Different media for turning

[John Miliunas]

Fine, so this isn't wood, but it was turned on a *wood* lathe in a *wood*working shop by an aspiring *wood*worker. It was a test in a few ways. First, I needed to see if I could successfully put a hole in a large piece of clear acrylic for the upcoming bathroom remodel. I had a small slab of acrylic, so I tried it with an 8" hole. Although it's a bit time-consuming, the mission was a success, meaning I'll be able to do it on the big slab for the bathroom. So there I was, holding this 8" round piece of acrylic, 2" deep. "What the heck!", I thought. So, I chucked it up on the lathe and away I went. Slow, slow, slow process! A wood lathe is definitely NOT the best machine for this! I ended up whittling away at it, primarily using a 1" skew chisel as a scraper, of sorts. I wasn't sure what I'd end up with, so I just threw some straight angles at it and turned a hole in the center, about 2-1/4" diameter by 1+" deep. I figured I'd live with it a bit and get some other input on what to put in the center. A votive candle (with glass) will easily fit in there. A little bigger and I could put a potpouri lid on it. Bigger yet and it would make for a nice vace holder. Anyhow, here a few pics. The pics do not do it justice. It's really kinda' cool looking. Not the best photo setup and it's really kind of hard shooting something that's clear! Thanks for taking a peek.

[Michael Ballent]

VERY Cool!!! Did you need to do anything to get it polished up or is that right off the lathe? Why was it slow? Tools used or power of the lathe? Just curious and very nice work...

-Michael

[Jim Becker]

Nothin' like a little alterno-wood to make for interesting shavings! That's a nice piece, John.

[John Miliunas]

Nothin' like a little alterno-wood to make for interesting shavings! That's a nice piece, John.

Thanks for the nice comment, Jim.

Michael, ditto on the "thanks". It's slow, because one can't really use "traditional" tools for turning bowls. Well, you can, but I find that when using a bowl gouge, for instance, it tends to chip pieces of acrylic out. I mainly used a skew and parting tool, taking very small bites. Extremely time-consuming but yeah, the end result is kinda' cool.

As for finishing, I found that some of the areas came out pretty clean right off the tool. But, that's real heavy on the "some"! When I was finished with the actual turning, what was left is kind of a frosted look to the piece. Wet-sanding ensued, starting at about 220 and on up through all the grades of Micro-Mesh, right up to 12000. Then, I unmounted it, and slathered on a little automotive rubbing compound and buffed it on a wheel. If I do it again, I think I'm going to hone up all of my scraper chisels, making sure I've got a nice wire edge on each and use them.

[Dale Thompson]

John,
That "turning" looks great. You said that you used a 1" skew as a "scraper". You got a real fine finish for a scraping cut (any cut, for that matter). Did you try the skew as a skew? Maybe that's a bad idea because the bevel rubbing might generate too much heat.

Did you use any finish on your "candle holder"? I didn't see any scratches, but if there were some, I wonder if a jeweler's polish would take them out. You do REALLY nice work for a cheesehead!!

Since you like pics, I'll post one of a piece that our former police chief made out of acrylic. He also does flowers in red, blue, yellow and other colors. He also makes animals, such as giraffes, out of this material. I have no idea how he makes any of this stuff. On the other hand, I have no idea how talented guys like you think, work, create and share your skills.

Nice job, Spring, I'm getting that werewolf thing AGAIN!! AARRGGHH!!!

Dale T.

[John Miliunas]

Thanks, Dale! If I do much more of this type of turning or just using this medium, I think I'll get some of the polish specific for acrylics. I think PSI sells it, primarily for use on pens. Actually, pen blanks was the other use I was considering for this hunk of acrylic. Maybe when I cut out the real sink hole, I might cut some blanks out of it.

Your friend does nice work on those flowers, too. Looks like you can even see the veining on the leaves. Pretty cool.

[Richard Allen]

Hi John

Nice work. I have done a little bit of alternative material work. Tends to look machine made, even though I know it's turned by hand.

I have found that the speed of the lathe and the speed of the advancing cut into the material is real important on the acrylics I have turned.

Automotive rubbing compound works well to polish up the surface.

One thing you might want to consider is using acrylic in wood pieces.

In the attached picture, the eyes, nose and mouth are acrylic.

Thanks

Richard

[John Miliunas]

Hey Richard, now that's different! Cool. Yeah, I've thought about mixing the media, though this was my first attempt at anything this size with man-made material. I've done Corian pens, but that doesn't even come close in comparison. I found the toughest part to be holding the tool steady enough while going across the face.

