Turning pens on a ShopSmith

[Ron Jones near Indy]

Think I'm going to try turning a few pens. Any suggestions on where to get the necessary mandrels etc. to work with a ShopSmith? The only place I have found is Penn State Industries. Also, how does the quality of PSI's pen kits compare to other suppliers? Where would you suggest I look for kits? Any advice and suggestions appreciated! If and when I get good enough, I plan on turning out Freedom Pens. Hope the learning goes fast!

[Ron Smith ... Richmond, VA]

Think I'm going to try turning a few pens. Any suggestions on where to get the necessary mandrels etc. to work with a ShopSmith? The only place I have found is Penn State Industries. Also, how does the quality of PSI's pen kits compare to other suppliers? Where would you suggest I look for kits? Any advice and suggestions appreciated! If and when I get good enough, I plan on turning out Freedom Pens. Hope the learning goes fast!

I started out on a Shop Smith myself. Having to get everything with the screw on adapter is what finally "forced" me to go to the Jet Mini. Now I do the larger stuff on the Shop Smith and anything under 9" around on the Jet. It's a lot quieter and smoother, but the ShopSmith still does me a good job. At least until I build my new shop this year or next and graduate to one of the mac-daddy lathe's some of the other folks sport on here. I haven't had any problems with any of the PSI kits, but I haven't done near as many pens as Scott, Ken and some of the others. Good luck and have fun with it.

Ron (Transplanted-Hoosier)

[Eddie Severt]

Ron,
www.penkit.net has pen mandrel kits for shopsmith for 26.00. They include 7 7mm bushings and a 7mm drill bit. This is where I am orderiing my mandrel. They also have them that fit into drill chucks. The only bad thing is that they have a $50.00 minimum order. Hope this helps. Not affiliated.
Eddie

[Scott Greaves]

Hi Eddie and Ron,

I had to check out that Penkit.com place, since I had never heard about it. It is what I call YAPSR (Yet Another Penn State Reseller). Not that that is bad! Packard Woodworking is a PSI reseller, and they are one of the "Big Boys" as far as woodturning supplies! I guess my point is that there are a number of places that sell the same thing, and most don't have a $50 minimum. The Penn State items I get, I buy from Ryan at Woodturningz.com.

Scott.