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Just a real quick question about acrylic/lucite stems: do they sand/buff/polish/wax the same as vulcanite/ebonite or are there special considerations?

Thanks everyone, Nathan

Harder in the intitial stages, but easier to polish

Take your time drilling - the stuff melts easily, sticks in the flutes, breaks bits. Small bites, and let it cool a little between bites.

The finishing is more work, too. (I think) it takes more effort than ebonite in getting scratches out. That Lucite is some HARD stuff!

Acrylic will also load up your sandpaper, and its surface will melt if you get too agressive sanding it in the finer grits.

Rad

I think the key for all processes is not to be too fast/aggressive. It is fiddly crap, but it's easy to get really good results as long as you don't force things.

I do the acrylic with sandpapers 120, 180, 240, 320, 400, 500, 600, 800, 1000 and 1200.
On top of that, gray and blue tripoli. I don't use wax on it.
Later, buffing wheel with rotation under 2000rpm and buffing by hand.
It gets so shine that you can get blind looking at it

eder.

• • •
Eder Mathias
http://mrhydepipes.com

Thanks for the info. One more quick question about acrylic: does bending the stem work the same as with vulcanite?

NathanA wrote:Thanks for the info. One more quick question about acrylic: does bending the stem work the same as with vulcanite?

Not quite. You have a much shorter window of flexibility with acrylic as it begins to cool.

Rad

RadDavis wrote:

NathanA wrote:Thanks for the info. One more quick question about acrylic: does bending the stem work the same as with vulcanite?

Not quite. You have a much shorter window of flexibility with acrylic as it begins to cool.

Rad

And it tends to want to bend in one spot. Takes a bit of fussing to get a gradual bend across a longer length. I try to use a cylindrical object (a cold can of something from the fridge) and lay the stem across it to get the curve... then enjoy the contents of the can!

I know this is an old post, however, I was searching for how to heat the acrylic stem to bend. I tried the boiling thing and that basically did nothing.

Any tips? Thanks!

I would suggest a heat gun (not a hair dryer) or an alcohol flame. A candle will work, but it'll produce soot. Won't hurt anything, it's just messy.

Be aware that there's a small window of opportunity when bending acrylic. If you start to feel resistance, stop the bending, or you could easily snap it.

Rad

Thanks Rad. I'll give it a try this weekend and see what comes of it.

I use a candle all the time - keep the stem about 2" above the flame and keep it moving - you really have to try to warm up a large section so it will bend uniformally. But a couple of minutes dancing over the flame and it will get nice and soft. Just takes a tiny bit of practice and patience no matter what method you try.