2nd Acrylic - 2nd European

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underdog

underdog

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Couldn't wait for my other kits to come in, so I put this Metalic Red acrylic from Exotic Blanks on a TN Gold Euro kit. Not as crazy about the color as I was about the purple one- too monochromatic. Still it looks nice. I just realized that it's only my second Euro pen too. Did the first one years ago for my sister... This one went ok considering I haven't turned any recently...

I even got this one concentric on a mandrel!:eek: Must be my cheapo bushings on the comfort/slimlines making everything out of round.

Took me forever to turn it down though. This metalic red blank appeared to be a lot more brittle than the madreperlato purple. But still...

What's the secret of turning this stuff fast? I don't see how Ed can get any blank on and off the lathe in five minutes...
 

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I was using the roughing gouge at first and noticed I could remove material faster by getting the point of one wing into the material. It was pretty "chippy" but worked for roughing.

So once I got it round, I switched to the 1-1/4" skew, and used the points of it. Then I used a combination of planing and shear scraping to get it to final size.

But Holy Cow it took for-eeeevvverrr....:frown:
 
Couple things- 1: The color is sweet. You really got a great match between kit and material. I'd have a hard time being okay with parting ways with it. 2: My secret is a wide shallow roughing gouge. I make sure it's as sharp as I can get it. I keep the handle low and the tip high. I'll let the spinning piece rub against the bottom of the facet on the edge of the gouge. I bring the handle up SLOWLY until I see bits flying off. It's TOUGH learning how to make it close enough to round where you see ribbons coming up. Once you do, you should see ribbons go pretty much straight up in the air, then wrap around the mandrel. You gotta stop and clean em off pretty often, which makes time for you to check the work frequently. Also stop and sharpen the tool about 1/3 of the way in and about 2/3 of the way through. It'll take some practice. Once you get dialed in on that, your wood turning becomes MUCH smoother too. I usually don't HAVE to sand most of my wood pens before I do my CA finish, but I usually do just to make the polish a little better.
 
Allan,
I've got "riding the bevel" down. That's not the problem. I can rough and finish cut a wood pen in nothing flat.

It's the plastic that's taking me too much time... I can find the place where ribbons are coming off the gouge or skew, but I'm still only taking off a little at a time. I need to be able to get more off in less time...

There's got to be some tricks to it, if Ed can get one on and off the lathe in five minutes..:cool:
 
How fast is your lathe turning?

Remember, things come off twice as quickly at 4000 as they do at 2000.

IF you watch the Youtubes, you will see they run about 10 minutes--that is the real time on a couple of them. When the camera is not running, my lathe speed is higher and the initial cuts are more dramatic.

I have often said, it doesn't matter how pretty you cut the stuff on the floor. But, as I told you, for many years I said a plastic pen could not be done in less than an hour. Only after five or six years of turning plastics did I develop the confidence and knowledge to "hog off" plastic.

Yes, the metallics are a polyresin, the madreperlatos are an acrylic--they most definitely will turn differently. The madreperlatos are more dense.

Practice and be patient, and remember the objective is a good looking pen---not a FAST pen, although the two need not be incompatible, with practice.
 
Thanks for the suggestion to watch your youtube vids. I didn't know they were out there.
To answer your first question, I was turning this pen at around 2500 to 3000 RPM. So... I guess I need to run the RPM up a bit more.

I could probably sharpen the tools more often too. If starting out sharp, then they should be sharpened twice during the cutting? Although I don't see you sharpening any... You used a couple of tools instead. Wide and then smaller skews.

I notice a couple other things that could speed things up a great deal... You used a steel brush to get rid of those pesky ribbons that build up and obscure the view of the blank. I wasted a lot of time trying to clear those away so I could see. Gonna go dig my brush out...

Also I see you taper the ends of the blank first, so that you don't get any chip out on the ends. Good thinking. I'll have to try this.

One other thing that gave me fits was that I had a lot of chatter/vibration. I spent a lot of time cleaning that up too. Could be the tools not sharp enough (although I honed them a couple times). But the other thing is that you're turning one blank whereas I have been turning two blanks for the slimline and the Euro pen. This leaves a lot of flex, and is part of the cause.... I could turn one at a time on the mandrel or a dead center and eliminate that flex.

Bunch of good tips.... I'll certainly modify the procedure when those kits come in...

I also see you don't use the micromesh. Do all the scratches come out from the 1000 grit with the buffing wheel using tripoli and white diamond? This could speed things up a great deal too. The wet sanding with micromesh usually takes me a while. (Maybe I don't need to keep on one grit so long?)
 
I consider the first sanding very important. I start (usually) at 400grit. Sand until the entire blank is white with sanding dust. IF you have a nice shiny ring around the blank, it is a low spot and will show up in the finished pen. Once the 400 is done (doesn't take long if your last tool pass was good), the 600 and 1000 are quick. then yes I go to the tripoli wheel and get off all the scratches, easily.

One tube at a time has been my preferred method for about 3 years, now. I still use the adjustable mandrel, cause I am used to it. My resulting pens are round--and they fit right.

And, yes, I use the wire brush often. I rarely stop the lathe. But that is just ME, you are under no obligation to turn the way I do--just enjoy what you are doing!!
 
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underdog said:
Allan,
I've got "riding the bevel" down. That's not the problem. I can rough and finish cut a wood pen in nothing flat.

It's the plastic that's taking me too much time... I can find the place where ribbons are coming off the gouge or skew, but I'm still only taking off a little at a time. I need to be able to get more off in less time...

There's got to be some tricks to it, if Ed can get one on and off the lathe in five minutes..:cool:
Click to expand...

For me it was a matter of a large handful of practice pens before I got dialed in and knew what felt right. I had LOTS of chipouts that I was filling with CA, sanding off, anything I could think of. It's not so much of a problem now, as I've done a lot of them.
 
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