New to turning

[Froggy]

Hi all,

Having been given a Poolewood 28-40 recently I've started turning and find myself getting more than a little addicted

Some pics. below of the first few things that I've done. I know they are poor quality, but who starts off turning quality products the first time they use a lathe (wisdom of Jenx and all that!)? Infact I'm quite pleased with the way I'm coming on, but could do with a few lessons to speed things up.
I had my first pen turning lesson yesterday (thanks Sue Denim) and the result is pictured below. Having got the bug I'm now going to purchase some kit to turn pens, but I'm not sure what the difference is between MT1 and MT2 and which one I need for the 28-40. Can anyone help me with this please?

Cheers Froggy.

 

[CHJ]

The 28-40 has M2 tapers.
But if you have a decent 4 jaw chuck I personally would go for a parallel shank mandrel so that you don't need to remove the chuck for pen turning.

Here's a mandrel used with a chuck on a 28-40

 

[Froggy]

Thanks Charlie, I do have a 4 jaw chuck, so will look at the parallel shank mandrel.

 

[CHJ]

Just check that your chuck jaws run true by clamping some round stock in them, that's the only caveat over using the chuck instead of the taper, the Morse taper will run true, a poor spec. chuck may not.

 

[Froggy]

Will do, thanks again.
By the way, when I first got my 28-40 I promised pics but had to clean it up, assemble it and build a bench for it first. I'll try to post those pictures this weekend.

 

[Phil Pascoe]

Check that the tail centre aligns with the drive - mine's about 3mm out. I threw the aligning pin on the headstock away. If you turn table and standard lamps, you'll find that the tailstock clogs up when you drill them - get a circlip pliers and take the whole thing apart to bits to clean it. It's easy, just make sure groove in the quill aligns with the tightening knob on the back when you put it back. If you pick up bits and pieces with No.1 tapers, you can easily get 2 to 1 sleeves.

 

[Froggy]

Thanks Phil I'll do that before I get started.