Has anyone turned perspective rod? I would like to mock up a kitless in coloured translucent perspex (which I believe is basically acrylic) so I can clearly see how much wall thickness and space I have internally. Will this turn / thread well?
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Penpal
Grand Master
Caution it threads well, cut well but is a pain in the rear to maintain a clear finish, I used a material already made following the long reports of folks who have done this as per this pic enclosed the receiving thread was inserted into the shell, there is not enough thickness in the shell to thread.
Good luck..........Peter.
Good luck..........Peter.
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wm460
Grand Master
- Joined
- Mar 16, 2013
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I haven't turn acrylic rod nut have turned and tapped acrylic sheet no problems.
Lons
Fellow
No real problems turning and machining acrylic but with care!
Cleaning the inside of a drilled holes is a pita and difficult to polish if that matters while outside turning and polishing is very easy. be careful when drilling for breakout, very careful with thin sections and don't overheat the acrylic or it will crack or craze.
Acrylic was / is used in many machines, vending and pub industries for example and I have a demo piece somewhere with multiple polished and threaded holes.
One other consideration, there are 2 main types of acrylic manufacture which gives the material different properties, those are cast or extruded. Cast is much clearer, more stable and by far the best for our purpose while extruded is softer, absorbes more moisture and has extrusion marks which can be difficult to remove. From memory, most rod is extruded while sheet is available in both so use say 20mm cast sheet where you can. Cast btw is also more expensive.
I was lucky enough to aquire a number of offcuts when I was in the industry - just sitting there waiting for the right projects
I do look at them occasionally! 
Cleaning the inside of a drilled holes is a pita and difficult to polish if that matters while outside turning and polishing is very easy. be careful when drilling for breakout, very careful with thin sections and don't overheat the acrylic or it will crack or craze.
Acrylic was / is used in many machines, vending and pub industries for example and I have a demo piece somewhere with multiple polished and threaded holes.
One other consideration, there are 2 main types of acrylic manufacture which gives the material different properties, those are cast or extruded. Cast is much clearer, more stable and by far the best for our purpose while extruded is softer, absorbes more moisture and has extrusion marks which can be difficult to remove. From memory, most rod is extruded while sheet is available in both so use say 20mm cast sheet where you can. Cast btw is also more expensive.
I was lucky enough to aquire a number of offcuts when I was in the industry - just sitting there waiting for the right projects
I do look at them occasionally!
wm460
Grand Master
- Joined
- Mar 16, 2013
- Posts
- 23,113
- First Name
- Mark
Here is a photo of a piece of acrylic I drilled and tapped.
Penpal
Grand Master
Be interesting to see a pen.
Peter.
Peter.