Does anyone in or has anyone used Acrylic for their stem? I know a lot of people use Lucite, as do I, but i wasn't sure if this was an appropriate material to use for a stem. I found some Pen blanks the other day that would be great for stems. They are already cut to length and everything. Thanks for any info.
Pen blanks are a great source of material, and can be relatively inexpensive. They are different materials - acrylic, polyester, etc. They tend to polish easily for the most part, especially the polyester ones.
yea, they recently opened a WOODCRAFT store near where I live, and they sell the pen blanks there for pretty cheap. What RPM's do I need to be drilling at when I drill Lucite/Acrylic? When I drill, it just seems to start melting the material. I am drilling it on a Mini lathe.
Drill as slow as your lathe will go, and use a cutting lubricant listed as safe for plastics. If you can't find any cutting fluid, butter flavor Pam cooking spray has been described as an excellent alternative.
I just drill acrylic real slow, and stop frequently. If the bit gets hot, you are done. It sands beautiful, and turns fairly easily, though certain tools will dig if you aren't really careful. Not my favorite material because it gives off a lovely acetate sort of smell when being worked.
