Turning without power tools?

[Wesley1234]

I have always wanted to make my own wooden fountain pen. Unfortantally, I cant really aford the tools. Do you think it is posible, rather, logical, to make my own pen without power tools? I have already drilled i hole thru a piece of oak firewood with a drillbit by hand,(no bitbrace) to see how dificult it would be. I have never had any woodworking experiance, and thus no tools. If i get the wood, and a pen kit, do you think it would would work if i just used the right size drill bits, knife, saw, and sandpaper? I am willing to work on it for a long time, and i want somthing i can do while around the house, like sanding it down while watching tv, for example. I could just buy one, but i want somthing that i made. Somthin that i can look at and know i made my self, and not someone else in a factory, even though th would probibly be much higher quality then mine.

 

 

 

I havent had really any woodworking exleriance, so im sorry if this idea, or somthing i said sounds really stupid. Also, please forgive me for any spelling errors i made, i don't have a spell check on my device, I will hopfully corect them tomarow on my computer. Thank you.

Edited July 13, 2009 by Wesley1234

[RLTodd]

I guess a person could build a treadle lathe.

 

 

[Wesley1234]

I have never heard of a treadle lathe before. I found instructions, but it looks alittle out of my leauge. Thank you for your advice though.

I may go see if someone i know has a drill or lathe i can use for a few hours.

[SincerelySpicy]

I have always wanted to make my own wooden fountain pen. Unfortantally, I cant really aford the tools. Do you think it is posible, rather, logical, to make my own pen without power tools? I have already drilled i hole thru a piece of oak firewood with a drillbit by hand,(no bitbrace) to see how dificult it would be. I have never had any woodworking experiance, and thus no tools. If i get the wood, and a pen kit, do you think it would would work if i just used the right size drill bits, knife, saw, and sandpaper? I am willing to work on it for a long time, and i want somthing i can do while around the house, like sanding it down while watching tv, for example. I could just buy one, but i want somthing that i made. Somthin that i can look at and know i made my self, and not someone else in a factory, even though th would probibly be much higher quality then mine.

 

 

Long as you can trim the pieces to the size that you want, and bore/drill a suitable hole to take the brass tubes, I dont see why one would not be able to whittle a pen without using a lathe. Would take considerable skill and patience to create a beautiful piece, but in my opinion, it could possibly create far more unique and spectacular designs than is possible with the constraints of pure rotational symmetry. I've seen some spectacular wooden sculptures done by woodcarvers and even hobbyists. Try it, it may be worth it.

Edited July 13, 2009 by SJM1123

[Wesley1234]

thank you, i have lots of paticence, so i dont think that would be a problem. Im not sure it will be quite as beautifull as some of the other work youve seen though. I was thinking i may try a very rustic look, just cut the sides with a knife, leaving it a little jaged, and not staining it, but i think im going to go with the more tradisional look, smooth, and stained. I fear the rustic style will just make me look kind of lazy, and it wouldnt be very comfertable.

Thank you for the advice.

Edited July 13, 2009 by Wesley1234

[richardandtracy]

Can I suggest that you look for some of these books in a library:-

http://www.lindsaybks.com/bks10/sbl8/index.html

http://www.lindsaybks.com/bks4/lbldg/index.html

http://www.lindsaybks.com/dgjp/djgbk/series/index.html

http://www.lindsaybks.com/bks/hasluck/index.html

They are all about making a machine shop for virtually nothing. The Hasluck book is an ideas book rather than an instruction manual. If you get into the right frame of mind, you'll not need money - you will see all sorts of junk and work out how to use it.

I think, if you are prepared to make the effort, you should be able to make a lathe from salvaged materials, and it may cost you up to $10 + a few manual tools. To give you an example, I made my wood fired aluminium melting furnace for the equivalent of $2, and spent another $2 on building sand, so I can sand cast most of the bits for the Gingery lathe. I got an electric motor out of a skip, rescued some nuts & bolts and salvaged some bent 'all thread' ('studding' to UK readers) that was at the side of the road. Those, together with a 2$ stick of High Speed Steel to use as a lathe tool once it's finished, mean that I have all the bits to make a Gingery Lathe. The belts for the drive may have to be bought, but if you go to an auto salvage yard, there are bound to be suitable belts there for almost nothing.

 

Most of the ancient lathes (pre 1900) used to be treadle lathes, where there is a flat rocking plate your feet press on and the treadle is attached to a crank which rotates a crank shaft. Then a belt increases the rotation speed by maybe 10x. It's frequently a good idea to convert such lathes to motor drive with an old electric motor - a salvaged old vacuum cleaner motor can do this as it'll be more powerful than your legs!

 

I hope this gives you some ideas...

 

Regards,

 

Richard.

Edited July 13, 2009 by richardandtracy

[Wesley1234]

Wow, thats impressive! Im actuialy heading down to an auto junk yard in a few weeks, so ill look around there for some parts.

I will look into those books to, they sound very helpfull.

Thank you so much for your advice!

(i wish i could say more for such a researched and informitive post, but i honestly cant think of anything else to say. I greatly appreciate your help!)

 

[richardandtracy]

Wow, thats impressive! Im actuialy heading down to an auto junk yard in a few weeks, so ill look around there for some parts.

