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Thread: She bought it...Now what?

  1. #1
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    Question She bought it...Now what?

    Went to an auction today. Some deceased local artist/art professor. None of the art, but lots of misc. tools and assorted "stuff". Anyhow, I picked up one of those "everything in this box" deals (Dremel, couple engravers and lots of Dremel bits) and took them down to the truck. In the meantime, wifey won the bid on some solid acrylic. Now, we're talking 2" thick here! Two pieces are 2x4 foot and the third about half that. (Can you say "heavy"?)

    Any suggestions on what in the heck I'm going to do with these? How does one go about cutting something this thick? Does it mill, drill, etc... similar to wood? In looking at the end on the smaller piece, my guess is, they took a circular saw, rammed it up against a guide and then cut it, taking about five or six progressively deeper passes. I can't help but wonder if a guy couldn't even make some pen blanks out of some of it? I'll admit, the stuff is pretty cool. Real clear with no distortion that I could detect. Ideas?
    Cheers,
    John K. Miliunas

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  2. #2
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    Acrylic

    John.

    I use a lot of acrylic in my shop, great for engraving. There are basically two types of acrylic...cast and extruded. Both types can be sawcut, make sure you have adequate ventilation as acrylic can give off a gas when cut...especially very thick material like you have. I'm not sure that you can turn it, my experience is that it can be brittle and tends to crack unless it is Lexan which is the bullet proof stuff. You can route it, drill it and probably use other maching processes on it as well. You can aslo bend it with heat but you will want to do some research before you bend 2" thick stuff as you may have to find someone with a heater bar. There are people who heat small pieces in an oven but again beware of the gasses, it will get real soft and pliable so you normally use a mold if you heat acrylic.

    If it is cast acrylic and you can't find a use for it take it to a local engraver. They will most likely purchase it from you at a nice proffit although they may ask you to cut it for them.

  3. #3
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    Hey Keith,

    OK, you've got me thinkin' a bit here. (Ouch, that hurts. ) Anyhow, you use it for laser engraving. Would you know if the stuff would take to sandblasting in a similar fashion? As in, mask off the whole thing, cut out the pattern or whatever and blast it? I'm starting to think of numerous possibilities. Hmmmm...I could even see paperweights with the SMC logo on them! Guess I'll have to do some experimenting. Oh, and thanks for the heads-up about the gasses!
    Cheers,
    John K. Miliunas

    Cannot find REALITY.SYS. Universe halted.
    60 grit is a turning tool, ain't it?
    SMC is totally supported by volunteers and your generosity! Please help if you can!
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  4. #4
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    Blasting Acrylic

    John,

    Sure, you can sandblast acrylic in fact the results are very simular to laser engraving. I prefer to use glass beads when I blast acrylic as it leaves a much smoother surface. Remember that if the acrylic is clear or translucent you can blast the back side and the front will remain glossy, but if you use any text you must mirror the text when you create your mask so that it reads properly from the front.

    You can also spray-paint the blasted areas on the back before you remove the mask and have several colors in your design. I've found that common masking tape works the best when blasting with glass beads. If you use slica sand you will need a rubber mask and you will get a course surface but that may be the result you are looking for depending on your design.

    There is a glue made by IPS called Weld On #4 that I use to glue acrylic. It works very fast and is great stuff. You can polish any rough edges with Novus #1,2, and 3 polishes after you saw the acrylic and bring back the smooth edges.

    Hope this helps

  5. #5
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    Hi John. Way back in the ancient days of the early 1950s, I took a shop class in 8th grade. The instructor was big on carving Plexiglass. He had many things which he offered as kits to the students.

    He would take a tool similar to a Dremel tool, He would put a nail which had been ground to a point with three long sides in the chuck and start carving from the back side of what was to be the front of the piece. He offered a paper weight which was about 2x3x2 which had a rose carved in it. He also carved the leaves for the rose. Without doing anything to the rose, it was a snow white color. He then took some liquid dye and colored the different parts of the carving. It came out looking great. Break out the Dremel and give it a try. OH yes, he used a standard jig saw (now called a scroll saw for some reason) to cut the Plexiglass.
    Best Regards, Ken

  6. #6
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    Carving Acrylic

    My shop teacher used to do the same thing. I don't recall the bit being a nail, it resembled more of a flattend twist drill. Once the rose or whatever was carved and died, you filled the hole with plaster of paris to seal it up.

    You can sand the cut edges with progressively finer grades of wet dry sand paper do it wet. Once you get the edge pretty smooth, it can be buffed on a soft cloth wheel with plastic polish and it will get crystal clear.
    Lee Schierer
    USNA '71
    Go Navy!

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  7. #7
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    Quote Originally Posted by Lee Schierer
    My shop teacher used to do the same thing. I don't recall the bit being a nail, it resembled more of a flattend twist drill. Once the rose or whatever was carved and died, you filled the hole with plaster of paris to seal it up.

    You can sand the cut edges with progressively finer grades of wet dry sand paper do it wet. Once you get the edge pretty smooth, it can be buffed on a soft cloth wheel with plastic polish and it will get crystal clear.
    Well Lee, the sharpened nail was about the best description I could think of for the "bit" he used. I do remember it coming to a point to get the fine detail in the carving. We just mounted the carved piece on another piece of Plexiglass and let the cement seal the carved opening. Yes, the sanding was a tiring task, and being a youngster, I was always in a hurry to get it done so I could hit the buffing wheel. We used a red buffing compound stick about 1.5 in. square.

    Funny what sticks in your mind
    Best Regards, Ken

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