Live center for pen making

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Centuria WI
I just bought my first lathe and want to give pen making a try. A book I grabbed at the library says the live center that it came with won't work for pen making but does not explain why and I can not see any reason why not. Any advice would be appreciated.
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Thanks
 

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Most (certainly not all) pen turners use what is called a mandrel. The mandrel is usually held in place in the headstock by the taper of the headstock. Your lather has either a #1 or #2 Morse taper. That live center you have fits into that Morse taper head. The mandrel will also fit into that head PLUS it will hold your pen blanks and bushings to be turned.
Now having said that there is a different way to turn blanks called "turning between centers" that does not use a mandrel but you still will glue the tubes into your blanks before turning. Then you use a 60 degree dead center in the headstock and a 60 degree live center in the tail stock.
You should take some time and study the two different methods. I think the way to go for a beginner is to use a mandrel first.

Question....what lathe do you have?
 
My mandrel uses a 60d live center to support it from the tail stock, otherwise the tailstock end would be flapping around a bit to loosely.

I know this because it said so when I read the directions, but I haven't actually turned any pens yet (lots of other stuff... but no pens).
 
I have a HF lathe. I didn't want to lay out a bunch of money until I get a better idea of what I want and need. I have a pen mandrel with a #2 morse taper. What I am wondering is if the live center that came with my lathe will work or if I need to get something g else like a 60 degree live center before I start. This book made it sound bad to use what came with the lathe but did not explain. Looks to me when I put it up to the pen mandrel that it should work. I should just try it but I didn't want to damage something. Probably just being overly cautious.
 
Chuck,

The short answer is yes, you should be able to use your live center with a mandrel to turn a pen, but I wouldn't. First of all if you turn many pens, the divot on the end of the mandrel will wear a ring around the tip of the live center making it less effective. The other reason is that the live center will bend the mandrel if you torque it down too tightly.

I recommend you get a mandrel saver. Every pen kit vendor has one on their sites. They cost less than a traditional live center. Here's a link to PSI's model but like I said everyone has one: https://www.pennstateind.com/store/PKMSTS2.html

Instead of riding on the point of the live center, the mandrel fits inside the mandrel saver. You do not use the brass nut on the mandrel. Just snug the bushing or spacer against the mandrel saver and tighten the tailstock. Pressure runs through the head stock, morse taper, spacers, bushings, pen blanks, mandrel saver, and tail stock. The mandrel keeps things lined up but won't bend if you over torque the tailstock.
 
Most (certainly not all) pen turners use what is called a mandrel. The mandrel is usually held in place in the headstock by the taper of the headstock. Your lather has either a #1 or #2 Morse taper. That live center you have fits into that Morse taper head...

Tom, the live center goes into the tailstock, not the headstock. Tailstocks also use a Morse taper. The 60 degree live center you see talked about on the pen forums is made to match up with the little 60 degree divot on the end of the pen mandrel. But as Steve mentioned above, it's pretty easy to overtighten the quill on the tailstock and bend the mandrel. (Even a very slight bend will result in an out of round pen.)
 
The centre that came with your Lathe will work with a mandrel but isn't ideal for the reasons already mentioned above. If you just want to turn a couple of pens to see how it goes & if you enjoy it before spending any more money then there shouldn't be any problems at all. Just be careful when you snug the centre up in the end of the mandrel, you don't need a lot of pressure at all & as someone has already said overtightening the tailstock will bend the mandrel.
If you turn a couple of pens & decide it is something you want to do more of then look at buying a mandrel saver.
 
The centre that came with your Lathe will work with a mandrel but isn't ideal for the reasons already mentioned above. If you just want to turn a couple of pens to see how it goes & if you enjoy it before spending any more money then there shouldn't be any problems at all. Just be careful when you snug the centre up in the end of the mandrel, you don't need a lot of pressure at all & as someone has already said overtightening the tailstock will bend the mandrel.
If you turn a couple of pens & decide it is something you want to do more of then look at buying a mandrel saver.

Great advice, Martin. :thumb:
 
you should be able to use your live center with a mandrel to turn a pen, but I wouldn't. First of all if you turn many pens, the divot on the end of the mandrel will wear a ring around the tip of the live center
The tip of the tailstock live center will still wear down. If used dedicate it just for pens and replace for other turnings. Otherwise, follow advice given.
 
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