# 3 acrylic box's



## George Watkins (Oct 13, 2010)

hello folks here are 3 new box's that i've turned today- i've struggled a little bit photographing these but i hope you get the idea of the shape and markings etc

these are all polyester resin- two are a blue and white swirl and the black one has some gold pearlex in it which looks great in the sun light.

they are all around 2" wide and between 1 3/4" and 2 1/4" tall


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## ed4copies (Oct 13, 2010)

Excellent job of turning!!!

How thick are the walls and how comfortable are you with their durability???


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## PaulDoug (Oct 13, 2010)

WOW pretty cool.  The first is my favorite of the three.  All are top notch.  Are they turned form one big piece or do you cast like a piece for the lid and a piece for the bottom?


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## George Watkins (Oct 13, 2010)

Thank you

the walls are very thick-compared to some wooden box's i make- there about 1/4" to 3/8"- there very durable unless you drop them of tile or concrete floors that is- then they will chip!!


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## George Watkins (Oct 13, 2010)

Thank you

they are made from a solid rod- i buy them of a chap who cast's them here in the u.k- they are 6" long by 2" wide
here's his site if you want to have a look at the other colours he does etc
http://ukpenkits.com/catalog/blanks-acrylic-4550mm-c-62.html


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## kludge77 (Oct 13, 2010)

Very sweet looking! 2" is much smaller than I originally thought from the pictures. 

What were your major challenges in this?


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## Jim15 (Oct 13, 2010)

Those are awesome.


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## ed4copies (Oct 13, 2010)

kludge77 said:


> Very sweet looking! 2" is much smaller than I originally thought from the pictures.
> 
> What were your major challenges in this?



Turning PENS from PR is a piece of cake, compared with hollowing and turning a vessel like this. Chip out and vibration are MAJOR issues.

This is MASTERFUL turning!!!!


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## marter1229 (Oct 13, 2010)

What everyone else said!
Also fits in with the New woodturning mag.

Terry


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## kludge77 (Oct 13, 2010)

I agree it's very cool, which is why I asked about his challenges. I wasn't knocking the OP's skill. Just noting that at first glance they looked larger.


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## ed4copies (Oct 13, 2010)

kludge77 said:


> I agree it's very cool, which is why I asked about his challenges. I wasn't knocking the OP's skill. Just noting that at first glance they looked larger.




I didn't take it as knocking him---Just wanted to emphasize the difficulty---most turners complain about plastics and how hard they are to "keep from shattering".  Doing hollow forms is a whole different level of turning and tool control.


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## George Watkins (Oct 13, 2010)

Thank you for all of your kind comments

I have been making box's from acrylic material for a few years now- i had some of my pictures published in the AAW journal earlier this year- which you may have seen

I enjoy making them and the biggest challenge for me is slowing down with the size of the cut's- so with wood i can rough out quickly then refine, with acrylic i have to be gentle from start to finish.


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## nava1uni (Oct 13, 2010)

These boxes are really lovely.  I really like them a lot.


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## Rfturner (Oct 13, 2010)

the blue ones vagely remind me of the blue and white china dishes that you come across every once in a while


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## kludge77 (Oct 13, 2010)

George Watkins said:


> Thank you for all of your kind comments
> I enjoy making them and the biggest challenge for me is slowing down with the size of the cut's- so with wood i can rough out quickly then refine, with acrylic i have to be gentle from start to finish.



Do you hog out the box inside with a forstner bit? On the couple if wood boxes I've made this was a huge time saver. 

Would that even work with resin?


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## MatthewZS (Oct 13, 2010)

all three are great, but the first.... that black-ish one is beautiful!


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## ed4copies (Oct 13, 2010)

kludge77 said:


> George Watkins said:
> 
> 
> > Thank you for all of your kind comments
> ...



Yes, you can use a forstner bit to remove the inside.  Personally, I would probably shape the outside first, make an "indent" on the bottom to hold with your scroll chuck, then drill the interior and refine interior shape.


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## George Watkins (Oct 14, 2010)

Thank you

Kludge77- no i dont- its far easier to remove the material with a gouge then refine with neg rake scrapers- by the time i've got the jacobs chuck and drill bit in the tailstock i could have done it- even more so with wood.


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## ed4copies (Oct 14, 2010)

George Watkins said:


> Thank you
> 
> Kludge77- no i dont- its far easier to remove the material with a gouge then refine with neg rake scrapers- by the time i've got the jacobs chuck and drill bit in the tailstock i could have done it- even more so with wood.



Them Brits is purists!!!

You use a gouge???  I'd be chicken and use a round nose scraper, but either way---CONGRATULATIONS!!


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## Woodlvr (Oct 14, 2010)

George,
   I have 2 4" round X 12" tall pretzel tubes tubes full of acrylic cut offs and would love to attempt these. Could you post a shot of the gouges and tools that you use?  My granddaughters would love these for their doll houses.


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## George Watkins (Oct 14, 2010)

Woodlvr said:


> George,
> I have 2 4" round X 12" tall pretzel tubes tubes full of acrylic cut offs and would love to attempt these. Could you post a shot of the gouges and tools that you use? My granddaughters would love these for their doll houses.


 
I dont quite follow you mike- do you mean you are going to make a larger blank from all the offcuts you have? these box's are made from a 2" diameter rod of acrylic

as for tools- its just a standard 3/8" spindle gouge and a scraper with a facet ground on the top edge to turn it into a negative rake scraper.


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## devowoodworking (Oct 14, 2010)

Outstanding work as usual George!!


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## Woodlvr (Oct 14, 2010)

DUH-ME sorry. I forgot that you use a 2" diameter rod.  The pieces that I have will work for thimbles I guess. Thank you for your help.


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## mervyn (Oct 14, 2010)

Hi George, as I said before mate very nice work, just to give the guys an idea these are just some of the large blanks (50mm x 6") that I cast for George, actually George it seems that people do like the darker one the best (black and gold) as a tester mate why don't I make you a black mint one too FREE OF COURSE. See how it turns out.

Well done mate! nice work.

Mervyn


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## George Watkins (Oct 14, 2010)

Thanks John


hello Merv- i forgot that you were registerd on here!!


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