| Project by MarkWilk | posted 1943 days ago | 915 views | 0 times favorited | 5 comments | ![]() |
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I finally got around to turning my first acrylic blank, a tortise shell Polaris pen kit from www.woodturningz.com. They had a great end of season sale, and I bought a bunch of kits and blanks.
Turning the acrylic was a challenge. I found that the chisels needed to be super sharp, and that the lathe needed to be turned down a few notches for finishing. I always use Micromesh, but at my normal speeds for turning wood, I was getting lots of lines in the finish of the blank. It also ripped up my 1500 and 2400 sheets of micro mesh. Acrylic doesn’t like the faster speeds.
The slimline in the picture is a pen that I saved from a blowout with a little CA glue. I’m getting better at salvaging these pens, though I have quite a few new ones that I don’t feel that I can give away because of the cracks.
Overall, the tortise Polaris took three times as long as the Slimline because I had to start over on the finishing several times. It turned out nice in the end.
-- Mark, Florida, http://penturner.wordpress.com/
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5 comments so far
rikkor
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11296 posts in 2047 days
#1 posted 1943 days ago
Nice work. I made my wife an acrylic pen last fall. She really likes it. Saving a blow-out always feels good, too. Good job.
Les Hastings
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#2 posted 1943 days ago
Nice work Mark,,,,makes me wanna go turn a few!!
-- Les, Wichita, Ks. (I'd rather be covered in saw dust!)
GaryK
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#3 posted 1943 days ago
Nice pens. Good job!
-- Gary - Never pass up the opportunity to make a mistake look like you planned it that way - Tyler, TX
Scott Bryan
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#4 posted 1943 days ago
These are really nice pens. Seeing these make me really want to get a lathe.
Thanks for sharing.
-- Challenges are what make life interesting; overcoming them is what makes life meaningful- Joshua Marine
Nils
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141 posts in 2037 days
#5 posted 1942 days ago
Mark – good looking pens. I’ve really been enjoying turning the acrylics, not because they are easy to turn, but because when you do get down to the finest Micromesh, they feel so nice.
-- Nils Davis, Menlo Park, CA
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