total Newbie

[Big Al]

Hi all.

I'm new to turning but keen to get started and learn how to turn, and set myself up for a hobby. I received a handmade pen for Xmas and started looking into it - on YouTube etc, and as a keen DIY and fairly good with my hands saw that it was something to start out to do.

I love pens so natural next step I guess, to make them, for me , friends and family and as a low hobby-income in time.

My question to the experienced is what kind of lathe do I need? I see mini-lathes advertised on the usual marketplaces, ranging from £70 upwards - are there any old sticky threads or any advice I can be given as to how to start?

My budget is 'as low as possible' but happy to add to the collection as I get going, and upgrade equipment.

any advice gratefully received

Al

 

[Penpal]

Al look around mate Google Wood Clubs in Edinburgh, find one , join see what they use face to face, make haste slowly and enjoy this wonderful forum. My name family comes from Miller Hill.

Peter.

 

[Big Al]

Thanks Peter. I see a lot of people use bigger lathes for different things but I am just interested in pen turning for the moment so thinking a small lathe would do if there is one designed for small items.

Will take your advice though and check locally too.

Cheers

Al

 

[Penpal]

For example in my Wood Guild there is a dedicated Pen Group.

Peter.

 

[fortress]

Hello Al and welcome to the funhouse, if you know the person that turned your pen, maybe they could help you with your lathe selection. If not, maybe it is one of ours. Have a look on the Axminster site, there are plenty of good small lathes there.

 

[wm460]

G'Day Al,

Welcome to the forum from the hot dry humid Centre of Australia.



Cheers,
Mark.

 

[bassethound]

Hello Al and welcome to the Asylum mate, you have proved you are mad by just joining us but it's not bad here, you will learn a lot and have fun, looking forward to see your pens..

 

[Phil Dart]

Hi Al - welcome to the fold

You've already decided that you want a smaller lathe, so that part of the process is settled.

It's pretty fair to say that the more you pay for that size of lathe, the better the quality. In my opinion, it is essential to have a hollow headstock spindle that is also threaded to take a chuck - yes, most are threaded, but not all are hollow, which means that removing fittings from the headstock can be a problem if it's not. And a hollow tailstock spindle for the same reason.

Not absolutely essential, but believe me, highly desirable, would be electronic variable speed. Most lathes have variable speed, but some are varied purely by moving the drive belt whilst others are varied electronically - guess which method is a pain, and which is easy. Those that do it electronically then also usually have the ability to move a belt, but that is to give you a different range of variable speeds. It's worth comparing the speed ranges though. At this stage they won't mean much to you, but there are one or two out there who's speed ranges are utterly moronic.

For me, I would prefer flat bed bars, preferably cast. There are lathes with round bed bars too.

Don't get too caught up with the capacity of the lathe. You've already said you want a small one, and some small ones go out of their way to tell you how massive a diameter they can handle. In other words, what is the "swing over bed" which means the height of the centre point above the bed bars? That distance dictates how large a piece of wood it can handle and it's tempting to believe that the larger the better. One particular small lathe (coincidentally one with moronic speed ranges) can handle a diameter of up to 20 inches, but bear in mind its a small lathe, so the chances of the lathe staying in one place whilst 20 inches of solid wood whizzes round dangerously close to your head are nil. A swing over bed of 5 or 6 inches would be far more sensible, giving you a capacity of 10 or 12 inches. That is not to say that just because the capacity is there you have to make full use of it - frankly even 12 inches is pushing it for a small lathe, - what I mean really is don't allow a larger capacity to influence your buying decision for its own sake.

There is a dedicated pen lathe on the market made by Axminster. It really is tiny, but if all you ever want to make is pens, then the reviews are very good indeed. It was reviewed in Woodturning magazine by Walter Hall several months ago, and he may pop along later to give you his opinion.

For myself, I went through this process a few months ago to replace a bigger lathe in a hurry, and I plumped for a Jet 1015vs, for all the reasons above. Axminster's trade range is also very good I believe, and since my purchase I think they have introduced a new model, which may well have been in the running for me if it had been around at the time. There are a good number of lathes out there which in my opinion are cheesy, tacky, and not up to the job. Sip, Fox, and Clarke are three names that spring to mind and if your budget only stretches to one of those, you may be better off holding out for a secondhand better one. They do come up from time to time.

I'll be in trouble now, from all the people who own sips, foxes and clarkes but I hope that gives you some guidance to consider.

 

[Vic Perrin]

Hi Al welcome to the Forum. Tons of advice to be found on here.

 

[AllenN]

Hi Al. Welcome to the forum. I would definitely second Phil's advice. Do a bit of research and don't rush in. There can be good things to be found on ebay, but only once you have done your research. The forum is packed full of advice so is a great place to start.
Phil's point about variable speed is a good one. My small lathe has vs and a friend of mine has a similar sized lathe without the vs. It makes a huge difference to convenience they are like chalk and cheese.
Enjoy the journey.
On the subject of pen making itself. I would recommend getting hold of a copy of Walter Halls book, whether you buy it or borrow it from a library. It also helps to interpret some of what is being said on the forum. Walter will probably chip in to this thread at some point.
Have fun.

