# Closed end pen mandrel question



## TexasTaxi (Mar 28, 2011)

I looked in the library and also did a search ... neither led me to an answer.

I've got a pretty simple idea, in my head, for a pen, with both ends closed. It would start with a rollerball kit and end up with no exposed metal or plastic, showing. I know what I want to do, but can't figure out how to hold the wood pieces to turn them with a closed end. Is there a mandrel you can buy to do this, or do you have to make something?


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## bgio13 (Mar 28, 2011)

You can purchase closed end mandrels from here http://www.arizonasilhouette.com/Closed_End_Pen_Mandrel.htm
or do a search for "pin chuck". I am no expert, but I beieve that is what you are looking for. Hope this helps,

Bill


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## Whaler (Mar 28, 2011)

I use the closed end mandrels from Arizona Silhouette and swear by them. A little spendy but if taken care of they should last forever.


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## lorbay (Mar 28, 2011)

There are quite a few articals in the library on closed end pens in 2010 and 2009. here is one on a pin chuck.
http://content.penturners.org/articles/2008/pinchuck.pdf

Lin.


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## TexasTaxi (Mar 28, 2011)

Yep, those are what I need. Thanks!


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## MartinPens (Mar 28, 2011)

I got the closed-end mandrels from AS. Just spend the money - they are worth it. I use them all the time and it's much less hassle then the pin chuck I made.  JMHO

I recently made a pen starting with a rollerball kit and leaving no parts exposed. There is an article in the Library on it - Closed-end No Black Ring - or something like that.  Look forward to seeing what you come up with.

Martin

Sent from my iPad using Forum Runner


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## TexasTaxi (Mar 28, 2011)

Martin, I'd read that article before ... just forgot about it, but that's almost exactly what I'm wanting to do. 
Looking at your avatar, it seems that you've already mastered the idea that's still in my head! :wink:


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## PTownSubbie (Mar 28, 2011)

Give this thread a read. It is exactly what you are looking for and at a reduced price!

http://www.penturners.org/forum/showthread.php?t=77258


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## TexasTaxi (Mar 28, 2011)

PTownSubbie said:


> Give this thread a read. It is exactly what you are looking for and at a reduced price!
> 
> http://www.penturners.org/forum/showthread.php?t=77258


 
I'm not sure I have the skills to drill the rod.


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## dow (Mar 29, 2011)

What you need are some pin chucks.  Read this: Article 1, and this: Article 2 (thanks for the articles, Don!).  In the first article, at the bottom of page 3, is a link to this article, which is what I did.  I think I'm out about two bucks for bolts and cold rolled rod and a little time.  Turned the pin chuck down with a file and my wood lathe.

Good luck with it.  Turning closed end changes everything.


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## drgoretex (Apr 10, 2011)

The pin chucks are of course the most stable, especially for the pens using brass tubes.  Another option to consider is sinple jam chucks.  If you have a collet chucking system (can pick up fairly inexpensively at PSI I believe) all you need a length of 3/4 hardwood dowel, and you can turn whatever size jam chuck you need, even with stepped diameters for the pens with tapers to them.  Cheap, works well enough.

Ken


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## monophoto (Apr 10, 2011)

You can buy either closed-end chucks (designed for specific pen tube diameters) or pin chucks.  

Or you can be clever and make your own.  I've never made a pin chuck but from what I've seen, it can't be that hard.  But I have made a closed-end mandrel.  

Standard pen turning bushings are designed for use on a 1/4" mandrel shaft.  I used a piece of 1/4" x 20 tpi 'all thread' that I mounted in a Jacobs chuck in the headstock as my mandrel shaft.  I used a small piece of HDPE that I drilled and tapped at 1/4" x 20 tpi as a spacer.  I turned the outside diameter of this spacer to match the internal diameter of the pen tube.  So with a turning bushing at the chuck end, and the plastic spacer at the other end, both ends of the blank were centered on the mandrel.  I drilled the hole in the blank deep enough to hold the guts of the pen (I had previously made a pen from the same kit and could simply measure how far the internal mechanism protruded into the barrel.  After mounting the blank on the mandrel, I used the tail stock to hold it in place while I did the turning and finishing.  Obviously the live center has a tendency to bore a divot into the end of the barrel, so I had to part off the end of the blank and spot sand/finish that end off the mandrel.


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## PenMan1 (Apr 10, 2011)

I completely agree with Martin. I have a number of shop made pin chucks. Each require a bit of time and patience to "rig" for use (usually, a good bit of time to locate or remake the lost pin).

The AS closed ends are simple and fast to tighten and insert, painlessly into a collet chuck. With all the different sizes that Bill and Ed offer, it opens up a wide variety of kitless designs. I like them a lot, and see them as great time savers.


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## ldb2000 (Apr 10, 2011)

I turn some of my closed end pens with jam chucks as Ken suggests . Simply turn a a piece of wood to fit into your tubes tightly and "Jam" it into your tubed blank , a collet chuck works best for this but a scroll chuck works just as well . 
If you have a collet chuck and a good selection of collets you can also turn down one half of your blank to size then flip it around in the chuck then turn the other end to size . This is the method I use to turn all my metal and acrylic pens .


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