turning pens out of the plastic?

[flyfisher117]

I wasnt going to do much posting here more reading but then a VERY big question hit me... and im sure its been covered before but...

When turning the plastic/acrylic pen blanks how does one go about this? do you just turn it and sand it like wood then use plastic polish? do you seal it with something like this "CA" glue i read about or does it not need to be sealed? and whats the highest grit sandpaper you use when finishing the plastic trying to get the best of finishes?

 

[TBCbushings]

Hey there, I turn like wood and use a plastic sanding pads and then buff with a buffing wheel on the lathe. You can get the sanding pads from PSI and the buffing system as well. I talked to another member and he made a buffing system from parts from Home Depot for around 25-30 bucks...Hope this helps.....
Brian

 

[flyfisher117]

I will have to look at school tomorow (i turn my pens at school because i dont have the pen mandrel or other basic pen stuff for home) but off the top of my head we have this foam pad and all it says is "fine" is this a polishing pad? we also have this bottle of liquid and its HUT Plastic Polish and i looked at the wood craft website and it says to sand up to 800 grit then apply the polish. After i apply the polish will the pen stay nice and shiny after being used? or will it be more like a waxed finish and get very dull after a while?

 

[bitshird]

A lot depends on which type of "Plastic" if you are using a Polyester casting resin blank then really just turn, sand, I wet sand up to 1000, 400-600-1000 then a good plastic polish, I like the Novus brand, you can but it as a set although I hardly ever use all three just the coarse and then the fine, polish, it will knock your eyes out. If on the other hand you are turning Alumilite, which is fantastic material to turn, it doesn't have quite the gloss that a Polyester has, Some blanks like "Worthless Wood" or the Amalgam line of blanks ,(wood burl caps and other unusable pieces of timber) since they have wood or some other organic material like Pasta, Cactus, or Scorpions and such, then you have to seal that material any way so use CA and you will get a piece with a knock you dead finish.

 

[randyrls]

When turning the plastic/acrylic pen blanks how does one go about this? do you just turn it and sand it like wood then use plastic polish?

Turning acrylics is very similar to turning wood. It is important to remove the sharp corners of blanks to prevent blowouts or chip outs. A gouge "can" be used, but it has to be scary sharp. Acrylics tend to develop tiny shiny pits if the tool isn't sharp enough or is applied incorrectly. You should get long strings of material.

Different products vary greatly in brittleness and hardness. A skew used to do a shearing cut or carbide insert type tool is useful. Some of the Trustones are VERY HARD.

 

[flyfisher117]

Ok i have no clue how to tell what the material is for sure so heres a couple of pictures so hopefully someone knows.

Rough side:

Smooth side:

Package:

Also are carbide tools really needed... the tools at school are crap flat out crap kids drop them and play swords with them and try to sharpen them themselves so they arent the best.

So Worst case scenario the tool isnt really any good at cutting it say i took my time and rounded it could i then just sand it to the shape i want? (i know it would take forever and make a very colorful mess but it would be better than using a crappy tool and blowing the plastic up. thoughts?

 

[mredburn]

You could also consider using a file once you got it round, to shape it. YOu might get there slightly faster than with just sandpaper.

 

[bitshird]

Carbide tools aren't absolutely necessary, BUT they do make life easier, A sharp tool is the only way to cut any Poly blank, the sharper the tool the less chance for chipping and blowouts, since it's a commercial blank I'd guess its Polyester, similar to Castin Craft resin from Hobby Lobby or a Silmar 41 type casting resin, should be reasonably easy to cut, Take some time and try and sharpen your tools before you whack into a nice blank.

 

[Rfturner]

The main difference between a wood blank and a plastic one is that Plastics tend to blow out alittle more when your new and it takes some time getting used it. I use a gouge for roughing almost all the time how ever on plastics I tend to lean towards my scrapers more. For the Plastic polish I use CD scratch remover and it leaves a nice shine and it is very inexpensive.

 

[flyfisher117]

Ok thanks all ive got enough info to at least give this a whirl . im making another wood pen as of right now but as soon as im done with that i will try a "plastic" one and report back! :biggrin:

If i blow it up it will be a learning experience

 

[ed4copies]

The blank you have is from WoodCraft. The number, starting with AA, indicates it is a Berea product.

Don't get it too hot. Trying to sand it to final shape will work, kinda--but if you get it real hot, it will melt.

 

[Drstrangefart]

When I turn, I use what's called Micromesh to finish. It's a wet sanding system that handles Aacrylics and high-gloss thick CA coats on wood. It also polishes metals and all kinds of stuff. Just remember to cross sand as much as possible with it for best results. It will give you a glasslike finish if you do it right. I use my bench grinder to shave the corners off the acrylic to reduce the odds of blowouts, and use a roughing gouge with an ultra delicat touch to get it to shape. Then I run over it with a skew to smooth the surface even further. Then it's time to polish.

