Hello from Iowa!!!

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Dblkdad

Member
Joined
Dec 17, 2011
Messages
2
Location
Iowa
Hello everybody my name is Bill and I am excited to be a part of the pen making community... I have yet to even turn a pen as I am currently building and stocking my shop and am anxiously anticipating the fun to come. I have 10 years of experience making pool cues in my previous shop. I am purcahsing a Jet 14x42 VS and grizzly milling machine, I currently have a hitachi bandsaw, Grizzly drill press, grizzly metal lathe and a jet cabinet saw... Is there anything I am missing or forgeting that you would recommend... Thanks in advance for any help, Bill... :)
 
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Bill,

Welcome to the sight. Looks like you have a better start than alot of did. Appears you have most of the tools already. If you don't have them already you'll need some tools specific to pen turning. Good sharp turning tools and a method to keep them sharp. Pen presses, finishing material, etc,etc.

A good source is the library, follow the link above. Great source of info.

Carl
 
As Carl outlined, it sounds like you got more than enough power equipment. Enough to make a LOT more than just pens for sure!

You don't need to get too carried away on turning tools right off the bat, just a few basic tools will have you well on your way and you can always add more at a later time. The most I use for turning pens are:

  • 3/4 inch skew (rarely)
  • 1 1/4 inch skew (religiously!)
  • 3/4 or 1 1/4 inch roughing gouge to round the blanks
  • And just added for the really hard trustone and such: round tipped carbide cutter
Also you'll need some sharpening tools/jigs that your comfortable with using. This can be simply some sharpening stones if you good with them to a grinder and sharpening jigs or all the way to some dedicated sharpening systems. It all depends on your skill at sharpening and how much money you have to work with.
 
Welcome Bill, from far west Kentucky, to the addiction, sometimes referred to as the vortex. Be sure to give the library a good bit of time. The link is at the top of the page. You will find an article called Library Index. This covers tutorials on about anything pen making you can think of. You will also notice that there are articles listed by year. Much good info there as well. When these fail to answer your questions, by all means post it here. I have never seen one go unanswered very long. You might also want to give this thread a good look. It has some very good info for the beginning pen turner; http://content.penturners.org/library/general_reference/Getting_started_in_pen_turning.pdf. Grab some wood, make some shavings and have fun all the while being safe.
Charles
 
I'm from south east Iowa a little town called Mediapolis... It's down by Burlington.... :)
 
Welcome!

Bill -- sounds like you have a great start! A lot of the things I learned the hard way -- well, just study the Library. I know you will do well, and thank you for joining us here.
 
welcome to the forum Bill! Lots of good folks and info here! If you have any questions, I'm sure there will be plenty members to chime in!

Happy turning!!
Dave
 
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