It's usually fairly easy to find somebody cheaper than Woodcraft,
some of their apparent higher price disappears when shipping is
calculated. Penn State has a pretty good reputation, the 3 tool set
looks like it's aimed at general turning. The 5 pc set looks like
its a little too light for general use; hard to tell for sure without
a size reference in the pictures. Woodcraft has some retail
(franchise) stores scattered around, might be worth checking your
yellow pages.
Pulling the chuck is easy. The secret is making a little gizmo to
keep the nuts from running away! A piece of wire with a bent end
will work, a fancier tool has a 5mm piece the nut will slide on & a
short blunt point to fit in the socket of the mounting screw. It's
also not a bad idea to mark the chuck & mounting flange so it'll
reinstall in the same position. Personally, I haven't found much
difference in different positions, still a possibility.
If you want to keep the chuck on, it's easy to make a center for
light woodturning. Find a bolt with a head about the size you want,
chuck it, face it off, leaving a raised center. Drill a couple of
holes to fit some short brads, press them in, points sticking out;
voila, custom center!
Roy
--- In 7x12minilathe@..., "wrlabs" <wrlabs@...> wrote:
Hi Roy,
Thanks for the response!
--- In 7x12minilathe@..., "roylowenthal"
<roylowenthal@> wrote:
Those little ones are primarily intended for "chip carving" not
lathe
use. The bigger ones look like a generic carving set, not a
lathe
set. Still, for small work, anything you can make work is a
suitable
tool. The size of the machine makes pen turning tools about the
right general size, here's what they look like:
No particular connection except as a satisfied customer of theirs
for
the last 30 yrs:-)
I've pretty much written off both those sets as an "educational"
expense" :-). Not completely useless, but not what I was looking
for.
I really appreciate the pointers!
Found what appears to be the same set for about $10 less at:
There is another set there that has a few more, one in particular
that
looks like it might do for small projects as well as pen turning too
(?):
That one is actually cheaper, not that I am willing to be penny
foolish again :-).
I found the pen kits today and tracked them down (to the site with
the
chisels).
Found a walnut piece today that might work for it, should be
interesting :-) to try to make one.
I really hate to pull the chuck off for this so I can use the wood
center since I am not going to doing a lot of wood stuff. Perhaps I
can make one that will fit in the chuck?!?
That one is too big for pen blanks and was actually too big for the
honey spoon too (cone engaged, teeth don't).
Thought about cutting the taper off the wood center that came from
LMS
so it might fit in the chuck, but I just don't know if that would
work
and I'd hate to ruin it :-/. Since it seems to be too big for
anything I'm doing, it is probably a moot point.
Yet another exciting adventure on the way :-) :-) :-)!
Thanks & take care, Vikki.