 

[Buckeye]

Welcome to the Forum, the only thing I would add to Phil's advice is to look at a variable speed lathe, i.e. one that you can change the speed electronically and not just by adjusting the belt on the pulley, it adds to the cost, but can be a great feature.

Peter

 

[Terry Q]

Hello Al. Welcome to the forum. My advice would be to seek out other pen turners and turn on their lathes before making a decision. You didn't mention portability. Will you have a dedicated place for your lathe or will you have to move it to and from some storage area. My "mini" lathe is a Delta 46-460 and weight 90 pounds. I am fortunate enough that i have it mounted to a stand and have the whole works sitting on a mobile platform. So I can push it out when need and return when finished.

 

[Terry Q]

Hello Al. Welcome to the forum. My advice would be to seek out other pen turners and turn on their lathes before making a decision. You didn't mention portability. Will you have a dedicated place for your lathe or will you have to move it to and from some storage area. My "mini" lathe is a Delta 46-460 and weight 90 pounds. I am fortunate enough that i have it mounted to a stand and have the whole works sitting on a mobile platform. So I can push it out when need and return when finished.

You mentioned your budget being low. I will say a lathe is just the tip of the iceberg. You still need grinder, tools, face protection, lung protection, sanding material, finishing products, and most important dust collection.

Pen turning is a fun fullfilling hobby. Safe practices let you enjoy it longer.

 

[moose]

Hi Al,

Welcome, I have only been turning for 9 months and consequently know very, very little.

After much consideration I bought this lathe from Axminster Axminster Hobby Series AH-1218VS Woodturning Lathe - Woodturning Lathes - Lathes - Machinery | Axminster Tools & Machinery. It was just within my price bracket.

I have not been disappointed, love the variable speed, which I consider to be a must, also Axminster's after care service is first class.

I also chose carbide tools from here: Pen Turning Chisel Set again for my limited skill they are excellent.

Then of course a chuck or two, dust extraction etc. it doesn't seem to end !!!!

I wish you all the best with whatever you choose, you will have a blast !

One great choice you have made so far is to choose this forum, it is the best, I have been genuinely overwhelmed by the knowledge and more importantly the comradery and generosity shown by all.

Have fun like I have

David

 

[Dalboy]

Hi and welcome.

My turning is different from many who only turn pens so my needs are different to those that only need a lathe for pens. One of the problems is that you could start turning pens then want to move onto larger items in which case buy a good small lathe that if you decide to move to a larger one will not loose a lot on value if you need to sell.

 

[Big Al]

Just a big thanks for all the kind welcome and great advice - will follow up on it all and the links provided and consider! See you soon on here to advise my next steps......or ask more 'stoopid' questions.....

Al

 

[Big Al]

Thanks Phil, very comprehensive, give me something to think about.....

Al

 

[Bill Mooney]

Welcome aboard Al. The above advice is sound so take your time making your mind up. Ask as many questions as you need to make the right choice but remember, we can advise but the final choice is yours.
Good hunting.

 

[silver]

Welcome aboard Al.

Good luck with your search for a pen turning lathe.

Quite agree with Phil, and also remember you will need tooling (TCT are good) specific drill bits for drilling the blanks. Oh and a decent pillar drill or a chuck to fix to the lathe with jaws to drill the blanks.

Something to square the blanks, a squaring mill will do to start off with. Sanding square is a prefered option to seasoned pen turners.(probably have someone on here cursing me now)

A decent vac extractor system to take away the nasties, and decide how to turn your pens. Mandrel or between centers. Mandrel is the most common.

Remember anything that is made for "penturning" usually means a high price tag. even down to pen turning blanks, often yu will get cheaper bigger blanks if you can convert them yourself.. that brings in band saws or circular saws (Or hand saws as well)

There is loads on the forum but would recommend a DVD of "turning pen by Kip and Rex", they go through allot of the basics for you to get to know.. Vol 1 is for starters. there is alo our resident forum moderator Walter Hall (Complete guide to turning pens) I would recommend.

You now see its an addictive and "costly" hobby so look forward to seeing your efforts on the forum soon.

 

[billyb_imp]

Welcome to the forum Al, you will find members queuing up to give you advice but in the end you will need to look at all that info coming your way and make that choice of which lathe for yourself.

Speaking from personal experience, I started turning pens from scratch about this time 3 years ago. I too had a limited budget & bought a SIP 01936 it was less than £250, had variable speed, I teamed it up with a cheap charnwood Viper 2 chuck and bought a set of 3 Sorby pen turning chisels. I was just about set up.

The SIP lathe served me well for about 2 years until it gave up the ghost, but it was worth it. I learned the basics on it with help from various forum members. In that short time I decided pen turning was something I wanted to do going forward.

I have of course since the demise of the SIP had to buy a bigger, better & more expensive lathe but still within a budget. I bought the best I could afford 3 years ago and then did the same when it broke down.