Thread: First Go at Black Featured Acrylic

top job Barry

Another top looking pen Barry

The few I have done I found that the tool had to be very sharp and did take a lot longer than wood. Like your kits as well

Great results! I am about to try my forst acrylic, did you use normal spindle gouge or scraping tools?

Like skew once its round i scrape with acrylics . I get a 400+ finish scraping and no chatter .

Barry, another good job, you didn't mention the awful smell that goes with acrylic, did you use "Brasso" to polish it,? Amos

Originally Posted by Braveheart

Great results! I am about to try my forst acrylic, did you use normal spindle gouge or scraping tools?

Although I learnt to woodturn when I was 15 years old as an apprentice pattermaker I wouldn't know one one type of gouge from another. I only have one gouge and it was made by Marples Bros. of Sheffield England over 50 years ago.

My turning tools are over 50 years old and apart from the gouge all my chisels are made from old files with the teeth ground off and all the handles I made myself and used old kingpin bushes as ferrules. The only other chisel I use for turning pens is a skew chisel also made from an old file with the teeth ground off.

I use this as a scraper.

The only other chisel I use is when I make another type of pen where I have turn a narrow recess in the blank I made a chisel from a round file about 1/2" dia into a scraper.


I roughed it down with the gouge close to the finished size and then finished with the skew as a scraper.

Here is a pic of a couple of my chisels.

Originally Posted by Woodenink

Barry, another good job, you didn't mention the awful smell that goes with acrylic, did you use "Brasso" to polish it,? Amos

Hi Amos

I did mention in my post it was very fumy whilst turning and it was a little overpowering.

I didn't have any Brasso so i finished it to 400 grit and then just hit it with EEE and it came up pretty good.

Originally Posted by Simomatra

Another top looking pen Barry

The few I have done I found that the tool had to be very sharp and did take a lot longer than wood. Like your kits as well

Hi Sam

Yes I had to sharpen the chisel about three times while I was turning it.

With Acrylics, I found that some are more brittle than others, for example the black and white speckled acrylic can easily chip off a white or black bit. Love your resourcefulness Barry, pretty clever in making those tools. Amos, p.s. I find that often I spend more time doing an acrylic than other pens and then some one comes along and says " it's only Plastic!!" that is a real downer. Amos

Thanks Barry, Very clever with the toolmaking. I have some similar that my Uncle made during WWII for his father out of files (I presume Army surplus..!) I still find they hold their edge better than my purchased tools. I'll post a pic if the acrylic works out...

brasso never heard of that with acrylic. I use car polish. So that interesting
thanks
Toni

I've found with acrylics that the finer you sand before hitting with EEE or any otyher cutting compound (BRasso, car polish, etc... they all do the same thing) the better.

The last pair I made, from the same acrylic, one was sanded to 400 grit and t'other wet-sanded to 1200 grit. Even after EEEing I can spot the difference, more "depth" in the polish.

I MAKE SURE the blank is warm before i turn using an incandesint lamp for a few while i make a cupa . I i sand to 1500 then use EEE then ( sorry neil ) use rustins burnishing cream . cums up like glass. Then its kid gloves when putting it to gether >should be in what you hate dropping the pen and scratching it before you even have it all together or after you put it down and it rolls of the bench.I use the lamp to warm the blank so it is less likely to shatter when turned .

Hi,

Good Work I like it.

I like the smell of Acrylic (is that wrong), I turned my first acrylic last weekend and was thinking that it did take longer the the others I had done in wood and it came out really crap , you can see through to the tube! I am unsure if it was just a bad blank that I purchased or operator error.


Will post pics on the weekend so you guy's and girls can give me an idea on what I did wrong.
Oops sorry for hijacking you thread.
Willy