PKMBCM2 Turn Between Centers Mandrel System #2MT

Ive turned hundred’s of pens and other items, using these . They are very nice , when turning, a bunch of pens or items.

This is how penturning should always have been done. I can't believe we ever suffered through the mandrel system.GET THIS PRODUCT NOW. Whether you are new to turning pens, or a seasoned penturner, this product will make the process easier and more accurate. I have been through every incarnation of the mandrel system: a fixed length mandrel that needed "spacer" bushings, a colleted mandrel that could have its length adjusted, and finally a mandrel with the Mandrel Saver system. While each of those steps was an improvement over the last, none have been so good as this. The TBC system takes everything good about all other penturning systems, improves on it, and gets rid of all of the bad.I don't know where to begin. By getting rid of the mandrel, this system avoids the headaches of bent and flexing mandrels which give horrible results. No chatter, no oblong turnings, just smooth and consistent pen barrels. Secondly, because there is no mandrel, it is not so critical that your lathe's headstock and tailstock are exactly aligned. Yeah, you should get that as close to dead-on as you can, but minor inaccuracies disappear. This will make a $200 Harbor Freight lathe turn pens like a $1000 Jet lathe.Next, this set uses STANDARD pen bushings. In the infancy of turning between centers, you had to use a 60 degree live center on the tailstock, and a dead center on the headstock. Then, you had to purchase a special set of bushings that were $25, just because they had a chamfer in them to fit on those 60 degree points. With this system, all your existing bushings work just fine.I see two possible downsides to this set. Firstly, some turners like to mount two pen barrels on their mandrel at once. This is generally a bad idea (lots of flex in the mandrel with all that length), but that's just how some people prefer it. This system will only handle one pen barrel at a time.Secondly, if applying a CA finish or other messy finish, there's not a ton of room on either side of the pen barrel. This ups the odds that you will end up gluing a bushing to this product. Put a thin coat of wax on the business ends of this product, and that will mitigate 90% of this problem. Alternatively, use delrin finishing cones, which will not stick to your pen barrel or this mounting hardware.

I've used this, and the MT2 version now, to turn 3 or 4 dozen pens. This is easier to use than a mandrel, however it is not perfect. The post has a small gap on both sides where the bushings seem to get stuck. I added a nylon washer as a spacer and that problem was solved. I also have had the back of the live center come loose multiple times. I've tightened it back up with some snap ring pliers, but it would still work its way loose. I put blue loc-tite on the threads and that stopped the issue. I must have gotten a bad model, because the MT2 version does not do this at all.This removes the wobble you can get from overtightening a mandrel at the expense of only being able to turn one piece at a time. That's an acceptable tradeoff for me. I take each blank from rough to finished on this, and you have to be careful to make sure you keep your parts in the right alignment for grain/pattern matching, but it's not a big deal. The double bushings on a cigar pen barely fit, so watch out for that if you do that type of kit.

works as described keeps pen tubes concentric with tubes the most difficult thing is getting bushings tight so blank doesnt spin .shouldve bought yrs ago.. must have

These worked out great, stiffer then using the longer mandrel. Used to make a couple dozen small christmas ornaments

I tried a normal mandrel and a mandrel saver neither worked very well. Bent rods and slop in the mandrel saver meant crappy pens. This item works great and saves a bunch of headache. Multi tube pen kits take an extra few minutes since you have to do one tube at a time, but a few minutes for significantly better results seems like a good tradeoff.

I have tried 4 different bushings and none of them fit. The pin on this things is significantly too large. I even tried sanding the hole in the bushing to make it larger but after several minutes I gave up because I was still very far away from it fitting.

Arrived with some surface rust (shown after very light sanding) but the system is working well, and is much nicer to use than the mandrels I've been using.I highly recommend this to anyone turning pens, as it's much quicker to pull the pen off the lathe to examine it in different light, swap bushings for finishing cones. This more than makes up for not having both pen sections on the lathe at once.Finally of course the concentricity problems I was having are gone - my lathe was very close but the mandrels seem to exaggerate that. This removes that issue.

I like pretty much everything about this product. Some people have mentioned, though, that it is a bit tight when working the ends, not too bad, though, just need to move over a bit more, and that you can only do one part at a time. Anyhow the thing is very stable, so, making one at a time is faster and cleaner. So far, I think it is great!

This product is really well made. It takes a bit longer to turn a pen with 2 blanks, but the end results are worth it.

Great product

Great gear , gets rid of any vibration , may mean doing on piece at a time, but well worth it

Good quality