Thread: Some experimenting

Funny you say 1700 rpm. That's my go to speed for turning.

You turn by hand? I would try "riding the bevel" with this material. It creates more of a shearing cut rather than a scraping cut. Less chance of a piece breaking off or chipping. It's a technique used to achieve very smooth cuts.

Riding the Bevel - NewWoodworker.com LLC

I should add that I like what your doing here. If you come away with good results, I might try it. Looks like fun.

Originally Posted by HARRYWALLY

Funny you say 1700 rpm. That's my go to speed for turning.

You turn by hand? I would try "riding the bevel" with this material. It creates more of a shearing cut rather than a scraping cut. Less chance of a piece breaking off or chipping. It's a technique used to achieve very smooth cuts.

Riding the Bevel - NewWoodworker.com LLC

Thanks for the link! I knew the term but never read the detailed explanation.
The amber one I cast last night seems much better (glad I didn't glue the knot in yet). When I get the surface cleaned up I'll post a pic.
Yeah I'm excited about the possibilities.

All great stuff guys,you can buy zillions of extruded handles (all made in China) I love the home brew you guys are doing.one of a kind stuff.

Originally Posted by pixelfixed

All great stuff guys,you can buy zillions of extruded handles (all made in China) I love the home brew you guys are doing.one of a kind stuff.

Yeah that's what drove me to it in the first place - couldn't find what I was looking for. Would never had thought to do any of this if not for SRP. Good fun!

Originally Posted by HARRYWALLY

Funny you say 1700 rpm. That's my go to speed for turning.

You turn by hand? I would try "riding the bevel" with this material. It creates more of a shearing cut rather than a scraping cut. Less chance of a piece breaking off or chipping. It's a technique used to achieve very smooth cuts.

Riding the Bevel - NewWoodworker.com LLC

Thank you! I have been hand turning for almost 70 years and no-one has shown me that. Always used scraping as my dad taught me.
~Richard
I have eaten more than one chunk of broken plastic caused by internal stress. Acrylesters are pretty good without extra care.

If you notice variations in the force needed to make a cut, then you might do as we did for years with plastic rod and sheet:
If there are hard spots or internal tension, there will be surprises in the turning and machining.
Put it at about 280 degrees F raising to that temperature slowly for a few hours to anneal all the parts of the rod to the same hardness and relieve internal tension. Let it slowly come to room temperature. I do not know if home cast is the same as purchased cast acrylic but the difference between cast and extruded was significant in hard spots.

From Carville Plastics
How to stress relieve acrylic and other plastics

All cast and extruded plastic materials will carry internal stress. To ensure stable dimensions and a long life for precision component parts, it is essential that materials are correctly heat treated to remove all material stress.

On material such as acrylic, it is necessary to heat treat the material to a temperature of 140⁰C and to cool slowly under controlled condition. This initial heat treatment, or normalising process, will result in material shrinkage of between 2% and 4%.

All plastic materials used by Carville are fully heat treated before any machining operations take place. Subject to the material or component size, these heat treatment processes can require anywhere between 24 and 96 hours.

There is a lot more information on line as to the timing etc.
Be safe!
~Richard