I will look into those books to, they sound very helpfull.

Thank you so much for your advice!

(i wish i could say more for such a researched and informitive post, but i honestly cant think of anything else to say. I greatly appreciate your help!)

I think I really ought to warn you that most of my friends think I'm on the 'Lunatic Fringe' of DIY, and possibly you should temper your enthusiasm until you've read the books. There is a lot of hard work and effort involved in making any form of machine from scratch.

However... I always want to do it myself. For as little money as possible, and for nothing if I can.

 

Regards,

 

Richard.

 

[OldGriz]

Wow, thats impressive! Im actuialy heading down to an auto junk yard in a few weeks, so ill look around there for some parts.

I will look into those books to, they sound very helpfull.

Thank you so much for your advice!

(i wish i could say more for such a researched and informitive post, but i honestly cant think of anything else to say. I greatly appreciate your help!)

I think I really ought to warn you that most of my friends think I'm on the 'Lunatic Fringe' of DIY, and possibly you should temper your enthusiasm until you've read the books. There is a lot of hard work and effort involved in making any form of machine from scratch.

However... I always want to do it myself. For as little money as possible, and for nothing if I can.

 

Regards,

 

Richard.

 

UH!!!!, actually Richard we think you HEAD the Lunatic Fringe of DIY... in fact may have even started a whole new division of it :roflmho:

 

[richardandtracy]

UH!!!!, actually Richard we think you HEAD the Lunatic Fringe of DIY... in fact may have even started a whole new division of it :roflmho:

Oh dear. I didn't think it showed so much.

 

Regards,

 

Richard.

 

[ZeissIkon]

Another lathe option, even simpler to build than a treadle lathe, is the spring pole lathe. It's a little "different" to turn on, because the work rotates "backward" half the time, but you'll quickly adjust (in fact, if you have no turning experience, there'll be no adjustment) -- and it can be made from scrap lumber, with the centers being the only parts that absolutely even have to be metal.

 

I would, however, suggest that "no turning experience" combined with "homemade lathe" might make for a rather steep learning curve (and lathe chisels really are required, even with a spring pole lathe, and won't be terribly cheap -- though as a starter, you could get away with one gouge and one skew chisel). Wouldn't be a bad idea to take a wood turning class at a local community college or similar, if possible; using a skew chisel is very much a "feel" operation -- I picked it up quickly, but only one other boy in my high school shop class managed it at all (9 weeks of wood shop, including about four or five hours on the lathe). Sharpening your tools is also a skill you'll need to acquire, BTW...

[Ruaidhri]

Keep an eye out for the treadle from an old Singer sewing machine or similar - that will get you halfway to a really useable setup.

 

Most (if not all) of the tools you'll need can be ground from silver steel (drill rod in US, IIRC)

 

Don't forget the old standby - your electric drill

 

Bottom line is to remember that a basic lathe is NOT rocket science - just a goroundthinggy

 

A quick look at Geoff O'Loughlin's site here will give you an idea of what can be done with homebuilt equipment

 

The most important thing of all is Have Fun - it's much easier to just buy a pen in a shop, but the buzz is well worth the effort.

 

Cheers,

Ruaidhrí

[richardandtracy]

...A quick look at Geoff O'Loughlin's site here will give you an idea of what can be done with homebuilt equipment

...

Look Ruaidhri, can you stop that.

 

I feel inadequate enough without you pointing out yet more people who can do things I can't even begin to emulate.

 

 

Regards,

 

Richard.

 

[Ruaidhri]

...A quick look at Geoff O'Loughlin's site here will give you an idea of what can be done with homebuilt equipment

...

Look Ruaidhri, can you stop that.

 

I feel inadequate enough without you pointing out yet more people who can do things I can't even begin to emulate.

 

 

Regards,

 

Richard.

 

:D

 

I didn't say I could do it!!

 

Have to admit though I have it on my list of things to make - but with a few minor mods.

If I ever get around to it, I'll write it up

 

Cheers,

R

 

[pen alchemist]

Also, if you can get ahold of a cheap tabletop drill press, you can get a "vertical" lathe attachment from Grizzly toold for about $20. This was my first lathe setup and I even build a support for the drill press so that I could lay it down on it's side and it was more like an actual lathe. I got the drill press for $40 brand new from Harbor Freight (had a 50% of coupon) and of course the attachment for $20, so for roughly $60 I had a lathe. You're more likely to spend that much or more on lathe tools.

Grizzly also has a "lathe" that you can buy that simply has a place to clamp in a handheld power drill to use as the headstock. You could probably rig up something similar yourself as well. The thing you want to keep in mind is that you need to be pretty precise with the size, at least on each end where the pen body connects to the parts of the kit. You want it to be perfectly round, so just take your time with it and I'm sure you can do it if you put your mind to it.

Let us know what you come up with...

Oh, one more thing that I am in the process of building: I found some "vintage" plans online that show you how to build a lathe using connecting rods from an engine. It's a great idea, because the holes are already there and possibly the brass bushings, and they are the same length, so the tailstock and headstock will already be the same height. You can grab an old washing machine motor to power it for cheap I'm sure...