# Acrylic rod question



## Bryguy (Mar 24, 2020)

I'm looking for an inexpensive source of rod for making sleeves that will be glued into wood barrels. I looked at 1/2" extruded acrylic rod, (Plexiglass) very cheap at Amazon, but does it machine easily, as I will be drilling the whole barrel length and creating a female thread into which I will screw the section?


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## Curly (Mar 24, 2020)

It doesn't work so well. Soft. Cast acylic rod is what you should be looking for. Harder to find and costs a little more of course. I have read before, probably on this forum, that you can boil the extruded in water for 20 or 30 minutes to improve its properties to closer to cast but I haven't tried it.


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## FGarbrecht (Mar 24, 2020)

Can't answer your specific question about acrylic rod, but an alternative that I have used is to use alumilite slow clear to fill a drilled hole, then drill that out and thread according to your specification.  I haven't done it in wood but I have used it to fill vintage celluloid tubing that has become eccentric with age, worked very well.


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## jalbert (Mar 24, 2020)

Try delvies plastics. Rods are cheap, but you have to order a certain dollar amount in order to get normal speed shipping (last I checked)









						Acrylic Rods & Tubes
					

Shop for Acrylic Rods & Tubes products at Delvie's Plastics Inc., the most trusted name in Acrylic & Plexiglass.




					www.delviesplastics.com
				




They are my first choice for transparent acrylics.


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## darrin1200 (Mar 24, 2020)

Bryguy said:


> I'm looking for an inexpensive source of rod for making sleeves that will be glued into wood barrels. I looked at 1/2" extruded acrylic rod, (Plexiglass) very cheap at Amazon, but does it machine easily, as I will be drilling the whole barrel length and creating a female thread into which I will screw the section?



When I started doing custom pens, I used normal acrylic pen blanks to make my inserts. Now, I also use either allumilite (I pour my own), or ebonite.


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## jalbert (Mar 24, 2020)

Also, these are quite reasonably priced, and I really like these for solid black acrylic. These are my go-to for solid black acrylic 









						20 X 3/4" Inch Acrylic Rod (Super Rod)
					

40 Inch Acrylic Rod (Super Rod)



					woodpenpro.com


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## henry1164 (Mar 24, 2020)

I ordered some acrylic rods from this site.  
TAP Plastics
Reasonable price and they look good.   I have not used them yet.


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## RobS (Mar 24, 2020)

Vermont Free hand also has rod: https://vermontfreehand.com/product/acrylic-rods/


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## More4dan (Mar 24, 2020)

Onlinemetals also sells a variety of plastic rods too.





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						Find the Right Plastic and Metal Materials | Online Metals
					

Buy plastic and metal materials at OnlineMetals.com®. Not sure where to start? Our easy-to-use filters will help you find the materials you need.




					www.onlinemetals.com
				




Danny


Sent from my iPad using Penturners.org mobile app


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## eharri446 (Mar 24, 2020)

Just do not try to use Delrin as it is extremely hard to get glue to adhere to it.


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## More4dan (Mar 24, 2020)

I would guess the Teflon (PTFE) is also difficult to get anything to stick to it. 


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## duncsuss (Mar 24, 2020)

I have bought cast acrylic rods from Delvies and from US Plastics, both good.

I also made the mistake of trying to save money by using extruded acrylic rods. They are unstable - at best they distort as you machine them, releasing tensions formed when they were made.


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## Bryguy (Mar 25, 2020)

jalbert said:


> Also, these are quite reasonably priced, and I really like these for solid black acrylic. These are my go-to for solid black acrylic
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Yes, these are what I have been using, but since my sleeves are 12 mm diameter, there is a lot of waste. I was looking for 1/2 diameter rods, a lot less work and waste!


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## jttheclockman (Mar 25, 2020)

jalbert said:


> Also, these are quite reasonably priced, and I really like these for solid black acrylic. These are my go-to for solid black acrylic
> 
> 
> 
> ...


They still sell these. I bought these from them many years ago when I first got into this. I too like the solid colors. May have to make a new order.


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