# Kitless Mandrels



## Talfalfa33 (Jan 26, 2013)

Hello to everyone,

     I am thinking of trying some kitless and I'm not really into fountain pens and neither are most of the pens that I sell. I do like the roller ball that I've seen posted. Now what I am asking is, since i do not have a metal lathe, what is it that you guys use for holding the blank after drilling the blind hole. I am after to try several different sizes of internal holes. So come on guys and gals, let me know what you use and why. Or what is your process of getting the task done and finished. I've looked at the blind mandrel at PI and it only covers only 7 and 8mm tubes but I'm not too keen on the silicone expansion tube that holds the blank. In my thinking, it would be fine for the 7mm due to the close fit, but go to an 8mm, and your allowing more space for it to bounce and chatter as its running. This is all very close to the game call mandrels. First couple that I did, turned real snooth, but after that, I ran into alot of bouncing and breaking of the blanks. 
   So any possible suggestions would be very helpful.

Thanks


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## KBs Pensnmore (Jan 27, 2013)

Check out collet sets, Bealls do a good one, as do PSI I believe.:biggrin: They grip the round pen blank on the outside, requiring no mandrel, drilled in the center, turned on the outside, everything should be concentric.
Kryn


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## Rodnall (Jan 27, 2013)

Rick Herrell also makes pin chucks. http://www.penturners.org/forum/f172/custom-made-penturning-tools-accessories-92501/


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## Leviblue (Jan 27, 2013)

Rodnall said:


> Rick Herrell also makes pin chucks. http://www.penturners.org/forum/f172/custom-made-penturning-tools-accessories-92501/



+1 for Rick. I ordered the one for a Jr Gent pen.


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## leehljp (Jan 27, 2013)

Agree on pin chucks (Rick H) and collet sets with a set of HF punches for sizing.

Transfer Punch Set - 28 Piece

Either Beal or PennState for collet chuck and then look on ebay for a set of ER-32 collets, inch or metric. Look close on ebay as there are some very expensive ones but the under $100 range are More than adequate.

Inch set here 

Metric set here 

There are others, just search "ER32 collets."

I have and use the metric sets and from watching what others have, it seems to me that the majority of collet set uers, use metric ones.


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## lorbay (Jan 27, 2013)

I have a metal lathe in addition to my wood ones, so I make all of my custom mandrels to suit what I am making.
You can see them here.

Lin.


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## WHartman (Jan 27, 2013)

Leviblue said:


> Rodnall said:
> 
> 
> > Rick Herrell also makes pin chucks. http://www.penturners.org/forum/f172/custom-made-penturning-tools-accessories-92501/
> ...



I ordered two pin chucks from Rick based on drill bit size for some kitless pens that I'm doing and they work great!


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## cnirenberg (Jan 28, 2013)

You can turn both aluminum and brass on a wood lathe.  I made some up a while back and when I did get a metal lathe, I ended up makng up some more.  Here is a pic from the IAP site.  I think Justin made these,  liked his style so much that I ended up "borrowing" it for some of mine.  Turn the working side to ID of drill hole with a step forthe thread you ar using, then step up to the final D of the pen.  I ended up using some old brass bolts for mine.


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