Knowledge You Can Build On — Est. 1998
turning acrylic
eliot feldman
I've been turning acrylic pens recently. Very satisfying. But I find that it takes me forever to turn them whether or not I use a spindle gouge, a bedan, a skew (favorite); the tool doesn't seem to matter much. And they definitely are sharp. I mean, compared to turning nearly any kind of wood, it just goes on and on. Is there some kind of trick here? What am I missing. please?
Re: turning acrylic
john lucas
Well I find that if your getting a good bevel rubbing cut it simply won't cut deep. If your getting good curls then just keep at it. If you force the cut on plastics you get chip out which is much harder to get rid off.
Re: turning acrylic
David Walser
Have you tried using a negative rake scraper? Craft Supplies USA recommends negative rake scrapers for turning their acrylic pen blanks.
Here's a link to their instructions:
https://www.woodturnerscatalog.com/docs/turning_plastics.pdf
Re: turning acrylic
Steve Worcester.
I have turned acrylic in both pens type blanks and cast Alumilite. It is slower for sure, and depending on the type of plastic, can be slower.
For hollowing, a drill first and then use whatever tools you have. They all work, but hunters carbide works better. You can't really take big bites anyway.
Spindle turning like pen blanks, a skew or a side ground gouge on the site and using the wing with a peeler cut works well.
Re: turning acrylic
John K Jordan
Eliot,
I've never turned an acrylic pen but I've turned plenty of plain acrylic, for example:
I used a skew and and a spindle gouge on the finger tops here, sanded to very fine (micro mesh) or less fine for either gloss or matte finish, no polishing.
I used Thompson spindle gouges ground on the Tormek and honed to a mirror finish razor edge. I don't remember it taking an especially long time to cut, although it needed more care than wood. I did find the plastic softened if I got too aggressive so I stuck to making shavings. The shavings did tend to be continuous and collect in a rats' nest so I had to stop and cut them away occasionally.
The acrylic certainly was a LOT quicker to turn than brass and aluminum like that shown in the same picture! (cut with the same tools)
I'm wondering if your tools are sharp enough. What is sharp enough to cut wood cleanly wasn't sharp enough for acrylic (for me). Maybe that's why the Hunter cutter was described to work well.
JKJ
Re: turning acrylic
Eliot Feldman
Your turnings look exceptional.
My issue isn't all that serious. My tools are exceedingly sharp. I just found it a bit strange that the acrylic seemed to take longer than any wood I have ever turned.
Isn't the Hunter tool carbide? An edge on carbide does last longer than HSS. But HSS, properly sharpened, is sharper. I even believe that ordinary carbon steel takes an even sharper edge that HSS.
