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Pen turning question

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Pen turning question

#1

Pen turning question

Doug

>I am new to pen turning. Just turned my first pens today - 3 of them. All went well except a nagging problem of holding the blanks tight enough on the mandrel for turning. The weird thing is that in each case only one of the blanks would want to be loose while the other blank would be held firmly. It would require what I would consider excessive pressure on the knurled nut. It didn't matter if I changed the position of the two blanks - the same blank would want to spin. What am I doing wrong?

Re: Pen turning question

#2

Re: Pen turning question

Don Henthorn Smithville, Texas

>Could one of the blanks be a little uneven on the ends so it is not held securely?

Re: Pen turning question

#3

Re: Pen turning question

Doug

>Don - I suppose anything is possible. However I did face the ends with a barrel facing tool. I stil think it's odd that one blank for each of the three pens wouldn't tighten. Maybe it is the wood. Just some scrap figured oak I had.

Re: Pen turning question

#4

Re: Pen turning question

Kevin Gerstenecker

>Doug, I always tighten the Knurled nut down as tight as I can get it, and sometimes a bit more with a pliers. Some wood just seems to be "slicker" on the end grain, and they need to be snugged up a bit tighter. Cocobola, Bocote and some other Exotics is where I notice the spinning problem the most. I hope this helps you some. I think that I read somewhere that wetting the ends of the blanks slightly help to make them grip the bushing and eliminate spinning too.

Re: Pen turning question

#5

Re: Pen turning question

Kirk DeHeer

>You can bend your mandrel by over tightning! check your bushings sometimes they will get a burr on the inside and it needs to be removed.

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Kirk DeHeer

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