 

[Scooley01]

As weird and backwards as it may sound, I've 'blown out' several wood blanks since I started turning, but no plastic ones. The only problems I've ever had are bubbles in the acrylic, and a wobbly drill press table.

Just an FYI, "CA Glue" is super glue. CA is short for Cyanoacrylate, the chemical name for super glue.

Personally, I sand acrylics to 600 grit with sandpaper, do a quick once-over with some #0000 steel wool, then use One-Step plastic polish. It's an evolving process for me, though, as I'm slowly learning better techniques to remove all the finer scratches. And I use a non-carbide tipped gouge for all of my work, other than the occasional parting cut. The skew terrifies me, because I tend to be too aggressive with it and the tool starts making decisions about the shape of the pen that I don't agree with! Just part of being new to turning, I suppose

 

[tomas]

I turn both wood and acrylics with a nice sharp skew. On acrylics I go through the whole range of MM and then finish with Carnuba wax.

 

[Drstrangefart]

One problem I've had with dry sanding on acrylic (which may be because the slowest speed on my lathe is still too fast for it) is surface melt and re-grab of sanding dust, causing embedded flaws that need more turning with a gouge or skew to meke them go away.

 

[Polarys425]

One problem I've had with dry sanding on acrylic (which may be because the slowest speed on my lathe is still too fast for it) is surface melt and re-grab of sanding dust, causing embedded flaws that need more turning with a gouge or skew to meke them go away.

All you need to do then is sand in short increments, and also change the portion of the sanding material you are using frequently. The sanding material heats up too, and cant absorb heat from the work.

I sand up to 6000-8000 with MM, and use Mothers mag and aluminum polish (auto parts store, easily available) to finish up to a high shine. This works on both acrylic, and Corian.

 

[ToddMR]

That looks like inlace acrylester. That stuff can be very brittle more so than acrylics. Just something to remember. Very common for that type of material imo. Just go slow, light cuts, and sharp tools. When your bringing in your edge, when you think you are there stop lol. It's a learning experience your first time, but take it slow and you should be good.

 

[HSTurning]

AA stands for Acrylic Acetate as far as I know. The blanks I have worked with have been pretty easy to work with . They are much more forgiving the Inlace.
Light touch
dont heat the blank up
wet sand
micro mesh
assemble

 

[ed4copies]

AA stands for Acrylic Acetate as far as I know. The blanks I have worked with have been pretty easy to work with . They are much more forgiving the Inlace.
Light touch
dont heat the blank up
wet sand
micro mesh
assemble

Correct.

 

[jimbob91577]

When you first start turning it, it will come off in chips. Just make sure you're letting the lathe do all the work and not pushing your tool. (Do a YouTube search for turning acrylic pens by the way - I watched a couple before I was brave enough to do one)

After you get it round, it will start coming off in strings or small ribbons that quickly wrap around your mandrel. You can "pinch" them and pull them off as you turn to see what you're doing. It looks a lot like really thin floss.

Once you get the barrel down to the shape you want, sand progressively up through the ranks (I go up through 400). I highly recommend you get some micro-mesh(MM) pads. I use them wet - I keep a small plastic bowl with about 1/2" of water in the bottom. I submerge each pad in the bottom and then start sanding the pen body with these. I stop after the second or third pad to make sure I'm getting all of the scratches from the previous grits out.

After I finish the last (9th?) MM pad, I take mine off the lathe and assemble. However i've heard of some taking a bit of automotive polish and hitting it with that before wiping clean. Others take plastic polish and do the same.

I also recommend that you consider painting the inside of your drilled out blank with a closely matching paint. I mix a drop or two in the epoxy that I use when I work with Acrylic/Plastic blanks also, just to hide the brass tube from showing through and the glue marks - this is a good habit to get into when you decide to start turning some of the more interesting blanks like Curtis's Cactus blanks or The Princess's flashy stuff.

Some other nuances I do:
- I don't drill all the way through the ends of my blanks, in fact, I usually leave about 1/8-3/16 at the bottom to prevent the blank from blowing out on my drill press. I've had more than 1 do this and it just isn't any fun.
- I use playdoh in the ends of my tubes to keep the epoxy from getting in. You'll have to insert the tube slowly though in the blank to keep the air pressure from popping your playdoh nugget out of the brass tube. Of course, you'll only get the air pressure problem if you leave the ends of your blanks closed as described in the point above.
- I then take the blank to the band-saw after the epoxy has cured. I cut the end off enough to expose the drilled hole. I then use the barrel trimmer to square my ends