Just Started Turning- Need Help!

[laurencelevin]

I started turning last fall and love it. I have tried to move into materials other than wood and have found that when I try acrylic or tru stone I chip it every time. It is getting frustrating wasting the pen tubes every time this happens. Any recommendations for me to try? Any special turning tools I should use on stabilized wood, acrylic, or tru stone?

Thanks!

 

[firewhatfire]

sharp tools for acrylic. I will go ahead and say the woodchuck penpro is worth what they charge for it. you can search on here and find out all you want to know about it and where to get it.

It works.

 

[jedgerton]

Ditto on sharp tools. I turn mine with a gouge to get close to final dimensions and then use a skew basically as a scraper to take it to final dimensions.

Make sure you are turning the blank as fast as you lathe goes (usually ~4000 rpm) and take very light cuts. On acrylic, once you get the blank rounded, you should be seeing material coming off in thin ribbons.

Summary, turn at maximum speed, sharp tools and light cuts.

John

 

[corian king]

Hello Just making sure you have sharpe tools for these materials is one key factor.
I do reccomend a carbide tip.I use the rotondo which is sold by a member here
name is wood-of-1-kind. he is a great guy to deal with. I use his tool for 90% of all my turning.
Happy turning!!
JIM

 

[jallan]

Hello and welcome. Sharp tools are the key. I also use a carbide tip tool as Corian King and have no trouble at all. Good Luck.
Jallan
www.cedarcreekcustolpens.com

 

[hunter-27]

No need to waste tubes, just turn all the material off and re use it.

 

[Hess]

along with the tools that have been mentioned I found rounding the blanks on a belt or disk sander helps with breakage. All I seem to turn now is Inlace, Acyclic, and Tur-Stone.
I love the Wood Chuck:biggrin:

 

[sfallsguy]

I started turning last fall and love it. I have tried to move into materials other than wood and have found that when I try acrylic or tru stone I chip it every time. It is getting frustrating wasting the pen tubes every time this happens. Any recommendations for me to try? Any special turning tools I should use on stabilized wood, acrylic, or tru stone?

Thanks!

No special tools, but in addition to the previous posts, I use a bandsaw to take the corners off. A belt sander on acrylics would do it, but I use the band saw - with the table set for a 45degree cut. Sure cuts down on the nasty cuts. And very very sharp tools is also the way to go. I don't turn at max speed, a couple of speeds below that, and with the corners knocked off and sharp tools you should make out OK. All the best,

John

 

[Lenny]

To add to what has already been said, work from the end of the blank towards the middle, especially at first. Cutting from the middle towards the ends of a blank is a recipe for blow-outs! DAMHIKNT

 

[Dan_F]

Not all "Acrylics" are the same. Inlace and "PR" are more brittle than traditional acrylics, hence more prone to chipping, with Inlace being the most difficult. I use epoxy to glue, and a Woodchuck carbide tool, but I have also used a standard roughing gouge, skew, or narrow round nose scraper successfully. I would start with the common acrylics, and work your way up to PR or Truestone. You can feel that acrylic is softer than the former when turning, there is a sense of a little give in the material. Sharp tools and a light hand are the keys. It doesn't matter much if you get a little of the chipping while roughing, it will come out if you are careful when turning down the rest of the way. Good luck.

Dan

 

[renowb]

Practice! Practice! Practice! And sharp tools as mentioned. You'll get there.

 

[tjseagrove]

I have found that not tightening the blanks to hard in the mandrel helps. It is tight enough to allow me to cut, but if it catches, the blank will stop and not chip out. Has saved me a few times and helps us newbies from causing too much damage.

Tom

 

[ed4copies]

These may help:
http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=ed4copies&aq=f