Pen Mandrel/Oneway Live center

Re: Pen Mandrel/Oneway Live center

Jim Shaver - Oakville, Ontario

>Hi Jennifer,

I did the same thing, and now use the hard point, I was able to clean up the aluminum cone with some emery cloth..

Take care,

Jim

Re: Pen Mandrel/Oneway Live center

Don Evans

>Jen:

Use the inside hard point, they can also be replaced from Oneway. You do know they are just knocked out with the thin rod that came with the center?

Your cone, even with the marks and or divets on the end is still ok, the marks shouldn't harm anything you are using it for. When used correctly, the very end of it doesn't touch anything anyway.

FYI -- Over the years I've tried every mandrel made to this point. I found the best combination is a rod from Woodcraft and a machinist collet, MT2 in my case, from MSC part #09732165 and a home made drawbar. Drawbar is easy to make with threaded rod and handle. Your lathe has to have a hollow spindle for this setup. A 3/8 collet is also handy to have and it works with same drawbar, from MSC it is #09732249. I use it with pin chucks.

Above, the only reason I said a rod from Woodcraft is because they sell them separate and I've never found them from other retailers that way.

Don

Re: Pen Mandrel/Oneway Live center

Jennifer@Indy.USA

>Thanks Don,

I've changed my ways with the Oneway live center. I appreciate the info about the mandrel as well. I seem to have bad luck with them. I've tried them held in a Jacob's chuck, I've tried the Woodcraft "professional" mandrel with #2 taper, the Penn State mandrel with #2 taper....and none of them are up to par in my opinion. I always get a little bit of wobble which of course makes it hard to match up the barrels with the fittings. So I just ordered another one on the recommendation from Jim Shaver. It's from Lee Valley and sounds similar to what you've just described. We'll see how this one works. I've pulled my tailstock up and put a drive center in the head stock and they match up point to point so nothing's out of alignment, as far as I can tell.

Thanks again,

Jennifer

Re: Pen Mandrel/Oneway Live center

Jennifer@Indy.USA

>Thanks Jim,

It's nice to know I have company : )

Re: Pen Mandrel/Oneway Live center

Don Evans

>Hi Jen:

Hopefully the LV unit will work well for you but I do see a possible problem with it. Any MT unit is prone to give problems if a drawbar is not used with it. What happens is any slight or more vibration will tend to loosen the MT in the spindle. This makes the mandrel ride too heavy on the livecenter which sets up even more vibration. A drawbar eliminates this by pulling the MT continuously into the spindle therefore holding it tightly and keeping it centered.

One good thing with the pictured unit is the fact that it is hollow through the center all the way out the backside. So if it becomes necessary, if it isn't already threaded, it can be and a drawbar added.

Don

Re: Pen Mandrel/Oneway Live center

Richard Allen

>Hi Jenifier

Six years ago I attended a pen turning demo given by Dick Sing. Among the many things he talked about was that he had the MT of his spindles returned. He indicated that he had not seen a MT on a wood lathe that centered in the spindle.

Thanks

Richard

Re: Pen Mandrel/Oneway Live center

Jennifer@Indy.USA

>I'm beginning to beleive this!

: )

Re: Pen Mandrel/Oneway Live center

Fog Tanner

>I took a pice of wood, drilled a hole in it so it would thread over the 3/4"x1" live center. I placed a piece of steel in the "locking hole" of the live center and wraped this with masking tape to keep it in place. I then placed this in the morse taper of the lathe shaft. I turned a "cup center" which is now true to the live center. When I turn pens I put my wooden cup center on the live center and run it up to the mandrel. This centers the madrel and any wear is on the wood and not aluminum. The only problem with the first one was, I made it way too large which restriced movment around the right end. A quick return solved the problem. This is a much better (and cheaper) solution than wearning the aluminum cups that come with the live center.

I damaged the aluminum point and had to have it returned. I also damaged the steel point on another live center. Thats when I came up with the wooden cup center, and never looked back.

Fog

Re: Pen Mandrel/Oneway Live center

Lou in Canton, GA

>This thread hit a sensitive spot for me since I just turned a Gentlemen's Pen last night only to find that the lower barrel was slightly oval. I had been very careful not to exert tool pressure on the turning. I am using a Jet 1642EVS with the Oneway style livecenter. Since I have three mandrels (and thought I was using the best one), I just measured the runout on all three after reading this thread. I measured at the MT2 end of the mandrel and several places along the mandrel to the livecenter. My Craft Supplies NO. 2 MT ADJUSTABLE PEN MANDREL (050-7402) measured +/- .001-in. on the MT2 and +/- .0015-in. along the mandrel. My Craft Supplies #2 Professional Mandrel (950-9120) which I used last night measured +/- .005-in. at the MT2 end of the mandrel and +/- .001 at the livecenter. An old PSI mandrel measured better than the 950-9120 but not as good as the Adjustable(collet) style. All three mandrels are 3 - 5 years old and have been kicking around in the toolbox, so I can't say how good they were new. I will certainly use the collet mandrel in the future, exspecially since it is threaded and can be held in the headstock.