Source for white "quartz-look" AA blanks?

[JimMc7]

I use a lot of the Invisavue white blanks but would like to find an acrylic acetate blank with the same look. For whatever reason, AA is a lot easier to turn for me than Invisavue even with tools straight from sharpening. Woodcraft has the color I'm looking for in their "Opal" blank but it's a "swirl" rather than "quartz" look.

Newbie here so forgive me if I have the terms wrong!

Thanks in advance for any help!

Invisavue can be seen here:
http://arizonasilhouette.net/Berea Invisavue Pen Blanks.htm

Woodcraft's Opal can be seen here:
http://www.woodcraft.com/Product/2020297/21327/Acrylic-Pen-Blank--Opal.aspx

 

[ldb2000]

Here's a link to a white crushed pearl blank http://www.pennstateind.com/store/CPR08.html , I think this is what you are looking for in pattern but not sure about the chemistry .
Just wondering , what are you using to turn the invisavue blanks with ? I found them to be about the same as PR blanks , they turn very nicely with sharp tools and a light touch . I bring them down to size with a small gouge or my Hunter #3 then finish them with my skew .

 

[JimMc7]

Thanks, Butch -- I'll give those a try -- I believe those are what I'm looking for!

I use a roughing gouge until about 1/4" from bushings then a skew. I always use a skew with what in my "newbiness" I think is a "scraping" cut -- tool into the blank near the center line. This technique works great for me with PR, AA and wood blanks but not so well with the UA/Invisavue blanks. Looks like the UA is melting sometimes. I do have the best results when I've just sharpened the skew but edge doesn't seem to last very long (I've tried Thompson, Crown PM, Hamlet/Lacer and a 20+ year old Bahco skew). I use a Tormek to sharpen but I don't know enough to claim I'm getting a super sharp edge (although works for the other materials).

Unless buffing, I always run the lathe at 1800 rpm (Jet 1220VS, max VS, high-mid-range pulley). I read a couple of other posts which suggested slowing the lathe speed with the UA so I might try that, too.

Thanks again for the source info and UA turning suggestions.

 

[ldb2000]

Try a shearing cut untill your final passes then switch to the scraping cut for the last few passes .
I turn ALL plastics at full speed , in fact I turn everything at full speed . It works for me but ymmv .

 

[sparhawk]

woodcraft also has tofu-acrylic granite style and coconut-qaurtz style group 1 and they are on sale on the website .

 

[JimMc7]

Thanks! I'll take a look at those, too.

Update on my Invisavue turning: I turned the lathe speed down to 760 RPM and cutting nice ribbons off the blank when the skew is just sharpened. 2nd blank --- a bit better than at higher speed but not enough to get excited about. With no resharpening, I next used the same skew on an AA blank and it cut fine. I'm giving up on Invisavue for now. Brass tubes in white blanks are not all that "invisible" IME and too finicky for my poor skills. I certainly don't want to have to re-sharpen my skew 2 times for each slimline.

 

[brez]

Thanks! I'll take a look at those, too.

Brass tubes in white blanks are not all that "invisible"


Jim,

Many suppliers sell white, silver or black tubes for some of their kits. You might give them a try if the brass tube shows through your blank.

Mike

 

[JimMc7]

Thanks, Mike

I usually paint them but I was hoping to avoid that step with the Invisavue blanks. Black nickel tubes are ok with the other colors I've tried (burgundy, black and green) but the white blank needs a white tube IME.

 

[Rifleman1776]

Try ed4copies here. He has some incredible stuff.

 

[Smokey7385]

Ditto on ed4copies