How to Choose the Best-Looking Grain
After ripping your own pen-blank stock square, you don’t necessarily want to start cross cutting from an end of the…
7 Steps to making a Pool Cue Kit on your Midi Lathe
A lathe with a minimum of 32” Bed. Turning tools: Spindle Gouge, parting tool and 1” skew essential. The Turning…
How to Make a Watch Parts Pen Blank By Barry Gross
I chose to make this watch parts blank paired with Penn State Industries new Steampump Pen Kit as a really great Steampunk…
How to stop bending your mandrel
Instructions often state, “don’t over tighten the tailstock when mounting the pen mandrel between centers.” Problem is you don’t know…
Washer does double duty
When turning bottle stoppers and other projects where the outside diameter of the wood to the mating metal part is…
How to stop splatter
If you’ve ever visited another woodturner’s shop, nine times out of 10 the area behind the lathe is a disaster…
How to build a simple jig to cut pen blanks to length
For a quick and easy method for cutting pen blanks to length, build this simple jig. Make the base from…
Know Your Viscosity at a Glance
With numerous bottles of cyanoacrylate in the shop and aging eyes, it’s easy to grab the wrong bottle for the…
How to save your mandrels with equal pressure
When applying pressure to create friction and heat to cure a finish, it is easy to place the cloth on…
Is your Turning Tool Not Sliding Smoothly? How to Fix
In addition to supporting your lathe tools the top edge of a tool rest must be nick and dent free….
Working around blowout
No matter how careful you are or how sharp your drill bit, the bottom end of a blank being drilled…
Make a Tool and Supply Tray for your Lathe Bed
Keep your turning, sanding and finishing tools and supplies close at hand with a custom-built tray. To make the tray…
An Easy Way to Take Measurements at Your Lathe
We often need to take measurements at the lathe. Rather than constantly worrying about carrying a tape measure, simply use…
How to cut your pen blank with a table saw sled thin-kerf blade combination
If the table saw is your choice for cross cutting pen stock to length, consider this table saw sled and…
How to use a wrench or wood caliper to check the diameter
When turning bottle stoppers, bottle openers, and other projects where you want a specific diameter from one project to the…
Make an Inexpensive Threaded Headstock
To create your own threaded headstock, mount a piece of hardwood at least 1″ thick to your metal faceplate. Turn…
How to use a potato to keep glue in its place
Glue has a tendency to get on the inside of brass tubes when gluing them in blanks. That excess glue…
3 Tricks to make glue work for you
1. Keeping glue in its place with this tidy tray Minimize the mess – and frustration – when applying glue…