A newbie that jumped right in!!!

[Brian Clevenger]

I believe it was an in-store only special, and I feel blessed that it came at the right time. I don't budget myself a lot of money for tools, and hardly any money for tools that aren't "home improvement" types. It just happened that I had already saved some money, so the timing was right.

Tonight is open house at my high school, so I'm able to make some posts and read. If I were at home, I'd be down in the shop making chips fly.

[Brian Clevenger]

Ernie,

I'm going to start with pens and spindles. I got the extension so I could do legs. I still have flat work that has to be done around the house, but just grabbing the gouge and turning a pen is a very welcome retreat.

[Ernie Nyvall]

... but just grabbing the gouge and turning a pen is a very welcome retreat.

Oh, I couldn't agree with you more. I asked because it makes a difference as to what is recommended. Penn State used to have a free video on turning pens. Not sure if they still offer though. What you are doing with the practice is the right thing, but I'm sure you know that being a coach. Did you get yourself a skew? They make a pen in short order once you get used to it and it cuts way down on the sanding.

[Brian Clevenger]

I just finished turning my first pen. It is brazillian cherry. I think it came out very nice. I used the Rockler pen kit. The only things I don't like about that kit are that the ring fits too loose, and I prefer a very fine point. Other than that, it went pretty smooth.

I need to learn how to post pics though.

I think I will show it at the school tomorrow and then give it to my wife. Total cost= $425. Not the cheapest pen I could own, but I sure had a blast turning it.

On a side note, I split three blanks in a row because of stupitity. I didn't have the blank completely sanded to the brass insert, and it caused it to split with the pressure on the nut from the "pen turning thingy" (sorry, I don't know the proper name for the kit). I finally figured it out, but I had originally thought it was a tooling or method problem. After I jumped that hurdle, it was a smooth race.

A quick question: the people I've asked have said to use 3/4" blanks. The final size of my "slim-line" pen was under 1/2". I was wondering if it might have been faster and easier to cut the corners down on the bandsaw with a 45degree tilt...... making the blank an octogon, and getting rid of the scrap faster and more efficiently???

[Jack Lewis]

So you bought a Lathe? By the way that is a great price for that Jet vs. Your on the road to one of the most addictive..but enjoyable aspects of woodturning ever.....The Pen. I'm pretty much a newbe myself about 4 months old. Watched a DYI short on pen turning . Said Gee I could do that. Since I'm only about 20 minutes from PSI (what a mistake that is) Went down there on sat. Its now become my "toy store" With money scarce, my first lathe was a beat up shopsmith found on ebay.

My first 3 pens was turned on my old grandma. Don't be surprised as each week goes by that you find yourself bring another and another toy in the house. I am a proud owner of a Jet mini (not as nice as the vs) but is my favorite toy now, and my shopsmith is my drill press,jigsaw.

By all means try to get the family interested but be prepared to then invest in more equipment. My wife didn't take the bite .

Have fun with penturning. Its very relaxing and rewarding addiction.

Jack
iturnwoodpens

[Henry C. Gernhardt, III]

Brian:

As you become more proficient in your turning technique, you will undoubtedly find that it is faster and easier to rough to round from square than it is to rough to octagon on a bandsaw then rough to round from octagon. Using this method is fine if you're a bit leery of the spinning corners, however it is my opinion that it removes a learning tool.

The trick to turning square to round is to imagine that you're turning "air". Present the tool to the work as if the corners are at the extreme diameter of a cylinder, hold the tool steady, and make your cuts. With practice, you'll most likely be able to have a square blank roughed round in less than half the time it would take you to cut the corners off.

It is my personal opinion that this kind of practice in turning "air" is also useful when turning oddly-shaped blanks (such as winged platters, NE bowls/cups, etc). The visualization/thought process that goes into roughing a square blank round can be easily transferred for this purpose.

Good luck!

[Stu Ablett in Tokyo Japan]

Brian:

As you become more proficient in your turning technique, you will undoubtedly find that it is faster and easier to rough to round from square than it is to rough to octagon on a bandsaw then rough to round from octagon. Using this method is fine if you're a bit leery of the spinning corners, however it is my opinion that it removes a learning tool.

The trick to turning square to round is to imagine that you're turning "air". Present the tool to the work as if the corners are at the extreme diameter of a cylinder, hold the tool steady, and make your cuts. With practice, you'll most likely be able to have a square blank roughed round in less than half the time it would take you to cut the corners off.

It is my personal opinion that this kind of practice in turning "air" is also useful when turning oddly-shaped blanks (such as winged platters, NE bowls/cups, etc). The visualization/thought process that goes into roughing a square blank round can be easily transferred for this purpose.

Good luck!

Ditto.

Speed is also you friend when roughing, slow is not good.

Cheers!