Pen questions

[Doug B]

Hi All.
Having had a lesson in pen turning a while ago from our own Penman, Malcolm, i decided to buy some pen gear from the tinternet.
Along with the goods i ordered came this :-

I`m presuming its an acrylic blank? I didn`t order it & presume it was sent either by mistake or to tempt me on to the acrylic "slope".
Inspired by Stewart`s pens i fancy turning this into a slimline pen, so could you tell me what glue you use for gluing the tubes in, (i use 5 minute pu for wooden pens).
Also are there any tricks to turning & finishing this material?
Thanks.

Doug.

 

[DaveL]

Hi Doug,

Was your order from the ebay seller Turn E Funz? I have ordered quite a few pen kits and other stuff from her and often find a 'gift' included in the package.
I have not had any acrylic blanks but they appear to turn well, the down side is very long shavings, caused by the lack of grain. Finishing is just a matter of polishing to the desired level of shine. 8)

 

[stewart]

Hi Doug

I've used medium CA or epoxy. My feeling is that both seem to work the same but don't be tempted to turn it too quickly after gluing in - I think the CA needs to be left at least an hour.

Happy turning!

 

[Doug B]

Thanks for that lads.
Dave
My stuff came from a guy in Ireland, I`m not sure who he was, he was definitely on e-bay though. I foolishly didn`t keep his details & i`ve not seen him on there again.
Stewart
Thanks for that i`ve plenty of epoxy so i`ll give that a try. Do you put any finish on your pens or does just finer & finer abrading bring out the shinny finish?

Cheers.

Doug.

 

[greggy]

hiya doug, with acrylics you need very sharp tools. light cuts, i use thick ca to glue in the tubes. be sure to rub the tubes with 100 grit before gluing.take a slice of potato and press the end of the yubes into it to seal the ends of the tubes. give a quick spray with activator then square off the blanks untill flush with the tubes. take light cuts to the final dimentions of the bushings. then wet sandthrough the grits to the highest you got. ( micromesh is great ) once finished use brasso or any car polish to bring to a shine . then stand back and admire you work. good luck.

 

[stewart]

I too use micromesh up to 12000 then some metal polish I've had for ages then turtlewax car polish.

 

[penman]

Hi Doug

I use Gorilla glue for all my pens as I find CA glue too brittle and some times shears away from the wood or acrylic. As for sanding acrylic I also us micromesh down to 12000 grit After that you hardly have to polish :lol: :lol: .
Good luck
Malcolm

 

[Doug B]

Thanks again boys.

I`ll try & give it a go this week, don`t hold your breath though :lol: :lol:

Doug.

 

[BMac]

DougB,

That guy you got the stuff from might me my mate Michael from Belfast. Does that ring a bell? And, if so, send me a PM and I can put you in contact with him.

Also, if it was Michael who sent you the blank, he generally throws in a little extra as a token of thanks for buying from him - that's what alerted me to the fact this might be one of his sales.

Brendan

 

[BMac]

Wee acrylic finishing tip. Instead of finishing with waxes etc, try sanding to a very fine grit and then using 'Silvo' or 'Brasso' (the pad in the tin). You might be surprised at the gloss you get.

Edit - Oops, just noticed that Graham has said much the same thing.