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Dave Hall had asked about the Acrylic knobs. He was kind enough to turn me on to Ryan for material. Since then I have found another vendor and this guys colors are spectacular!
One color in particular is a blend of silver pearl, black, blue, purple, and green. This stuff is not cheap and runs about $75.00 for an approximate 2" dia x 10" length and also has a fairly stout minimum as its made to order! The pictures do it no justice whatsoever. The horizontal and vertical marks that show in the pictures, I can assure you, are light reflections. Each one gets 1 1/2 to 2 hours of hand polishing alone and are like a mirror.
The spinner tube is .058 wall 316l SS. The part that presses into the knob receives a straight knurl. The addition of a 2 part epoxy is further used to secure the knob. The straight knurl will skive the plastic as it pressed in and along with the epoxy it should be bulletproof and never move! The inner shaft itself is usually made of 316 also. Its approximately .003 to .004 smaller in diameter than the inner tube and about .015 longer. This allows for grease and NO bearing used to fail. Screw size is 10-32 on both ends.
The material does have some drawbacks. It doesn't do well in the sun and weather. I'm talking several years of constant exposure it can be prone to embrittlement. Daron, (Mr. Shark) works where they make this in sheet form and filled me in.
In speaking to the supplier he assured me that because their product is made in very small batches the quality is superior to product that is mass produced. He said he personally had bottle stoppers that were over 5 years old, constantly in and out of the fridge with no problems at all.
I'm finishing up about a dozen monofils and all will have these knobs and shafts. I'll post them up when they're finished.
.......................Lou
purdy! ;D
That is super cool..!!
You're an artist Lou...
Sal
I would say those will last a lot longer than acrylic in sheet form Lou.
All our testing is done to sheets.
ok, now THIS is going to be interesting!!!! ;D
Nice Lou! I would think the round stock would be a lot more durable that the OL' glue together sheets. We have Precision Plastics here in Fresno/Clovis and they advertise they can do this. I'm sure the price is RITE high. I like the fact that there is no bearing, pressed in & glued knurled shaft (very strong connection). We used some pretty cool plastics and knurled connecting shafts on some of our steam valve seats for our Submarines. Others were ceramic glued with high heat and extreme pressure to complete the adhering process. I can't wait to see your art on a reel. ;D
BT
Drooling while I check my bank balance, I got enough for that little round red beauty and the project reel to put it on!
Pm sent
Beautiful work Lou,
Have you ever tried turning knobs from the stabilized wood used in reel seat and rod handle construction?
Example: http://reelseatblanks.com
Chad
Beautiful work Lou!
Chad, that wood looks great! I really like the Box Elder Burl - Blue. I can turn it without any problem. The only thing that would scare me is burly grained woods are not usually know for their strength. If it were to be a cabinet queen, then, no problem.
have a great evening, .. Lou
Wow, now we finally know your real name... LOU-inardo De Vince' :o :o
Lou... Beautiful!
Can you share your finishing/polishing steps to get them so nice?
Steve
Quote from: STRIPER LOU on February 11, 2016, 03:46:10 AM
Chad, that wood looks great! I really like the Box Elder Burl - Blue. I can turn it without any problem. The only thing that would scare me is burly grained woods are not usually know for their strength. If it were to be a cabinet queen, then, no problem.
All have a great evening, .. Lou
That's a bummer Lou, I was hoping the stabilization process would toughen up the burl enough to use as a knob.
Not to take anything away from acrylic, but those woods would look great on an old Penn or Ocean City..:)
Chad
Lou, they are beautiful. I especially love the black and turquoise handle. Stunning.
Quote from: Bryan Young on February 11, 2016, 07:43:48 AM
I especially love the black and turquoise handle. Stunning.
x10
Chad
Chad - Stabilised woods are very strong, including burrs - It is effectively acrylic with wood fibres in it. It can't rot and salt water doesn't affect it. It's the only wood I use on knife handles (some tool handles as well) and I now have my own stabilising equipment :)
Quote from: Tiddlerbasher on February 11, 2016, 09:33:22 AM
Chad - Stabilised woods are very strong, including burrs - It is effectively acrylic with wood fibres in it. It can't rot and salt water doesn't affect it. It's the only wood I use on knife handles (some tool handles as well) and I now have my own stabilising equipment :)
Awesome, thanks for the info Tiddlerbasher.
Lou I sent you a msg.
Chad
Oh man they are stunning! Show stoppers for sure, well done and thanks for sharing!
Hey Tiddlebasher, thanks for the insight on the stabilized wood. Very interesting. I didn't realize it was pumped with acrylic resins! Looks fairly expensive also. Will have to order some up and try it.
One of the problems with short pieces is it doesn't give you much to hold it buy when turning, requiring a small arbor to be used and that adds time to the process.
Thanks, .. lou
Steve, on the polishing, Mill smooth file to remove minor imperfections. 200, 320, 600, 1000, and 1500 wet or dry paper using water. Automotive polishing compound, 2 grades, and a couple of grades of plastic polish. Maybe sounds like a lot but looks amazing when finished.
.....................Lou
Chad - Knife handle blanks (stabilised) is probably the way to go. There should be plenty of wood for chucking. But your right they aren't cheap - depends on the wood. Desert iron wood can cost $70 -$150 a throw. I would start with the cheapest you can find for practice. Don't be surprised it doesn't machine like wood. You shouldn't get shavings just 'heavy' plastic/wood dust. I wouldn't suffer the cost so I made my own stabilising kit - cast acrylics are next on my list having seen the lovely knobs in this thread ;D If you get into it visit this site - lots of info and kit:
https://www.turntex.com/
Apologies: Last message was meant for Lou :-[
That red is stunning...I'm always amazed at what a machinist can do, my grandfather did some amazing things as well with his metal/wood lathes. Sort of becoming a lost art...again, thanks for sharing Lou!
OOOOOOOOO Sweet.
Spectacular work Lou, and good on you for posting the process with pictures. Will be following this thread for sure.
Would love to get my hands on some of this stock and have a go.
Thanks Rothmar. I've followed your work and its quite impressive!!! When I retired I was lost without machinery to do my projects. Now things are coming together.
As for the material, its great stuff. I've been trying to find deals on it and if its quality material, there are none. Most of the places that make it do so on special order because the demand is low.
The stuff from china is NG!!!! Its very brittle and even breaks while trying to machine it.
Take care, .. Lou