Woodchipper
Member
Found a piece of Spectraply about 2x2x12. Got the idea of cutting it into blanks for a couple of pens in the planning stages. Any special advice for turning and finishing? Never turned it before. Thanks.
Turning Spectraply?
- Thread starter Woodchipper
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mark james
IAP Collection, Curator
I used spectraply alot - mostly for small segmenting.
Sharp tools in my experience, but fine.
There may be a different 'feel' for different layers (soft wood, hard wood, soft, hard), so the final result may have slight lower/higher levels. In my experience this was easily corrected in the initial sanding technique (Lathe running; left, right, left right. Just a few passes and all is level). Also - finishes may be absorbed differently with the different layers - maybe not a concern? Have fun!
Sharp tools in my experience, but fine.
There may be a different 'feel' for different layers (soft wood, hard wood, soft, hard), so the final result may have slight lower/higher levels. In my experience this was easily corrected in the initial sanding technique (Lathe running; left, right, left right. Just a few passes and all is level). Also - finishes may be absorbed differently with the different layers - maybe not a concern? Have fun!Attachments
Only ever turned it once. It turns easily but doesn't cut super cleanly unless you're going out of your way to make really nice finishing cuts with a skew or similar. You'll just get a lot of fuzz with something like a carbide tool. Nothing to worry about and goes away fine with sanding.
The ply is, I believe, birch. So not particularly hard wood, and you should expect it to sand down pretty quickly. Maybe leave a bit more diameter than you would with denser hardwoods before sanding.
The ply is, I believe, birch. So not particularly hard wood, and you should expect it to sand down pretty quickly. Maybe leave a bit more diameter than you would with denser hardwoods before sanding.
Penchant 4
Member
I enjoy working spectraply. Periodically soaking it in thin CA, as it turns down, minimizes the fuzzing effect mentioned above and reduces any tendency for the plys to chunk off or separate from one another.
Perhaps STBO here, but a word of caution about this technique. Protect your eyes and breathing. The fumes from large amounts of CA can be especially irritating and not particularly heatlthy. I wear a respirator, goggles and have a large fan aimed so as to blow the fumes away from my face.
Good luck!
Perhaps STBO here, but a word of caution about this technique. Protect your eyes and breathing. The fumes from large amounts of CA can be especially irritating and not particularly heatlthy. I wear a respirator, goggles and have a large fan aimed so as to blow the fumes away from my face.
Good luck!