My first pen.

[Terry Rothwell]

My wife and kids took me to the Woodcraft store in Lexington today and bought me a pen turning mandrel, a pen mill and a couple of pen kits for my upcoming birthday. This pen was turned from some Cherry scrap that I had in the shop. Please pardon the crappy cell phone pics but It was all that I had to take pics with tonight. Thanks for looking, Terry. Cherry Pen 1.jpg

Cherry Pen 2.jpg

[Gary Kvasnicka]

Nicely done, I am sure that it is the first of many. I have to be careful not to keep pen kits around, if they are I won't get anything else done.

[Steve Schlumpf]

Terry - that is a really nice looking pen! I love cherry! The size and shape of the pen you turned looks like it would be real comfortable to use! Nice work!

[Billy Tallant]

Terry,

That is a nice looking pen. Cherry wood makes a nice pen. Once you get going on pens, you will be making more & more of them.

[Jeff Nicol]

Terry, Now that you have finished one you will soon be at 100 and beyond! Pens are fun and fast to do, so when you need a turning fix a pen is the perfect way to start and finish a project quickly!

Great pen and keep on spinning,

Jeff

[Benjamin Dahl]

nice pen Terry, now it is time to sign up for the pen exchange (look for the sticky at the top of the page). as the others have said, they can become addictive. I still have the first pen I turned.
Ben

[Bernie Weishapl]

Terry very nice looking pen. Love the cherry.

[Ken Fitzgerald]

Very nice first pen Terry! They are a popular turning project!

[Terry Rothwell]

Thanks for the replies fellas.

[Terry Rothwell]

I was showing my pen to a friend today and I noticed that the wood has a slight oval shape to it. It actually sticks out beyond the pen hardware slightly on one side. Both top and bottom turnings are like this. Has anyone else experienced this and how do I correct it in the future? Thanks, Terry.

[Harvey M. Taylor]

Terry, 2 things come to mind. you may have tightened the mandrel too tight, causing it to bow, the other is your rpm's may be too high.also making it to bow.Sharp tools and light cuts are always in order. hopefully helpful, max.

[Gary Simmons]

Terry,
Im new to pen turning as well. You started off with more than a slimline and it looks great... it is addicting.. Im learning all the time and this forum is a great place to ask questions.. the responsed are informative and quick... They really support all new hobbyist....

[Rob Young]

I was showing my pen to a friend today and I noticed that the wood has a slight oval shape to it. It actually sticks out beyond the pen hardware slightly on one side. Both top and bottom turnings are like this. Has anyone else experienced this and how do I correct it in the future? Thanks, Terry.

I have had that problem a few times, it is known as "OOR" for "Out Of Round". Lots of little things can cause it. Here is a partial list:

Somebody already suggested overtightening of the mandrel nut. Done it.

Another cause is making the tail stock too tight, it just needs to snug up enough to spin. Done it.

It could be a bent mandrel shaft. Haven't done it yet.

It could be the collet end of the shaft is too tight or has a burr in the collet jaws, this assumes it is an adjustable shaft type.

It could be something caught in the headstock and the Morse taper wasn't seating properly.

It could be the head and tail stocks aren't in alignment.

Dull tools and too much pressure can push the mandrel out of line. I've done this one.

It could be the bushings are a little whack. I understand this can happen but isn't terribly common.

It does occasionally happen that the kit parts are bad. But I'd put this pretty far down the list, below bad bushings.

And finally, and most likely, you will discover it isn't any one single thing from this list but might be a combination of a few things. Isn't that helpfull!

Seriously, pick the easy things to check first. The mandrel shaft, the headstock/tailstock alignment and clean the tapers and receivers. Then try turning something soft like walnut just to check the result. You can use a caliper to check the wall thickness, it should be the same all the way round. Woodcraft and most other pen kit suppliers will sell you extra brass tubes. A good idea to have a few around for the inevitable blown blank anyway. Use one of them in your test.

If the OOR isn't terribly serious, just as you are about to finish sizing to the bushings (or using your calipers), stop, loosen the nut and rotate the blank about a 1/4 turn. Finger tight (not gorilla tight) on the nut and start the sanding process. Make one more 1/4 turn (but not back where you started) in the middle of the sanding regieme. That may not cure it but it certainly cures the accidental minor OOR from a too tight nut.

Another suggestion that I read and have been trying to implement is to tighten the nut pretty snug for the initial rough rounding. Then when the corners are knocked off and things aren't quite so wacky, loosen the nut and reposition the pieces. Then just finger tight, so the blanks don't spin freely. At all times, the tail stock should be just snug enough to spin the live center. Oh, and use a 60 degree live center, not the sharper point kind. The mandrel shaft end is made to fit a 60 degree taper.

Have fun! I know I am!

[Terry Rothwell]

After a little inspecting last night it appears that the spindle on the head end of my lathe has a slight wobble to it. I hadnt noticed it before because of the lenght of the spindles that I have been turning. Its an older Craftsman 12" lathe and the parts except the collar is still available but Im considering retiring it and moving up to the Jet model 1220VS that Woodcraft has on their website. Any opinions on this lathe? Thanks, Terry.

[Tom Henry]

I was showing my pen to a friend today and I noticed that the wood has a slight oval shape to it. It actually sticks out beyond the pen hardware slightly on one side. Both top and bottom turnings are like this. Has anyone else experienced this and how do I correct it in the future? Thanks, Terry.

I notice this happen if your drill hole is too big and the brass tube adheres to more one side then the other.