American valnut and acrylic

[Kaj Petersen]

Hi there

I'm new in this forum, but anyway I want to show a pair of photos, and tell you a little of my self.

I started wood turning when I was 9 years, and turned a lot of wood as a child and as young.

After 27 years without turning, my new lathe arrived Friday, and I'm now a happy turner again.

This little bowl is a small piece of acrylic and 3 pieces of valnut, glued together. This was mainly meant as a test on an idea I've had in a long time.

I'm pretty satisfied with the thing.

Sanded to 600 and pollished with natural bees wax.

Unfortunatly the thing got stained with a few rain drops... now that bees wax is not very durable.

Kaj

[Bernie Weishapl]

Welcome to SMC. Lots of good people here and lots of knowledge. That is a great looking bowl. Nope beewax and carnuba aren't to good when water drops find them. What kind of lathe did you get? Anyway welcome and keep the turnings coming.

[Nathan Hawkes]

Great piece, and neat idea!! Did you have problems with the edges of the acrylic chipping? Also, what glue did you use to glue the acrylic to the wood? I have some 1.25" acrylic that I was going to build a giant saltwater aquarium out of, but got out of the hobby instead. I have cutoffs that would lend themselves nicely to a project like this.

[Bill Bolen]

welcome Kaj, to the board and back to turning! I'm willing to bet you will have even more fun than when you started at age 9!...Bill...

[Gary Herrmann]

I like it. That's a very cool bowl.

[Kaj Petersen]

Hi

I used PU glue... don't know if that is the right name for it in English.
It's a glue that foams when it hardens, and one can glue almost
anything with.

The lathe is a Danish build PROMAT machine... I'll post a picture later.

I did not have any problem with the acrylic chipping, but the tools must be realy sharp. But I found another problem. I have earlier made small things in acrylics, and could use a type of metal polish on the acrylic for the final touch... that's not uaseable with the wood.

Kaj

[Rasmus Petersen]

welcome to the sawmill :-) For those from the other side of the pond, Kaj is also danish and it so happens that he´s my older brother (hehe much older)

[Tom Sherman]

Kaj, that's interesting use of materials and nice execution of form. Welcome to the Creek

[robert hainstock]

You have executed one of the most difficult forms in turning, and done it exceptionaly well. You may just teach the kid brother a thing or two. :D:D
Bob

[Curt Fuller]

I really like the clear acrylic space in you bowl. I wonder how difficult it was to turn because the acrylic is probably a much harder material than the wood. I creates an interesting effect though.

BTW, you must pronounce 'Valnut' the same way my 'Svedish' relatives would.;)

[Rasmus Petersen]

Bob : Bhaaa not likly :-) Ah well we teach each other.. i can teach him things and he can teach me things.. it´s a nice swap :-)

Curt : Grrr not to be calling a Dane a swede... (death Sin) And no we say it a somewahat different.. althoug danish/sweedish/norwigian are very close related and we understand each other the languages are spoken very differently...

[Kaj Petersen]

Hi

There was a slight difference in the valnut and acrylic, but not much.

The acrylic sheet I used, i a special type and a little softer than normal acrylic. The acrylic sheet can be bent over a shar edge in different angels, without getting with stipes/marks in the material.

I anyone is interested, I'll try to find the right name for this type...

I tried yesterday to turn in a litlle piece of a different type of acrylic, and found it very diffycult. Lots of tear out/chipping on the edges, and very hard to turn. Ended up with a pretty smooth surface, but after a lot of work.

Cheers
Kaj

[Kaj Petersen]

I forgot.

One of the bigger problems I had durring the process with valnut and acylic, is the sanding.

If the sandpaper gets to warm, the acrylic melts and dust burns into the surface of the acrylic, and acrylic melts into the surface on the wood.

Normaly I would sand the acrylic with water and the right type of sanpaper, but that's not possible with the dry valnut, so...

Cheers
Kaj