I did have one question for those of you who do acrylic a lot- Do you put something on it after finishing it to reduce the smell? I turned this Saturday night and I can still smell that special acrylic stink.
I'm no expert, having just completed my 20th pen, which happened to be an acrylic, and my 3rd acrylic pen overall. I'd rate it my best pen so far. I ground he edges of the blanks on a disc sander to reduce some of the roughing-to-size work required. The smell was terrible. After turning, I had a really smooth blank, and I did not notice the smell. I can usually smell any little smell, but the finishing seemed to eliminate it.
I've tried to spend a lot of time trying to master the skew -- getting the best possible surface prior to any sanding. I very lightly wet sanded with a 220 foam-filled sanding pad, followed by another light sanding with a 320 pad. I bought pads at Lowes, and then cut them into smaller, more usable sizes. If you have a bandsaw, you can easily cut these pads and the edges look like they came that size. Next I used a dedicated set of Micro Mesh pads, just using them for plastics. I do have another set for wood. I used all pads up thru the 12000 grit, with plenty of water, and I wiped the blank of the milky looking "slurry" after each pad. By the time I got to the last pads, there was very little material getting mixed with the water. After this, I used HUT plastic polish on a very thin piece of flannel cloth (an old pillow case cut up into 2" X 3" pieces). I usually use paper towels on wood to avoid catches and injuries, but I wanted to avoid using anything that seemed abrasive in the final steps of the finishing.
The recipient of this pen was convinced that pen blank was molded in the final shape and with the glossy finish. I'll try to post a picture -- I did take one before giving it away.
I ws never sure I'd like the acrylics or other composite blanks very much, being a woodworker for 40+ years. I've chaned my mind in the past few months since I bought my lathe.
