Been pretending to be a Network Professional today so this is a little late.

Woodturning OnLine released their monthly newsletter this week. There are a couple of interesting articles. One is about using the Internet to gain exposure for your work.

Highland Woodworking also released their monthly newsletter. Although they are not the biggest supplier of turning equipment, they have a couple of unique pen turning mandrels now available.

Did get some lathe time in for myself, this past weekend. Got some salt cellars shaped and a start on some pepper grinders

After uploading this picture to my computer, I noticed the mark on the salt cellar in the fore ground.

In my haste, trying to get these finished, I must have been too aggressive with the parting tool as this is one of the diameters I set. I hadn't noticed it on the lathe. These have not yet been sanded. 

Well, I knew sanding wasn't the best way to eliminate the mark. Gouge, scraper or skew? Like many of you, I still have a love-hate relationship with the skew. Also, laminated pieces don't always play nice with the skew. However, I watched a turner use the skew in a scraping operation and thought I'd give it a try. 

Before-

After

Worked pretty well. I set the tool rest so the edge of the scraper was at the same height as the center line of the head/tail stock.They still need sanding inside and out plus the lids and knobs need to be made.

Finally, a big Thank You to Phil for his post on turning safety. We all need to keep safety in the forefront of our turning regiment.

Safe Turning!

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Lew Kauffman-
Wood Turners Forum Host

Time traveler. Purveyor of the world's finest custom rolling pins!

Nice recovery Lewis. Looks like you saved the piece.

In regards to the pen turning mandrel, I read the manufactures info page but the one thing that escapes me is the manner in which it keeps the shaft under tension. My question is for the end with the morris taper how is it held in place? Do they use a draw bar? Also is there some place where reviews for this new tool are located. Perhaps it's too new yet for any reviews. I agree with the theory in which the rod is under tension instead of compression however unless your tailstock and head stock are in alignment you will always have an out of round turning. I see more pens at craft shows that are egg shaped and this mandrel will certainly correct some of those issues but before you shell out $40.00 you need to make sure your lathe alignment is correct otherwise you'll just be frustrated. You can put lipstick on a pig but in the end it's just a pig with lipstick! 

Thanks for posting Lewis!

I, too, was curious about how the mandrel actually worked. I thought perhaps the shaft slid back into the morris taper fitting.

Mike Dillen said:

Nice recovery Lewis. Looks like you saved the piece.

In regards to the pen turning mandrel, I read the manufactures info page but the one thing that escapes me is the manner in which it keeps the shaft under tension. My question is for the end with the morris taper how is it held in place? Do they use a draw bar? Also is there some place where reviews for this new tool are located. Perhaps it's too new yet for any reviews. I agree with the theory in which the rod is under tension instead of compression however unless your tailstock and head stock are in alignment you will always have an out of round turning. I see more pens at craft shows that are egg shaped and this mandrel will certainly correct some of those issues but before you shell out $40.00 you need to make sure your lathe alignment is correct otherwise you'll just be frustrated. You can put lipstick on a pig but in the end it's just a pig with lipstick! 

Thanks for posting Lewis!

Sorry, Arlin!

Actually, with these project, the lathe is the fun part. Sizing stock, glue/clamping and sizing the blanks seems to take forever!

Arlin Eastman said:

Lew

You big stinker.  I am already beating my bed and going crazy waiting to get turning again and then you have to go and show me this.

 

Nice work.  I have not done that kind of laminating yet or most other yet just pens.

 

Arlin

Nice recovery Lew. That skew can certainly be great or a beast. You have some great looking pieces ready to turn.

I too would be interested in knowing more about those mandrels. If any of you find any information please share it here.

I have found a little more information about these mandrels but the descriptions of exactly how they work is still sketchy. The maker can be found here- http://www.penmandrel.com/

These descriptions are almost the same as the Highland Newsletter

Hope this helps.

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Lew Kauffman-
Wood Turners Forum Host

Time traveler. Purveyor of the world's finest custom rolling pins!