PKM - Inlace Acrylester Pen Blanks for the Pen Turner - 3/4' square by 5' long - Woodworking (29 - PINK SKY)

Step 1: Drilling the Blanks Drilling Inlace Acrylester blanks is easily accomplished if a few simple steps are followed. Start by cutting the blank allowing a little extra length on each piece. Often when drilling plastic, the drill bit can catch, cracking the blank as it exits. Avoid this by not drilling through the bottom of the blank, then cut off the excess at the end. Be sure to clear the flute every 1/8” to 1/4” as you drill. Step 2: Gluing the Tubes into the Blanks Sand the outside of your brass tubes. Sanding cleans the tubes and provides the glue a better grip. CA glue and Epoxy are the most popular choices. When turning plastics in general, some blanks are more opaque than others. You may want to paint your tubes to keep the brass tubes from showing through, thus giving an unwanted brassy glow on parts of your project that are turned closer to the tube. Use a small amount of the thick CA glue on the outside of the tube or the inside of the hole. Use enough glue to coat the entire surface. If you use too much glue, it will get inside the tube. Glue inside the tube needs to be removed and is most easily done before the glue sets up. After the glue sets up, use a box knife, , or similar device to remove it. The fit of a pressed-in part with the tube is very tight, and any excess glue is likely to cause cracking during final assembly. Step 3: Turning the Blanks Aggressive cuts and Inlace don’t mix. The best way to turn Inlace Acrylester is to use a fingernail bowl gouge or a skew in proper form to give you a “shear” cut. Using a shear cut, you will slice the material from the blank instead of scraping it off. Cutting will cause less impact to the blank and require less sanding. (** We recommend only using carbide tools with Negative Rake Cutters to turn Inlace.) If you don’t have proper form with a skew or don’t have a fingernail gouge, a standard spindle gouge will work. However, be certain to keep your tools sharp and use light cuts, or chipping may occur. As you reach fi nal dimension, you will want to slow up a little and start gently working out any remaining chips or grooves. If you have chipping that is too deep, you may use a drop of thick CA glue to fi ll the chip seamlessly. You will then want to turn the CA glue back to flush and finish polishing as usual. Step 4: Polishing Sand to 400- or 600-grit , then switch to Micro-mesh and polish through all the grades. You may wish to stop the lathe once in a while and use your sandpaper or Micro-mesh (depending at what step you are) to sand the length of the blank to remove rotational scratches in the blank. If you get scratches that don’t come out, drop back a step or two in the process and start there. Depending on your results, you may wish to use a plastic polish or buff to further shine the barrels. No friction polishes or finishes are necessary. Note: Be careful not to overheat the blank by setting your lathe on a high speed. This can cause the blank to melt.