[Pete Lamberty]

Hi John, I think you came up with a great idea. I never heard of someone turning plastic as an art form. I think you have to run with this idea and see where it takes you. I wonder if you could try some of the other "plastics", lexan, teflon, etc. to see if they have better turning characteristics. You could get different colors also. Maybe you could frost the inside and see how that looks. Or frost the outside. You could turn a piece and then slump it like glass artists do. Or etch it, or laser designs into it. Let your imagination run wild. Follow up on this and you will soon have a piece in the Renwick. Great job, John.

[Steve Clardy]

Well looks cool to me John even though it isn't "WOOD"!!. Looks like it took some time to polish out? Steve

[Keith Outten]

There is a simple flaming technique that is commonly used on acrylics to smooth the edges. Using a propane torch you heat the material and it will melt and leave a glass smooth edge. Try this on a piece of scrap first to get the technique down pat before you use it on a project. I would not be surprised if it wouldn't work well for thicker surfaces as well.

Bending and twisting acrylic is also a very common task and is easy to do using a hair dryer, heat gun or torch.

Sheet acrylic scraps are easy to obtain for free...visit any photo frame shop, they always have drops left over from framing jobs and most are happy if you will haul the stuff away. I often get pieces up to 14" by 36" in size so I rarely have to purchase thin acrylic sheet for engraving anymore.

[Chris Padilla]

John,

Nice. When I was in college, I worked the summers at an optics research center and they had a full metal shop where I learned to use a mill and a metal lathe. I use to spin all sorts of items (valves, lens holders, posts, gasketing) with aluminum and acrylic and plastics. I even used the metal lathe to cut threads...that was neat.

So, I guess I'm a closet spinner...but not for wood!

[Greg Heppeard]

Hey, can you turn some with hundreds in them...ones are ok, but my pockets aren't big enough to carry enough to go to Mickey D's.

Seriously tho...nice job, I wonder if a person could make a pen out of that stuff...without the brass tube?

[Boyd Gathwright]

Hey John,

Nice work on that piece of acrylic, fine job. How come the serial number on that dollar bill matches the one on the dollar bill I have??

Later

Boyd

Fine, so this isn't wood, but it was turned on a *wood* lathe in a *wood*working shop by an aspiring *wood*worker. It was a test in a few ways. First, I needed to see if I could successfully put a hole in a large piece of clear acrylic for the upcoming bathroom remodel. I had a small slab of acrylic, so I tried it with an 8" hole. Although it's a bit time-consuming, the mission was a success, meaning I'll be able to do it on the big slab for the bathroom. So there I was, holding this 8" round piece of acrylic, 2" deep. "What the heck!", I thought. So, I chucked it up on the lathe and away I went. Slow, slow, slow process! A wood lathe is definitely NOT the best machine for this! I ended up whittling away at it, primarily using a 1" skew chisel as a scraper, of sorts. I wasn't sure what I'd end up with, so I just threw some straight angles at it and turned a hole in the center, about 2-1/4" diameter by 1+" deep. I figured I'd live with it a bit and get some other input on what to put in the center. A votive candle (with glass) will easily fit in there. A little bigger and I could put a potpouri lid on it. Bigger yet and it would make for a nice vace holder. Anyhow, here a few pics. The pics do not do it justice. It's really kinda' cool looking. Not the best photo setup and it's really kind of hard shooting something that's clear! Thanks for taking a peek.

[Dale Thompson]

Thanks, Dale! If I do much more of this type of turning or just using this medium, I think I'll get some of the polish specific for acrylics. I think PSI sells it, primarily for use on pens. Actually, pen blanks was the other use I was considering for this hunk of acrylic. Maybe when I cut out the real sink hole, I might cut some blanks out of it.

Your friend does nice work on those flowers, too. Looks like you can even see the veining on the leaves. Pretty cool.

Hey Spring,
First you've got to show off your talent and then you have to show off your wealth. Are youse 1 uv dem dere eego mainiacks? Whatever, don't EVER wave money in front of a north woods zombie. We will do ANYTHING for a few bucks to add some extra "mash" to the still. Remember, I know where you live.

In a later post you mentioned "facing off" as being a bit of a challenge. I may stand corrected but, according to some pretty reputable folks (not ME, Raffan), properly "facing off" may be one of the hardest cuts you will make on a lathe. Looks ta me lik youse has gots dat 1 purty wel down. Nice work, bud.

I like the idea of doing a "clear" acrylic pen. However, getting rid of the tube would require sizing a drill which has the same O.D as the tube. Bushings would also be a problem. Anyway, it would be "just for fun". You can buy them at Wal-Mart for a buck three-eighty. ool:

NOW, would you quit showing off for a day or two and let me recover some of my self-esteem?

Dale T.