Best gouge for turning acryliv?

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I would use a woodchuck before a gouge, unless you are turning acrylic acetate. It does not play well with carbide inserts.
 
In general, any SHARP gouge that you are comfortable with.

Watch this video for one: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xikciU16Fts Ed is an excellent turner of acrylics. I've learned much from him.

However - that being said ... after roughing it out, I switch the the skew...

If you are just starting at acrylics there is a lot of other variables to consider (lathe speeed, and which acrylics for starters.)

There are many acrylics out there: PR, Alumite, acrylic acetate, acrylister, lucite and more. Each turn different and even one type (like PR) can be vastly different based on how it was made.
 
The larger the better. And shallow is better than deep.

My preference, if I am going to use a gouge, would be a 1" shallow roughing gouge, SHARP!

This will work well for turning off corners (making square blanks round), but you should make an effort to learn how to use a skew, at least for finish work. Or, a scraper can be used, again a large, round nose is easiest.

Take a look here for some help on technique:

Use Dean's link above, mine only worked for me, apparently. There are three vids under "ed4copies", you will learn something from any one of them, but the one Dean pointed to, uses each of the tools.
 
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I'd use a Woodchuck Pen Pro before I used a roughing gouge. But then again I'm rather biased, I hate sharpening gouges, even with a Wolverine Jig.!!!
 
We use bowl gouges, skew (Marla) and scraper (me). With the bowl gouge you approach the cut with the "U" leaning to the side and if you get it right you can cut hair thickness shavings.

Pete
 
With a gouge, ride the bevel and roll it toward and off the ends. A bowl gouge would be best, in my opinion, because it won't dig in as bad as a fingernail or spindle gouge would.
 
Until I can get my sweaty little hands on a Woodchuck Pen Pro, I'm stuck with using a roughing gouge then a skew for clean up. Just keep tools sharp.
 
I find that a roughing gouge removes the excess material faster than carbide tip tools for both wood and plastics. (Yes you can get aggressive with the carbide tool, but it's easy to ruin the blank if you get too aggressive). Once I get closer to the size I'm shooting for, I'll switch to the carbide tip tool (R4 insert) to refine the shape and bring it down to final size, measured with calipers.

I turn between centers. I use regular bushings on my 60 degree cone centers for my rough shaping. You don't really need the special 60 degree bushings. Once I get close, I remove the bushings and run the cone centers directly on the brass tube for the final sizing and shaping. This corrects any out-of-round errors produced by less-than-perfect bushings.
 
All excellent suggestions -- and not all blanks made of plastics turn the same. Some cut too easily and some are brittle and chip. I have had several clear cast blanks with snake skins that were uber chippy.

Chippy or brittle blanks will talk to you with the BZZZZZZ as you turn. I have tried several solutions and found two things to help -- I steepen the grind on steel tools or go to a cup style carbide tool for roughing (Hunter or Elinimator style).

I noted some time ago that Ed Davidson (Yo-YoSpin) uses skews with a 1:1 slope (bevel length = thickness) which is a lot steeper than the sharpening angle of 1 1/2 : 1 (bevel length 1.5 times thickness) traditionally taught.

Scary sharp and letting the tool cut (guide the tool and do not force it) seems to work better to get smooth shavings.

I like my pen pro and FatBoy -- but sometimes need other tools too.
 
Just ordered a Woodchuck Pen Pro from Indy-Pen-Dance. Now the only problem is waiting for it to be delivered. I have off work tomorrow what are the chances of it coming in one day :)
 
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For me, a sharp skew is the tool of choice...from start to finish. And the skew is used as a skew and not in scraping mode. What size? I use a 1.5 inch skew and a 1 inch skew with the (Alan Lacer) curved cutting edge.

Roughing gouges can be a bit aggressive on plastics/acrylics/resins, at least for me, as can spindle and bowl gouges. I would use a bowl gouge before either a rough out or spindle gouge. But, others find just the opposite to be true. Which tool is best to use? The best tool is the one with which we each feel comfortable. Use the tool that you use best.

Do a good turn daily!
Don
 
I used a modified round nose scraper. I got the idea from the Craft Supplies catalog (Fall/Winter, pg.122 -- Helpful Hints for Turning Plastics).

You grind a 10-15 degree relief on the top side of the tool. I keep it razor sharp, and use a handheld diamond hone to touch it up. It has worked great on the typical/generic acrylics, as well as Corian and Inlace Acrylester. Once I get close to final shape, I finish up with a skew.
 
I prefer to use a spindle gouge with a fingernail grind on it for getting my acrylics down to round. Then I switch over to a skew and use a planing cut. I like the cut I get with a sharp vs using it as a scraper. I also like that it doesn't take me as long to sharpen or even hone the edge of my skew as it does to match the angle on my gouges. This probably isn't the best method out there but it works for me! :biggrin:
 
I start with a 3/4" spindle gouge to get it into shape. Finish with the Wood Pen Pro. Using a light touch, I find I can go directly to the MM after the Wood Pen Pro.
 
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