Acrylic resin etc

[Themackay]

I turned my first non wood pens today 4 tubes ended up in the bin but got 2 pens Im happy with will post pics when I get a chance.I found turning the Acrylic blanks ok but the ones in the bin were resin one was a timberbits blank. I found the material very brittle so think I was being a bit heavy handed ended up with bits shattering off tube glue mabye not as good as could have been so my question is Which types are user friendly and which should be avoided for a beginner.
Alan

 

[stevenw1963]

Alan,

Avoid anything that aint wood (or metal) like the plague!!!

Plastic is for wimmin innit.

 

[paulm]

Don't let Rowdy hear you say that.

 

[mattyts]

You shouldn't have binned the brass tubes,spin them on the lathe and clean all the scrap off with a skew and a bit of sandpaper and re use them.

 

[Themackay]

You shouldn't have binned the brass tubes,spin them on the lathe and clean all the scrap off with a skew and a bit of sandpaper and re use them.

Aye will do
Alan

 

[Grump]

Alan,

Avoid anything that aint wood (or metal) like the plague!!!

Plastic is for wimmin innit.

100% agree with Steve he de man init?

 

[Jim]

Alan, i know exactly where you are coming from my friend .. The first time i attempted making a pen from acrylic i shattered the blank, then I went into heavy and didn't have enough material left on the blank to remove all the tiny holes .. The best way to turn an Acrylic blank is use your gouge taking very tiny cuts until round, then using a skew as a scrapper shape your blank, i have good results all the time doing Acrylics this way, it does take that bit extra time but well worth it ..

 

[rowdyyates115]

Yep, as above - Jim's method really works.....

 

[ericofpendom]

Alan,

Keep trying with the resin blanks, they do take a bit more time and skill than wood but you will get there. You need very sharp tools and very light cuts when you get near the final diameter. I turn all my resin pens with a freshly sharpened 3/4" roughing gouge and I get a finish cut that allows me to start at 1500 micromesh. Don't be scared of resin blanks, just practice more and adapt your technique.

Eric...

 

[Penpal]

You shouldn't have binned the brass tubes,spin them on the lathe and clean all the scrap off with a skew and a bit of sandpaper and re use them.

Spend time turning not yearning buy spare brasses.

Peter.

 

[Neil]

Alan, i know exactly where you are coming from my friend .. The first time i attempted making a pen from acrylic i shattered the blank, then I went into heavy and didn't have enough material left on the blank to remove all the tiny holes .. The best way to turn an Acrylic blank is use your gouge taking very tiny cuts until round, then using a skew as a scrapper shape your blank, i have good results all the time doing Acrylics this way, it does take that bit extra time but well worth it ..

Oooo errr, a scraper. cut, man, cut!

 

[Neil]

Spend time turning not yearning buy spare brasses.

Peter.

Agree, there relatively cheap as chips.

 

[Neil]

Which types are user friendly and which should be avoided for a beginner.
Alan

We haven't answered your question Alan, I would recommend the style that Axminster describe as their "classic acrylic range". I don't turn many acrylics in comparison to the wood, but these I find excellent. The material is more forgiving than others, particularly the timberbits acrylics which are quite brittle in my experience

 

[Grump]

I would suggest the easiest plastic to turn giving good results on slimlines would be Corian.
Cheap and easy init?
Neil has a regiment of it I am surprised he never mentioned it.

 

[Woody]

My advice would be to stick with wood till you have mastered pen making you will find it is a lot cheaper then try acrylic the ones that shattered on you were probably cast polyester which is a very brittle material compared to acrylic a lot of home made blanks are cast polyester as well as Brian suggested corian is a good cheap place to start on acrylic pens good luck and happy turning

 

[Walter]

I agree, scrapers of all kinds work well with these materials. Negative rake scrapers like the Sorby hardwood scraper (or a skew used a Jim suggests) are excellent and the newer carbide tipped tools work well too. But whatever you use light cuts are the order of the day.

 

[Themackay]

I am thinking from my experience so far materials described as Acrylic or Resin come in different degrees of brittleness ease of workability etc as I found with the timberbit blanks which Neil found to be very brittle.I will mabye concentrate my efforts more on wood for the time being.
Alan.

 

[Woody]

I am thinking from my experience so far materials described as Acrylic or Resin come in different degrees of brittleness ease of workability etc as I found with the timberbit blanks which Neil found to be very brittle.I will mabye concentrate my efforts more on wood for the time being.
Alan.

Thats the best way to go Alan good luck