Plastics revisited

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BobRad

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Joined
May 13, 2010
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118
Location
Canada
I turned a few plastic pens last month with reasonable success and decided to get back to them and today they are not going too well

First I was using this http://www.pennstateind.com/store/CPR08.html to make a slimline

I got it down to size with a skew and had no problems, I was doing the final part with a Woodchuck since it does a polished finish and has done well on plastics last month. I was going slow, but felt it digging a little and then a whole section of the acrylic rips off the tube.

I switched to another slimline with http://www.pennstateind.com/store/WXAQB01.html

For some reason this material does not seem to like the skew and I used a Hamlet ASP2060 Steel swept spinlde gouge to rough it down and it worked incredibly well. Switched again to the Woodchuck and I have to go really, really slow to avoid chatter.

Just looking for some more hints. e.g. what speed should I turn at.
 
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Sep 24, 2006
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Tellico Plains, Tennessee, USA.
Bob,
I don't know that particular blank, but just looking at it and from the description, I'm guessing it's a little on the brittle side.... sharp sharp tools and light cuts and high speed should work... I do almost all of my plastics with a skew... I have a 1 inch flat skew and a 1/2 inch flat skew... wish I had one of the nice ovals I've seen, but I got what I got... and depending on which lathe I'm running, I turn around 1900 to 2200 rpms... I have a 1014 and 1442 and they have slightly different speed ranges.
 

toddlajoie

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Joined
Feb 6, 2010
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1,728
Location
Feeding Hills MA
I turn everything at the same speed, and to be honest, I haven't looked at the pulleys in a while and forget what it is, but it's somewhere in the middle...

I've also found that most of my blowouts SEEMED to be the result of inconsistent tube attachments (i.e. places where the tube wasn't glued to the blank. This was the main reason for me switching from CA Glue to Sumo/Gorilla glue (the expanding polyurathane foam glue, haven't tried epoxy yet..) The expanding glue, when used liberally, coating the inside of the blank AND the tube before assembly, causes a bunch of glue to ooze out of the blank (and some have had tubes moving out, but I have not had that problem) but I have not had a blowout since...
 

dbarbee

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Joined
Jul 6, 2010
Messages
15
Location
Kentucky
I'm new to pen turning myself and have recently started turning the acrylic blanks. What has worked best for me is using a sharp shallow gouge to rough the blank very close to finished size and then finish up with a skew on it side as a scraper. If i have to do any detail work, such as beads, I use the skew also. I seem to be getting good repeatable results with these tools.

David
 

toyotaman

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Joined
Jun 24, 2010
Messages
925
Location
NW Georgia (USA)
A sharp spindle gouge works great. Use it until you get close to the size you want. Then switch to a 1/4" parting tool.It works wonders on plactics.No grabbing at all.It just shaves it off and leaves it VERY smooth.Try this and you will reach for the parting tool everytime.
Toyotaman
 

PenMan1

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Joined
Jul 8, 2009
Messages
6,380
Location
Eatonton, Georgia
I turn PSI plastic with the lathe wide open. With the PSI "crushed" blanks and I also say a little prayer. It really is work for the Woodchuck, BUT I have found the PSI blanks to be much more brittle than other distributors, SO a very light touch with the Chuck is the ticket.

Additionally, I have found that the PSI crush blanks require me to use epoxy glue on the tubes. CA doesn't seem to hold the massive amounts of heat that comes off of them. Even with the woodchuck and 4000 rpms, I still dip the tool in water.
 
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