Reddit reviews PSI Woodworking Products TM32 1/2-Inch Drill Chuck with #2 Morse Taper Arbor (1/2" 2MT)

The taper is a 2. This is the one I bought. Works great.

Pen turning is an excellent hobby! For making pens, some things you'll need might include:

• pen blanks, a pen kit, and bushings for that specific kit
  
  
• a way to drill the blank to glue in the inserts. If you don't have a drill press, then you can drill on your lathe with a chuck, a face plate, and a way to hold the blanks like some pen jaws. If you do have a drill press, then to ensure that you're drilling vertically, some people use a pen vice
  
  
• Once the blank is drilled and the insert is glued in, you need to to trim it with a barrel trimmer
  
  
• then you put it on your lathe by putting the bushings on either side of the blanks, and sliding the whole thing on a mandrel
  
  
• Then you turn it, finish it, and assemble it. Some people use a pen press
  
  Note: Of course there are a million ways to do everything. I don't promote any of the links, they're just examples to show what the tools look like.

> The Lathe:

Sounds like you've got this well under control.

> The Tools:

There are very split camps on tools: replaceable carbide tips vs traditional tools. Personally I think both have a place, but I do feel it's best to start with traditional tools to learn the how and why tools work the way they do. My personal opinion is always to spend the real money on good tools. They don't have to be expensive, but the right tool of the right quality (sharp, of course) will make all the difference in the world. Every try to dig a post hole with a hand trowel? :)

Also don't feel bound by just one brand or type of tool...most of us have lots of tools!

You can go with carbide-tipped tools such as Easy Wood Tools, Simple Woodturning Tools, or other brands. You can make your own for a fraction of the cost to buy.

There are a few of good entry-level HSS sets out there for about $80, such as this frequently recommended set of Benjamin's Best. I also like Hurricane brand tools which I feel are excellent entry-level HSS tools for the money. Either of those would serve you well through the learning curve and a good ways into your turning career.

If you wanted to pick just two higher-end tools, I feel Crown's Pro PM are good for the price. I own several, they're nice, but the handles are a bit short for my knuckle-dragging frame! All you really need for the projects you listed is a skew chisel and a spindle gouge.

Lastly, you could buy some of the popular "buy it for life" tools like Thompson Lathe Tools or D-Way Tools. These are widely considered the upper end of turning tools with each tool running between $55-200 (handles sold separately). Many people who get serious about their hobby end up with these tools because the harder tool steels are more durable.


> The Bench Grinder:

The Rikon 80-805 is the most common good deal for a grinder. Occasionally some other Asia-import will pop up on the scene for a little while, but the Rikon is pretty predictable about going on sale. Also, it comes with two decent wheels to get you started; not all import grinders come with decent wheels.

Eventually you might want to invest in CBN wheels to replace the frangible wheels that come on the grinder, but that's probably down the road for you.

Lots of people use that grinder, I've not heard anything outright bad about it (although some people prefer one with more HP).

> Drill Press?

A cheap drill press will get you there just fine.

The most common alternative is to purchase a 4-jaw chuck, such as the Nova G3 (which requires the appropriate insert), and also a set of pen drilling jaws and a drill chuck for the tailstock. That lets you drill blanks entirely on the lathe (and with better accuracy than a drill press IMO).

The downside is that the 4-jaw chuck, insert, jaws, and drill chuck collectively will cost damn near $200, which is a lot more than a cheap drill press. The upside is that the chuck is exactly what you will need if you decide to get deeper into turning and want to try bowls, boxes, and other things. Many of us already owned or planned to own a chuck, so the only real cost addition was the pen drilling jaws and the drill chuck.

> Pen turning attachments

• Mandrel savers are a separate purchase.
  
  
• Be warned that barrel trimmers are not universal, they come in different sizes and some pen kits use a sleeve to up-size the trimmer to fit the larger tube.
  
  
• You can use epoxy or CA glue, whichever you prefer to glue tubes. If using CA glue, make sure you buy a spray bottle of accelerator so that you can zap the ends to prevent a dripping mess!
  
  
• Any general sandpaper from a home improvement store will work fine, don't need anything fancy or expensive. Quite a few of us purchased the $40 box from Klingspor's which is enough sandpaper to last me several years.
  
  
• A P100 filter dust mask is a good investment as well for safety gear.
  
  
• FINISH: If you plan to use CA glue as your finish, you need a different viscosity (thin) than what you use to glue the tubes (thick). This means you need to buy two different bottles of CA and look into a pack of MicroMesh sanding pads for polishing the CA finish.
  
  If you plan on using something else for the finish, make sure you buy what you need.
  
  
• SAW: You need a way to cut pen blanks and trim off excess waste. If you don't own any cutting tools that are sufficient for the job, a cheap miter box will do the job just fine. Make sure you clamp the box and the blank down well before sawing!

Don't sweat it, I have the same lathe. It's not some one off oddball, so you can find anything you want for it, just like the Jet mini's and stuff.

I have this chuck, these pen jaws, and this pen mandrel. Oh, and this drill chuck.

The chuck comes with everything you need to get started with bowls and such. All the other stuff I use for pens.

note, they are right about the mandrel, but if you want to drill the blank on the lathe, you'll need a jacobs chuck and a regular one. I got a cheap Grizzly and it works great on my harbor freight lathe(18x10)

http://www.amazon.com/Grizzly-H8049-6-Inch-4-Jaw-1-Inch/dp/B000M63176/ref=sr_1_6?ie=UTF8&qid=1451192165&sr=8-6&keywords=lathe+chuck

http://www.amazon.com/PSI-Woodworking-Products-TM32-Diameter/dp/B004CVJC20/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1451192244&sr=8-1&keywords=jacobs+chuck



Side note, some pen kits are fine to turn between centers but a mandrel is certainly the safest.

If you can part with $35 or so, I suggest this in the interim:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B004CVJC20/ref=oh_details_o01_s00_i00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

What I do is make a basic shape with the spindles on the lathe, then drill a hole lengthwise through the peice. Then run a bolt through the wood, so that it sticks out 1" or so on one side. Then clamp the bolt with this chuck.

Yeah, there's a hole in your piece, but it adds a little freedom until you have $180 to drop on a chuck.

See MS paint drawing below. The wood is a cutaway view.

http://i.imgur.com/TY8f5aJ.png

I don't have a drill press. I have had great success with the Barracuda Wood Lathe Chuck and Drill Chuck. This works very well. Still need to tap it out slowly to prevent build up inside the tube.