Arrrgh, Should have known better than to glue the blank back together...

Brent Dowell

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Ahhh, Tried to make a pen for the first time in a few months.

Tried to make a pen for a friend out of some acrylic and the bottom blew out on drilling it. It was just one big chunk, so I glued it back on and went through all of the steps just because I didn't want to waste the blank. Well, I sure wasted my time and now I have to disassemble it and make a new one.

Oh well, at least it was good practice turning it.

Just had to vent, it was so annoying...:doh:
 
Blow outs are part of pen turning, particularly with non-wood blanks. When I (very rarely) do acrylics, I leave the blank over length and drill only slightly past the point I need. I then cut the waste end off. This prevents most blow outs.
 
Bummer Brent. I do like Frank on all acrylics and leave them about 1/4" to 1/2" longer than needed. I don't drill clear thru and then cut it to length. I have not found a way to glue acrylics to have them come out decent.
 
You can see up at the tip where it blew out. I had cut the pen at least 1/4" long, but it was a big huge chunk that blew out. That's why I though I could get away with gluing it. Oh well, I've got three more of these blanks.

I am tempted to just keep this one and use it for myself, but then again, I should probably just get over it, disassemble and make a new one...

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Sand and permanent markers, resand/micromesh, friction polish and bet you will be surprised. I still keep those learning experiences for my personal use. Hey, if you ain't turning, you ain't takin chances!!! (Larry's motto!!:rofl::rofl:)
 
Batting a 1000 on it. Took apart last nights mistake and tried another blank.

Better, since there was no blowout, but still not happy with it.

I was very apprehensive the whole time turning it, thinking "One catch and I screw up another one". So I didn't quite get the shape I wanted. The middle of the upper barrel has a funky profile right at the join, and the bottom of the lower barrel is a bit funky as well.

And to top it off, Looking at the flash picture, there are sanding rings all around the pen. Dang. It's not that noticeable with out the flash, but look up close and you can see the rings. I think it's time to wash the ole micro mesh.

Well, this is as good as this pen will get, cause I don't think another dissasembly would do the innards any good. But like they say, live and learn, and next time I'll do better...:thumb:

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I hate it when my camera shows me flaws that I missed earlier. :bang: Good save, though.

Even if I'm using micro mesh (or doing a friction polish on a small piece), I like to use my small buffer (a mini lathe with a mandrel) to buff the concentric rings away. A quick buff at 90º to the rings gets rid of the problem. I do it before I assemble the pen, though. Otherwise, you can remove the plating from the hardware it you're not careful. DAMHIKT :rolleyes:
 
I've found if I do have a blow out while drilling an acrylic, try to position the piece then glue it with thin CA from the inside. Most of the time the break doesn't show. Of course it is best to leave it long when drilling but we all know that's not always possible.
 
The question is; is this a polyester resin blank? I have thought about recasting blown out blanks (with the tube in it) with a contrasting color like maybe to create a gold veining. I know it would work with Alumilite but I'm not sure if the poly will bond like new.
 
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