Foolish April and Mandrels

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Wmcullen

Wmcullen

Member
Joined
Dec 1, 2020
Messages
400
Location
Fairfax, Virginia
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I was asleep when the room filled with light. I looked outside and a space ship landed next to the house.
Outside the window a guy in a helmet shouted up at me, "I need to make repairs!"
I waved and put on pants.
When I got outside he said "I need tools. Do you have hydrospanners?"
I nodded and opened the garage.
He saw my lathe and asked, "Do you turn?"
"In fact I do. Pens mostly. I find it relax...."
"My entire home world is dedicated to turning pens."
"Really?"
"Yes. I'm a Mandrel-orian."
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I heard about these guys. They're fanatics... they only use mandrels... absolutely no Turning Between Centers (TBC). Something to do with a planetary civil war eons ago between factions. War raged for centuries, regimes were toppled, billions died. Definitely a subject to be avoided.

I heard myself ask "So why don't you guys Turn Between Centers?"

His hand moved to his hip.

Sometimes my mouth doesn't get the memo from my brain.
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The Problem
I explained I love my mandrel now. But early on I had two recurring difficulties: knowing how much to tighten the nut and the mandrels bowing over time.
These problems seemed to cascade into other areas and kept me from enjoying pen turning.

The Solution
He said, "Throw the tightening nut away. Use a Mandrel Saver instead."
https://www.pennstateind.com/store/PKMS2SET.html
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He explained it's faster and better. "This is the way."

I offered the Mandrelorian a Dr. Pepper but he refused.

He said his people like using a mandrel because they can assemble pens on the lathe and begin visualizing the design's proportions more easily.
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I told him a lot of people on the Interstellar Association of Penturners (IAP) like to Turn Between Centers and are doing amazing work.
But he was not open to the idea. Oh well.

Summary
The Mandrelorian made some good points even if he was a bit inflexible.
I handed him the hydrospanners and he noticed the handle was marked in sharpie with "Property of Corellian Shipyards."
I explained I got them on ebay and asked, "Do they take that kind of stuff seriously on Corellia?"
"Yep," he said, "Pretty seriously."

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Just a note that one of the problems with most commercal "included with the pen kit" bushings is the relaxed quality control and "minor out of tolerance" bushings. (But custom bushings are expensive :oops: but worth it. :).) The same problem that plagues normal bushings also plague the general run of the mill mandrel saver - relaxed tolerances for the purpose of faster production and lower cost. Most "new to pen turning" do not know or recognize this problem, so it does not seem as much of a problem as it is.

Now to the REAL MANDREL-ORIUM of Mandrel Savers: Whiteside and Woodpecker. More expensive, but they give the consistent precision that comes with TBC. Experienced turners and calipers will bear this out. If there is a problem, it is less likely to be with those two brands, and this will let the turner focus on the job to be done. There may be another or two precision made Mandrel-oriums, and if so, I apologize for leaving them out.
 
walshjp17 said:
Can't wait for the sequal staring Obi Wan Pen Kenobi, with appearances by Jaba the Hut Polish and Kylo Pen (AKA Pen Solo)
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Obi Wan Pen Kenobi, or Obi Wan Penobi?
Please don't forget Princess Lathe-a, DRO2, Jar Jar Bushings, Admiral Drawbar, Anakin Waywalker aka Dial Indivader. That was fun, thanks for getting the creative juices flowing
 
I am still frustrated with bent rods on pen mandrels. You buy them new in the woodworking store, put them in your taper for the first time, and you can see the tip circle around.

Yes, I use a mandrel saver.

As soon as I am vaccinated, I plan to go to the local McMaster-Carr, buy some straight "D" size drill rod, cut off a piece with a hacksaw, and see if it fits as a replacement for the rod in an adjustable mandrel.
https://www.mcmaster.com/8893k202

See:
https://www.penturners.org/threads/warped-mandrels-grrr.162455/#post-2055965
https://www.penturners.org/threads/warped-mandrels-grrr.162455/
 
penicillin said:
I am still frustrated with bent rods on pen mandrels. You buy them new in the woodworking store, put them in your taper for the first time, and you can see the tip circle around.

Yes, I use a mandrel saver.
Click to expand...

Clearing up a technicality: In its originality, TBC was not introduced on this forum as a response to bent mandrels, but as a way to finish blanks (oily ones) without having to use bushings. The separating bushings from the blanks caused the CA to lift up from the finished blank on the ends as the bushings broke away, particularly with oily blanks, and created a foggy-blush-smoky-cloudy spot on the end.

And a 2nd note on this subject: TBC preceded mandrel savers by several years. Mandrel savers still have the higher percentages of problems as you mentioned.
 
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leehljp said:
The separating bushings from the blanks caused the CA to lift up from the finished blank on the ends as the bushings broke away, particularly with oily blanks, and created a foggy-blush-smoky-cloudy spot on the end.
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Yes. Grrr! An otherwise beautiful pen with a ruined finish. I was getting visible "bubbles" at the ends.

My mandrel saver was a sloppy fit. I would guess some are more precise than others, but mine was more like a stormtrooper when it came to accuracy. (The "target practice" scene cracked me up.) It would probably work better if it were precision forged from Beskar, especially by "The Armorer" (Emily Swallow). I had to leave the Mandrel-orean order since I have not only been seen without it, but I liked it. I do still put it on from time to time for rough rounding blanks before properly squaring them.

Great write up! I look forward to the glue wars saga.
 
My frustration isn't with the mandrel saver, at least not yet. My frustration is that the mandrel rods are not always straight, sometimes even when you just bought it and haven't used it yet.
 
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