Mandrel advice please

[Lons]

Lons you don't need a mandrel to turn pens.
All this crap about which mandrel and what mandrel saver and how much it costs.

I'm a born succer for gadgets though You should see my place. I have enough stuff to start a shop

Bob

 

[Grump]

I'm a born succer for gadgets though You should see my place. I have enough stuff to start a shop

Bob

That may well be so, I have a goodly few myself of which a cotchel will be going four sail soon init?
But it don't stop you from spinning a lump of lumber (for our American friends) init?

Doug I can say prat with the bike with no fear of contraception as our son is our local pratman.
I'll see if I can find the joke that has been circulating FB about the job in the sorting office.

 

[Grump]

I went for a job at the Royal Mail sorting office yesterday. After the interview I was given a tour of the depot.

I asked the guy taking the tour "What's that machine?"

"That's the Acme 3000 Auto Sorter System. It can sort 150,000 letters an hour and it's 99.5% accurate. It's controlled by 12 supercomputers, each of which is 5000 times more powerful than an average desktop PC. It has over 15,000 state-of-the-art optical location identification sensors, contains enough circuit boards to entirely cover the pitch at the new Wembley stadium and it has 200 miles of fibre-optic cable. It cost over £100 million to develop," he boasted proudly.

"What happens to the letters after it's finished sorting them?" I asked.

"We give them to a prat on a push bike."

 

[dotslad]

Lons you don't need a mandrel to turn pens.
All this crap about which mandrel and what mandrel saver and how much it costs.
Stick your bushes in each end and turn between centres, job done at no further cost, no P&P and waiting for the prat with the bike.

Brian I agree with you entirely as usual although I use a Rotuor mandrel I would think that using bushes between centres would work just as well.
As regards the mandrel saver I bought one and now use it all the time brilliant the only comment I would make is it increased the noise level of the lathe slightly

 

[broadsea]

I have just received my morse taper mandrel mt1 and it all looks gobildy gook to me. Tried fitting on two piece blank last night but didnt have a clue where to start. Tried google search but could not find anything. Anyone out there willing to help a thick Scotsman who should have probably taken up jigsaws...lol

 

[rayf6604]

Have a look at the Axminster website, there's a video on there about pen turning, or look on YouTube there are videos on there. I'm at work or I could do a pictorial.

 

[Vic Perrin]

+1 for the mandrel saver. Just got one and it don't half save time pizzing about looking fot the nut which I put somewhere safe !

Vic

 

[broadsea]

Its ok guys, think I have cracked it after receiving a call from Paul of penkitsuk.........god I am thick......dhooo. I had the taper on the wrong way round. Anyone got a 10 piece jigsaw and I will try that instead. Probably still get stuck

 

[Les ELm]

Like Grumpy, I too TBC to avoid all the issues caused with the use of mandrels.
I rough turn TBC with stock bushings and then remove bushings and TBC using calipers to measure components to size final fit.
Works great for me.

Les

 

[Buckeye]

Brian talks the talk, but I remember seeing cone blanks on his mandrel

Peter

 

[broadsea]

Like Grumpy, I too TBC to avoid all the issues caused with the use of mandrels.
I rough turn TBC with stock bushings and then remove bushings and TBC using calipers to measure components to size final fit.
Works great for me.

Les

Ok Les what in the world is TBC?

 

[Les ELm]

Ok Les what in the world is TBC?

Sorry, TBC is Turning Between Centers.

Les

 

[broadsea]

I must, at some time, have owned, used or tested every make and type of pen mandrel known to humanity.

As long as they are straight and run true there is little to choose between them.

The grub screw on the Turners Retreat one sticks out a bit which is annoying but apart from that just go for whatever you fancy or fits your budget.

Walter I have just read your article on "How to make pens" and found it to be more intuitive and a lote better written than the book I paid £15 for. Wish Ihad found it before I bought the book.

 

[broadsea]

Like Grumpy, I too TBC to avoid all the issues caused with the use of mandrels.
I rough turn TBC with stock bushings and then remove bushings and TBC using calipers to measure components to size final fit.
Works great for me.

Les

In that case Len how do you drill the blanks? Because of my nutty medications my hands tend to shake so I am unsure if I could do it by hand

 

[Grump]

Brian talks the talk, but I remember seeing cone blanks on his mandrel

Peter

I have never said I cant or won't use a mandrel and with those cones there wasn't much choice.
They would have fallen to pieces without a mandrel.
And considering my comments were made last Christmas I still prefer to turn between centers.

 

[Buckeye]

I have never said I cant or won't use a mandrel and with those cones there wasn't much choice.
They would have fallen to pieces without a mandrel.
And considering my comments were made last Christmas I still prefer to turn between centers.

I know you haven't said you don't, can't or won't use a mandrel, but it amuses me when you tell people they don't have to buy a mandrel and to tbc when you own and use a mandrel, don't worry it doesn't make you any less of a man Surely you put tubes in the pine cones, didn't you?

Another old post dragged up, but the pine cones and your mandrel use were in April, real men don't use mandrels dahlink

Peter