Greetings from Southern California!

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Priusjames

Member
Joined
Jan 1, 2014
Messages
33
Location
Orange County, CA
Hello, all-

I've never turned a pen in my life.

I've been hacking at all kinds of wood with wood accessories on and off since about 11 years old...shifting to and from ham radio, photography, vinyl/printing and teaching both sailing and emergency response to the local university community.

I'm transitioning to retirement now after 25 years at that university, woodworking has been calling my name. I got the "build a clock" bug recently, and now that the woodworking gear (as it were) is out in the open I think I'll give a few pens a "whirl". Have learned much already, reading around the site...thanks!

I'm a Shopsmith guy, Shopsmith-specific tips and tricks appreciated via PM or thread. Am on the lookout for a used small/bench lathe, too. I have extra Shopsmith Mk V and parts for trade.

Thanks for sharing, in advance!

James
 
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First of all welcome from Idaho.

May sound stupid, but if you are looking for a cheap small lathe for a benchtop, check out the Central Machinery Variable Speed Mini-Lathe from harbor freight. I picked one up last month for $170 that included a 2 year free replacement plan. I've made several pens so far with it and I really like it so far. its electronically variable speed so you don't have to change the belt from pulley to pulley to change speeds, you just turn a dial. Only downside is you really don't know the actual speed as there's no digital readout, but I've found I don't need it really I just start with it in the slowest speed and get the corners rounded off then turn up the speed slightly. One other nice thing I noticed, it has a soft-start motor so it doesn't just start up at a high speed, it starts up slow.

 
Welcome James!!! You need to head up here!! KJ6KCS, sail out of Monterey when time allows and I work for HHS/NDMS/DMAT CA-6 in addition to being the Dir of Disaster and Emergency Mgmt for a couple of NorCal hospitals. Welcome to the other madness!!
 
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