Help on Turning Acrylic Pen.

[MBG]

I don't have a lot of experience at the lathe - made 6 pencils/pens from wood about a year ago. I have a Rockler flattop pen kit that I was going to make for my 11 year old and he chose an acrylic material.

Any suggestions on what speed to run the drill press and lathe.

(I must confess - I think I have cracked one of the pen blanks during the drilling process.)

Mike

[mudder]

Acrylic needs a good SHARP bit fed slowly and cleared often. Did I mention the bit must be really sharp. I use water to keep my VERY SHARP bit cool. I drill about an eigth of an inck and withdraw the bit completely to clear it. Proceed slowly at the end or a blowout will happen even with SHARP bits. Turning is like with wood, I turn around 2200-2500 rpm I switch to wetsanding at 320 and wetsand to 600 and then I switch to MM (micro mesh) to get it smooth and shiny. remember to use a good sharp bit and be cautious.

here is my last acrylic:
http://www.bt3central.com/forum/topi...TOPIC_ID=17687


Hope this helps.

[MBG]

Thanks for the help Mudder. I turned the blank last night and it looks great! I was surprised how much longer it took to turn the acrylic than wood.

I was worried about the finish but I progressed through abrasives through 1500 grit automobile wet sand paper. Then I used Scratch/Swirl Remover by TurtleWax (I also use this stuff to remove scratches from CD's/DVD's) and finally a liquid auto polish. The finish looks like glass.

Mike