turning corian and acrylics

[butcherofwood]

I have several blanks and would like some tips on how to best turn them. What speed? What grit sanding to shape? What tools work the best to turn it? Have done three so far but surely my method of slow speed and smallish cuts isn't the preferred way? Thanking in advance for any help.

 

[JimGo]

I did my first two Corian slimlines yesterday. I used my skews and a scraper on both of them (same thing I do for wood pens), and turned them at the same speed I turn all my wood pens. I used special Corian and Acrylic sanding pads I got from Woodcraft (I think they're made by the same people who make MicroMesh) to sand them down, then finshed them off with Hut Plastic Polish (HPP). Although it looked good without the HPP, the HPP took out all the little scratches that still remained, and left me with some really nice pens. I'll post pics tomorrow. Will probably add some TSW to the top, just to give an extra gloss.

 

[rtparso]

Well I will take a crack at answering your questions. I tend to turn everything at full speed (3000 rpm). On corian (I have not turned any acrylics) after I turn to approximate size I sand to final shap with 100 grit on a piece of wood. Then I start sanding with strips 150, 240, 320, 400 then wet sand with micro mesh to 12,000. After that I burn in Hut white PPP and polish it out with a soft shop towel.

 

[atvrules1]

Mike, I turn all my acrylics and other materials at the same speed as wood. Just don't forget to wet sand in the higher grits so things don't get as hot. Also make sure your tools are very sharp. I've been know to sharpen them a couple of times on the harder materials while turning. Makes it go a little better. Good luck with them. You will like the way they finish up.

 

[jdavis]

Sharp tools, wet sand to 12000, mediun-high speed, and alot of practice.

 

[jwoodwright]

All Great Advise. Also keep your tool rest real close. Any tool chatter makes things worse. After round, sharpen and take really light cuts. You'll be rewarded with thin ribbons of material. Wet sand. DRY SANDING REQUIRES A MASK! It's Like Aluminun Dust. Corian Fabricators wear Respirators.[]

 

[ed4copies]

Emphasis on practice! I have turned hundreds of acrylic, I am not fond of corian, because it requires sharpening so often.

Early on, I turned slowly, now I turn at 3000 rpm-same as anything else. Take the edges off with a roughing gouge or spindle gouge, early on you may break pieces off, tool is not sharp enough, or you are trying to remove too much material in one swipe. Once turned to round, switch to skew or any other tool with which you are comfortable (in early career, even scrapers were used-slow, but seldom chip out), AVOID HEATING blank-anyone who has turned acrylic will tell you that heat is your worst enemy. And heat "blowups" can hit you in the face, so use a mask, at least until you are comfortable turning the plastics.

As Jack Davis says, however, the only way to get "good" at this is practice. Polishing acrylic becomes the difference between a "casual" turner's pen and a really outstanding effort. Much has been written here on this topic-when you become confident that you can turn the pen without "nicks" remaining in your finished product, then experiment with different "final steps": MM, polishes, Bealle (If available)-until you find the finish YOU think is best.

Good luck, if you master acrylic, you will be surprised how much easier wood is when you do it. The techniques you develop improve ALL types of spindle turning.