Inlace Acrylic - what am i doing wrong

[Weaselrunner]

I have not had any luck turning or even drilling this stuff. I am using negative rake carbide inserts and a regular barrel trimmer in a drill press. I have had 1 to grenade on me while turning and the rest chip out so bad or crack that I don't even want to touch them . One even cracked while I was trimming the barrel.

What in the name of baked sweet potatoes is the secret to working this stuff before I start looking at the trash can for the remainder.
Thanks in advance

 

[ed4copies]

Inlace acrylester is the most difficult "resin" to turn. It is made in a manner that keeps brilliant colors separated from each other and will polish to a high shine--the downside: it is VERY brittle.

Watch a few youtubes. I searched for the topic and found a few--I did not watch them to determine who is good.
Once you get the hang of it, it makes a GREAT pen--but don't drop it--brittle pens break.

 

[egnald]

Ken,

As you have found out, Inlace Acrylester is one of the most difficult types of plastic blank materials to work with. That being said, it is highly filled and it polishes to a very high gloss which produces some gorgeous pens. It does take a considerable amount of pampering though.

When drilling, I've found that standard point drills work better than the brad points for me anyway. The brad points can be too grabby and can cause the blanks to break. Also, I drill with a tapping kind of method - drill in a little and retract the bit completely to clear the flutes and to let both the blank and the drill bit cool off. For Inlace, a lubricant while drilling can also be helpful. And, finally, drill first then cut. What I mean is to drill to a depth just longer than the tube and then cut the blank off to expose the hole. Drill bits are the most grabby when they are punching through the far side of the hole - that is when most blowouts occur.

When gluing, make sure you scuff the brass tubes and make sure to get adhesive covering all of the surfaces. Many blowouts during turning can be attributed to missing spots of glue between the tube and the blank. I use epoxy and I plug the end of the tube to keep glue from getting in it.

I have had lots of catches and blowouts using standard pen mill type barrel trimmers with both wood and plastic alike. I use a jig on my disk sander to square the tube with the blank. If I was going to try to use a standard barrel trimmer, I think I would first sand the end of the blank almost down to the tube so there is very little material left to remove. Barrel trimmers are just too aggressive for my liking.

I also use a jig on my bandsaw or my disk sander to sand the corners off of the blank to make it more round before I even start turning. On a rectangular blank, the spinning edges hit the cutter and these little impacts can definitely lead to serious chipping and breakage.

The manufacturer recommends using a skew or fingernail gouge, extra sharp, and by making light, shear cuts. I have been successful with negative rake carbide cutters, but even then I make very light passes to prevent chipping.

I still have a lot of Inlace Acrylester and I use once in a while, but there are other plastic materials that are much easier to work with. In my opinion, the total opposite as far as turning difficulty would be Alumilite blanks. And, there are some very colorful and attractive Alumilite blanks out there such as the Lava series of blanks that Ed sells at Exotic Blanks.

Good Luck,
I'm sure with practice and patience you will be able to get good results with Inlace.

Regards,
Dave

 

[TonyL]

If you continue to practice; it may become one of your favorites.

 

[cl1237]

I had poor luck with my first couple attempts at inlace, but now it is my preferred plastic type blank.
Drilling- leave the blank a little longer than you need and don't drill all the way through the blank then cut off the excess. This will help avoid blowout while drilling.
I do the same as Dave, square up the end on a disc sander and sand the sharp corners off. I don't sand it round, just enough to break the sharp edges.
VERY light cuts, especially while you are turning it round. I use negative rake carbide and turn at a high speed

 

[MRDucks2]

When I was learning to turn I thought IA was the only resin blanks there were. I was also determined to learn how to turn with only a skew.

Once you learn to turn Inlace Acrylester with a skew you can turn about anything, though.

…except cross cut palm. I still can't turn cross cut palm.

 

[Weaselrunner]

Ken,

As you have found out, Inlace Acrylester is one of the most difficult types of plastic blank materials to work with. That being said, it is highly filled and it polishes to a very high gloss which produces some gorgeous pens. It does take a considerable amount of pampering though.

When drilling, I've found that standard point drills work better than the brad points for me anyway. The brad points can be too grabby and can cause the blanks to break. Also, I drill with a tapping kind of method - drill in a little and retract the bit completely to clear the flutes and to let both the blank and the drill bit cool off. For Inlace, a lubricant while drilling can also be helpful. And, finally, drill first then cut. What I mean is to drill to a depth just longer than the tube and then cut the blank off to expose the hole. Drill bits are the most grabby when they are punching through the far side of the hole - that is when most blowouts occur.

When gluing, make sure you scuff the brass tubes and make sure to get adhesive covering all of the surfaces. Many blowouts during turning can be attributed to missing spots of glue between the tube and the blank. I use epoxy and I plug the end of the tube to keep glue from getting in it.

I have had lots of catches and blowouts using standard pen mill type barrel trimmers with both wood and plastic alike. I use a jig on my disk sander to square the tube with the blank. If I was going to try to use a standard barrel trimmer, I think I would first sand the end of the blank almost down to the tube so there is very little material left to remove. Barrel trimmers are just too aggressive for my liking.

I also use a jig on my bandsaw or my disk sander to sand the corners off of the blank to make it more round before I even start turning. On a rectangular blank, the spinning edges hit the cutter and these little impacts can definitely lead to serious chipping and breakage.

The manufacturer recommends using a skew or fingernail gouge, extra sharp, and by making light, shear cuts. I have been successful with negative rake carbide cutters, but even then I make very light passes to prevent chipping.

I still have a lot of Inlace Acrylester and I use once in a while, but there are other plastic materials that are much easier to work with. In my opinion, the total opposite as far as turning difficulty would be Alumilite blanks. And, there are some very colorful and attractive Alumilite blanks out there such as the Lava series of blanks that Ed sells at Exotic Blanks.

Good Luck,
I'm sure with practice and patience you will be able to get good results with Inlace.

Regards,
Dave

What kind of lube do you use or recommend??

 

[egnald]

What kind of lube do you use or recommend??

Anything that reduces friction and/or contributes to reducing heat buildup. I personally use a dry lubricant called BladeCote (it used to be called DriCote). It is an aerosol spray. After drilling I clean off my drill bits and apply BladeCote. Then I store them in individual plastic tubes. (It is pretty expensive stuff at $25 to $30 per can, but it does last a long time). The feature that made me switch is that it doesn't interfere with adhesives - or so the advertisement says.

Otherwise, in the past I have used WD-40 (even though it's real purpose is to displace moisture and protect metal from rust and corrosion, it still acts as a lubricant as well). There are other lubricants that should be effective on plastic as well, like mineral oil, or even cooking oils, but with these as well as with WD-40, the blank should be swabbed out with Denatured Alcohol to remove any oily residue that will interfere with the adhesive used to glue the brass tubes in. (Actually, I've heard of folks even just using water (or water and dish soap) as a lubricant and coolant for cutting and drilling plastic).

Hope this helps - Dave