova/nova jaws grip that small you would need either JS25N or JSpin jaws to try it.

 

[Colin C]

Colin C You will need a jaw set that can grip a 7mm daimeter bar this may be a problem I am not sure in Th e Supernova/nova jaws grip that small you would need either JS25N or JSpin jaws to try it.

Thanks for the info as I do have jaws that will grip 7mm .
All I have to do now is get it passed SWMBO :roll: :wink: