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Mini Metal lathe vs mini wood lathes - for pen turning

For small items like pens and stuff ... what does the group prefer ....
the high precision mini metal lathes or the mini wood lathes (ala Jet
and the Delta midi) ???
Thanks in advance.
Reply to
Makin Sawdust in So. FLA.
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I would never speak for the group, but a metal lathe is not good at curves, and all but the simplest pens require curves on the body to look right. If you really want to make only the "slim line" pens, then just make a special tool - like a mini horzontal mill - spin the mandril over a belt sander and repeat - you don't need a lathe and you don't need any lathe chisels to do that ' but, you won't have a lot of fun either. The whole point is to make by hand, to shape by hand, and to have a shape (of the pen) that feels good in the hand. Machine made uniformity is not the goal - I can buy machine made pens by the thousands, made of wood, for a few dollars each.
oh, and I started in turning by making pens on a Nova Comet, which is like a jet mini but (in my opinion) with better bearings

Reply to
William B Noble (don't reply to this address)

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