[IlliniBone]

Looking to get into the turning hobby. I went and looked at this Rockler lathe on sale last week and seems like a nice built little lathe. Does anyone have any experience with it? Just looking to turn pens and other small items...

http://www.rockler.com/excelsior-mini-lathe

Also, other than buying the lathe, tools and pen blanks/inserts...what else do I need to get started? I assume glue, boring drill bit. I have a miter saw to cut the blanks in half but no drill press...can I get by with a cordless drill or should I only be looking to buy blanks that are pre-drilled? Any good books, movies that I should look into?

Thanks for the help!

Andy

 

[Dave Paine]

Congratulations on the new lathe.

Lots of earlier threads to look at.

One example.

http://www.woodworkingtalk.com/f6/getting-started-56449/

If you have a scroll chuck and purchase a drill chuck for the tailstock you can drill the pen blanks on the lathe.

I do not turn pens, but I drill pepper mills on my lathe. I have a floor standing drill press, but it only has 4 3/8in quill travel and the pepper mills are much longer.

 

[ddiamondd]

Make sure you get a face shield!