Pens...

[VikingAl]

Hey all, I have been bashing away at various things over the past 4 months & feel that I now want to progress my amateurish attempts onto pen making.
Firstly, I want to apologise to all those that are reading this & are thinking 'why doesn't he look through all the old posts?'. Answer, I have gone through every entry on the 1st 10 pages, thought I'd just cut to the chase & ask myself!.
So,
Mandrel, what's the difference between 1MT & 2MT?.
Best pen kit for an absolute beginner, does 1MT & 2MT dictate this?.
I don't have a bench mounted drill press type affair, how would I best go about this, can I do it using the drill equipment I have for my tail stock?.
I want to start off on the right foot, my motto is 'buy cheap, buy twice!', so to that end, am I better off buying from say turners retreat, Axminster, etc. I'm certain most of this stuff is all made in china (I may be wrong!) but always like to buy British where possible.

Again, sorry if you have read & answered these questions a million times previously !.

Cheers in advance,

Al.

 

[cornucopia]

1mt and 2mt is the size of the morse taper in the head and tailstock of your lathe- you need to buy the right size mandrel for your lathes morse taper.

slimline pens are what tend to be recommended for beginners - like these

I drill using a jacobs chuck in my tailstock and holding the pen blank in my 4 jaw chuck

virtually all pen kits are either made in china or Taiwan- as a general rule the Chinese kits are of poorer quality to the Taiwanese.
There are several big pen kit manufacturers, Berea, psi, dayacom etc some vendors sell kits from these companies but re-name them some specialise in one manufactures kits.
Dayacom are considered by most to be the highest quality but can be tricky to get hold off.

 

[gregmcateer]

Al,

I think Cornucopia has it covered, though if you want more detail, see the following;

http://www.walterspens.co.uk/index.php?p=1_5_How-to-make-pens

Ain't much worth knowing re pens that Mr Hall don't know, IMHO.

(I've got his book - very good)

HTH

Greg

 

[VikingAl]

Thanks fellas, Appreciate the advice, looking forward to attempting my 1st pen!. If I manage it ill post a pic!.

 

[EnErY]

You wont Go wrong with This guy For Kits And his postage is cheap as chips iv Bought All My kits There And Never been Stung By The customs Wags Yet as long As your Sensible you Will get a Good Order And Its All sent At A flat rate unless you exceed $80 Aus then Its free Shipping takes three weeks to arrive but quality never had bad gear from david http://www.timberbits.com/
Regards
Bill

 

[VikingAl]

Ok, I've checked out all the links & they're great, thanks for taking the time to do that. Only one problem now, this may sound daft, I have absolutely no idea what Morse Taper my lathe takes, I don't even know what it looks like or even does. Prior to me spending money on the required mandrel etc, would somebody be kind enough to give me a pointer?. I own an Axminster Perform CCL if that helps?.

Cheers,

Al.

 

[Martin10]

Page one of the manual (which I found on line) gives the spec for the lathe - it includes the morse tapers for both headstock and tailstock as 2MT - but check the manual yourself just to make sure I found the right one for your lathe before you spend any money!!

Martin

 

[VikingAl]

Ahhhh, another simple solution that I didn't even think about doing, doh!!!. Thanks Martin, big help mate!.

 

[Melinda_dd]

+ 1 for Timber bits

Only pit fall is if you have no patients like me.... you have to wait a week or so for delivery........ but I am extremely inpatient

 

[VikingAl]

Ha ha, patience is in very very very short supply here!.

 

[stevenw1963]

+2 for Timberbits & don't worry about the wait, cut some pen blanks up whilst you wait.

 

[Vic Perrin]

For a decent supply of pen parts have a look at www.penkits.co.uk

 

[John. B]

+345 for Timberbits

John. B

 

[VikingAl]

I've been perusing the links & mooching about on the old tinterweb & found a firm called Stiles & Bates, they are selling what looks like a very comprehensive starter kit for £74.00. This seems like a good option, does anybody know or have heard of this firm, are they any good?. I've totted all the stuff up & it adds up to more on turners retreat.

Any info appreciated!.

 

[jpt]

I buy from them quite often and I have always found them a good company to do business with.

john

 

[Vic Perrin]

Have a look at the Turners Workshop run by Vinnie in the North East very competitive.

 

[EnErY]

You wont Go wrong with This guy For Kits And his postage is cheap as chips iv Bought All My kits There And Never been Stung By The customs Wags Yet as long As your Sensible you Will get a Good Order And Its All sent At A flat rate unless you exceed $80 Aus then Its free Shipping takes three weeks to arrive but quality never had bad gear from david http://www.timberbits.com/
Regards
Bill

Timberbits Got A offer On with Polaris kits=$3.00 each they are not everybodys favfavoritet but I just ordordered also their cigar kits are on offer at £3.50 this is of course ausaustralianrdered in 2 separate packs you get free dispatch
Regards
Bill

 

[M P Hales]

Hi VikingAl

When you get you're mandril send me your address and I'll post you a few blanks and kits so you can have a try at a few different pens

Got some spare wood blanks and corian blanks so it might help getting you started

Regards

M

 

[Melinda_dd]

I could probably help you out with some blanks too. Only beech, oak, tulip ....nothing exciting but good to practice with instead of buyin

 

[VikingAl]

Guys, that's amazing!. Soon as I get the stuff I need, should be within the next week then I'll send you my details, I can't thank you enough, brilliant!.