First attempt at Acrylic.

[nytefaii]

OK, so I am new to pen turning in general. I have made 5 wood pens, and this is my first acrylic pen.

The blank is an alumilite casting from Charlie.
The kit is a cigar kit from Berea.

Please give any feedback, as I am still learning.

I did make a mistake and have the tubes on the mandrel backwards, so after pulling the tubes off to assemble the pen, I had to put them back on to touch-up the edges for the correct bushing sizes. Regardless, I still need practice on getting the bushing edges turned correctly.

I am however happy with the finish.

I wet sanded with MM, and used some scratch remover and Plast-X polish.

I still turn with a bowl gouge as I haven't learned to turn with a skew yet, so I'm a little slow at turning still.

It is also is a tad OOR, but I'm not sure why? It was a brand new B size mandrel from Berea with their bushings for their kit. I had never had an OOR slimline from the A Mandrel I previously had.

 

[spiritwoodturner]

Kinda hard to tell from the pics, but the finish looks good! I'm not a fan of the "pregnant guppy" look, I like the lines that the kit provides, but that's entirely personal taste.

Like me, you need to work on your pics. There's a lot of info here on photography, although I haven't made a breakthrough in that regard yet.

I really like the "molten metal" type blanks, though. Pretty!

Dale

 

[nava1uni]

The OOR might be due to having the brass nut too tight and it flexes the mandrel. You should shoot your picture in daylight against a gray background for a better picture. The pen looks good, but if you made it a bit thinner throughout it would have a better balance.

 

[NewLondon88]

You're off to a good start! The finish looks good from what I can see.
A bit thick for my taste, but some love a thicker pen, too so it depends
on who you make it for. Like you, I use the MM and PlastX, I like the
finish it gives me. And I still can't use a skew!

 

[ed4copies]

I personally don't like the "fat" look. But, I MAKE some. Arthritis sufferers can't clench very well, they will appreciate the "beef" of your pen.

Good start, keep moving up!!

 

[nytefaii]

Thank you all very much for your comments and suggestions so far. The next day off I have, I will turn another one and try to shape it to the bushing sizes. I plan on turning one of the dragons breath blanks from Charlie, but I didnt want to make that my first one and waste it, lol. :redface:

I will also work on taking some photos outside to get some better light and less glare, maybe that would help.

Thanks again,
Chris