Want to get into pen making?

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Last time I looked, the Jet Pen Lathe was selling for about $139.00 and a Jet Mini can be had for no more than $199.00 and as low as $159.00. This, in MHO is a no brainer. I have used both and OWN the Jet Mini. The ONLY thing you can do on the pen lathe and again in MHO Not AS WELL as on the Jet Mini is turn pens. The Other Bruce

I have the Jet pen lathe. The tool rest is cheap and the weld can break easy. The best bet is to go with a mini lathe. I also have a mini and really like the way it works. I'd say go for the mini lathe. Even though I am not happy with Jet's customer service at the moment, I still bought the Jet mini lathe, it seems to be made strong and an extention can be purchased later if the need arises to mak longer items.

If you have a drill press, you might consider making it into a vertical lathe (cost less than $10.00) and saving for a full size lathe.

Turning is addictive and you will eventually take the plunge.

Deb

Grab the Harbor Freight lathe for about $180 (on sale). It is sturdily built and, unless you stubbornly refuse the temptation to turn anything larger than a pen or bottle stopper, will allow you to turn up to 12" diameter. It's an ugly green but looking at my pens it's hard to tell that I made them on an ugly lathe with cheap tools.

While you are there, grab their $40 lathe tool set and start off with a good basic set of turning tools. I've since added a Sorby oval skew and a couple home-made scrapers but that was after the lathe had already paid for itself in pen sales.

If you do not have tools to cut and drill pen blanks there are suppliers who will sell these to you until you do have the (time / tools ). The key is to get started. If you have the time, you can both cut and drill the blanks by hand, too using tools commonly found in even the simplest of home shops for under $50 total. Again ... the pen can't count and doesn't know you used cheap tools.

Bill

Went to a recent Jet overstock sale. The Jet pen lathe was $59 still in the box.

Jim

This is the one I own.

But, go to their home page and type the word 'lathe' in the search box. They actually offer quite a few to choose from including a benchtop model for under $100 and a 'pro' model for about $1,900.00. Please note that, although my machine allows for 12" diameter over the bed, its lowest speed is 600 rpm and that's a bit much at first.

Bill