About Acrylics

[heritagebob]

Are acrylics eaiser or harder to turn than wood? Im new and still learning..

 

[bruce119]

Are acrylics eaiser or harder to turn than wood? Im new and still learning..

I would say the short answer is harder but after time can be easier. If your new start with wood to get a feel for your turning skills. Wood is much cheaper also.

There are ALL DIFFERENT types of acrylics. Some are softer some are harder more brittle you have to develop a feel for it. I find a 1/2 skew and use like a scraper go nice and slow works for me. If you get too aggressive it will chip and could blow up on you.

Now I like acrylics much better then wood when it comes to finishing and longevity. Woods can be a pain and can be sensitive to the environment. Acrylics are very stable and easy to finish. Actually with most acrylics no finish is necessary. Just wet sand with micro mesh up to about 2500 then polish with a plastic polish like Novus 2.

You could write a book on this subject and have 100 opinions and all would be different.

Practice, experiment have fun.
.

 

[ed4copies]

Acrylics are more dense than most woods.
Acrylics are usually uniform, no soft and hard spots.
So, they are more predictable than wood.

BUT, if you use brute force, instead of sharp tools presented in the correct orientation for optimal cutting---acrylic can shatter.

So, the punishment for inaccuracy is more severe.

Hope that helps, kinda. Watch the YouTubes in the IAP library. You will see YoYoSpin who turns them and I turn them---two completely different, but both successful methods!!

BTW---"Acrylic" is factory made and therefore nearly all the same. IF you meant "resin", this incorporates many more types of blanks and it is far more unpredictable---many are home made, HOW they are mixed DOES make a difference.

 

[airborne_r6]

As far as turning acrylic, for me it depends on the day, sometimes I blow up acrylics and sometimes I cut the wood too deeply. I don't think that they are necessarily anymore difficult but they are different. Make sure your tools are sharp and go slow.

Drilling however is more difficult. If your bit is dull or you try to drill too fast or if the bit gets clogged you will generate heat. Heat can do anything from nothing to causing the blank to blow up as its being drilled. I use water squirted into the hole to cool it, and retract the bit often to clear chips. I also do not drill all the way through the blank but instead cut the blank long, drill most of the way through and then trim the blank to length exposing the hole. Drilling all the way through will just about guarantee a blow out.

 

[Ulises Victoria]

To me acrylics are not harder, just longer. I may be doing something wrong, I'd admit it, but it takes about 4x times for me to turn an acrylic blank than a wooden one. Speaking of plain blanks. No inserts, celtic knots or whatever.

 

[heritagebob]

interesting answers,,, thanks all,,, great advice

 

[Haynie]

I ignorantly, I guess, started with acrylics. They are denser and force you to control your cuts. When I turned my first piece of wood it went so fast I had no idea what happened. Going from something dense like acrylic to something soft like Spalted Mango was like night and day.

My philosophy is just go and do it but keep a face mask on and your tools sharp. Wood shrapnel is nothing compared to an acrylic blank exploding.

 

[ed4copies]

When I started turning acrylics, I opined that NO ONE could turn a plastic pen in less than one hour. It REQUIRED patient, careful turning.


Yeah, well that was just one of MANY times I have been incorrect! Now, when I make the videos, there is proof of how long the turning takes--no MORE than 7 minutes, sometimes 3. Of course this is JUST turning and sanding---I DO buff for a final finish. But, I have certainly learned techniques that have greatly reduced "turning time".

You can too, just need a little practice.

When I did shows, I demonstrated turning pens at the show. Several times people asked how long it took to do a pen. My answer was, "Now, not too long!! But the first thousand or so took a lot longer!!"

There is no substitute for practice!!

 

[switch62]

I agree with all the previous posts.

Drilling can generate a lot of heat if you are too agressive or too slow. You can start to melt the swarf or the side of the hole and jam the drill. You need to drill in short bursts, about a 1/4" at a time, I do this with wood as well. Meduim to slow speed on the drill press. I've started to spray water on the drill bit and down the hole and this helps any heating problems. I also use brad point drills, when I can, as they seem to have no blowouts or only minor chipping at the hole on exit.

When rounding the blank on the lathe, I use very light touch until it is nearly round. The harder acrylics will chip more and you can hear it. Don't worry too much about it as the chips will be small and shallow (unless you're heavy handed) and will start to disappear once round.

I have found that once you get to round then most acrylics turn really well. You'll get really long ribbons of plastic and they will wrap themselves around the work piece, bushings and mandrel unless you have a dust collector on your lathe. I usually use a skew to get to near final shape and then a scrapper (lightly) to final shape.

Finishing is easy as there is no finish to apply (CA, ploy, etc) just sand wet with 400, 800, 1200 wet and dry followed by all grits of MM(wet), Brasso, car polish.

I've found that acrylics are slower to round and get to shape than most wood blanks (some burls can be a real pain) as you have to be less agressive. But they are faster to finish than wood. So it works out taking about the same time.

I'd say acrylic is no more difficult to turn than wood, and in some ways easier. You have to watch out for different things. Try it you'll like it. My first (test) pen was an acrylic, and so were the next 6

TonyO