Alumilite? Resin? Acrylic? Casein?

[vanagas]

Hey all,

How you doin today? My friends, I am making pens for 3 years but in these three years, I just bought everything from "penkitsmall" and made. About exotic woods; I found a woodshop 45 minutes far away from my home... And took the wooden pieces from there...

About pen blanks, I really didn't care what I am buying, Acrylic... Resin... Etc...

But in these days I want to make more kitless pens, I tried before but now I want to make better ones... Thats why I started to search them all...

When I look at my shopping history, I see that I bought both acrylic and resin materials. I don't know the difference between them, except that one of them turns into dust when making a hole, and the other comes out whole, like spaghetti.

Apart from this, the smells of the two are different during drilling. I tried ebonite for the first time today and oh my goodness. What a bad smell!
I don't think I'll consider making ebonite again.

But my friends, the sticks I see on etsy and a few other stores (except penkitsmall) usually say acrylic and sometimes alumilite.

I want you to write about these three in particular, acrylic, resin and alumilite.
What is alumilite, what is acrylic, what is resin. and what are their differences from each other?
I couldn't find much information about this on the internet.

If I try to make these, I would be very happy if you could tell me which one I can make with the least bubbles and without using a pressure tank.


Thank you...

 

[its_virgil]

Acrylic has evolved into a generic term for any and all resins. Real acrylic casting requires special equipment. Real acrylic is not cast by those of us who cast blanks. Alumilite is a brand and not a specific resin. Both urethane and epoxy resins machine well. Kirinite is also a quality resin along with acrylic acetate. Good luck Iuck.

 

[egnald]

As Don (its-virgil) has already stated, the term "acrylic" has been genericized to include any and all plastic type blanks. Many (but not all) of the "kit-less" type blanks (usually blanks that start out round and are in the 8" to 9" inch long range) are made from a variation of Alumilite urethane resins. (The Alumilite company also makes resins that are not urethane based -- like epoxy).

Resin is also a generic term for viscous liquid polymers that are derived from organic or synthetic sources. The benefit of their chemical makeup is the ability to transition from a liquid into a customisable solid, homogenous structure through polymerization.

Ebonite that you mentioned is actually a brand name for a hard vulcanized rubber (a polysulfide elastomer) that contains a high percentage of Sulphur and linseed oil, thus the smell. It has some unique properties however that make it very popular in pen making - namely it machines and takes threads well, so it is frequently used as the core for wooden "kit-less" pens.

The other material you mentioned is casein. Casein is the main protein found in milk. It is a water soluble protein but when it dries it becomes solid. It's what gives milk its white opaque appearance. Although it can be found as a pen blank, it does not take threads very well, so it isn't suited for "kit-less" pens unless it is sleeved with something like ebonite.

As for casting without a pressure pot, the one that I have read the most about is called Liquid Diamonds. It is a low viscosity, bubble-free, fast curing, crystal clear, epoxy resin. It was specially formulated for the crafting industry without using a pressure pot. The main benefit, bubble-free, is also a detriment as far as making multiple color castings go. Because it is low viscosity, it is difficult to keep colors separated when using multiple dyes or pigments. In other words, the red and blue swirl that you are trying to make more than likely winds up more of a solid purple color.

I have have been working on explaining several of these "acrylic" i.e. plastic blanks that are available on the market. I have found many of them to be quite difficult as far as finding many specifics as I'm assuming the trade named blanks are mostly proprietary, in other words, a business secret. In the company I worked for we had many proprietary materials and processes. They were never protected by patents because to have a patent one must divulge all of the details. It was much better to just keep them a secret, many of us even had confidentiality agreements with the founder and CEO of the company related to these kinds of secrets.

However, I do have quite a bit of information specifically for a few that have been mentioned here, namely Alumilite, Inlace Acrylester, Kirinite, and Rhino (Rhino Plastic) blanks.

Please understand that there are loads and loads of "acrylic" plastic blanks and that even these have some unfinished or incomplete information so please take that into consideration.

My level of difficulty rating depending on the skill level and experience of the turner:
- Alumilite - Easy (level 2 to 3)
- Kirinite - Moderately Difficult (level 5 to 6)
- Rhino - Moderately Difficult (level 6 to 8)
- Inlace Acrylester - Highly Difficult (level 8 to 9.5)

I hope this helps answer your question - at least a little.
Dave

 

[GFHWoodWerks]

As Don (its-virgil) has already stated, the term "acrylic" has been genericized to include any and all plastic type blanks. Many (but not all) of the "kit-less" type blanks (usually blanks that start out round and are in the 8" to 9" inch long range) are made from a variation of Alumilite urethane resins. (The Alumilite company also makes resins that are not urethane based -- like epoxy).

Resin is also a generic term for viscous liquid polymers that are derived from organic or synthetic sources. The benefit of their chemical makeup is the ability to transition from a liquid into a customisable solid, homogenous structure through polymerization.

Ebonite that you mentioned is actually a brand name for a hard vulcanized rubber (a polysulfide elastomer) that contains a high percentage of Sulphur and linseed oil, thus the smell. It has some unique properties however that make it very popular in pen making - namely it machines and takes threads well, so it is frequently used as the core for wooden "kit-less" pens.

The other material you mentioned is casein. Casein is the main protein found in milk. It is a water soluble protein but when it dries it becomes solid. It's what gives milk its white opaque appearance. Although it can be found as a pen blank, it does not take threads very well, so it isn't suited for "kit-less" pens unless it is sleeved with something like ebonite.

As for casting without a pressure pot, the one that I have read the most about is called Liquid Diamonds. It is a low viscosity, bubble-free, fast curing, crystal clear, epoxy resin. It was specially formulated for the crafting industry without using a pressure pot. The main benefit, bubble-free, is also a detriment as far as making multiple color castings go. Because it is low viscosity, it is difficult to keep colors separated when using multiple dyes or pigments. In other words, the red and blue swirl that you are trying to make more than likely winds up more of a solid purple color.

I have have been working on explaining several of these "acrylic" i.e. plastic blanks that are available on the market. I have found many of them to be quite difficult as far as finding many specifics as I'm assuming the trade named blanks are mostly proprietary, in other words, a business secret. In the company I worked for we had many proprietary materials and processes. They were never protected by patents because to have a patent one must divulge all of the details. It was much better to just keep them a secret, many of us even had confidentiality agreements with the founder and CEO of the company related to these kinds of secrets.

However, I do have quite a bit of information specifically for a few that have been mentioned here, namely Alumilite, Inlace Acrylester, Kirinite, and Rhino (Rhino Plastic) blanks.

Please understand that there are loads and loads of "acrylic" plastic blanks and that even these have some unfinished or incomplete information so please take that into consideration.

My level of difficulty rating depending on the skill level and experience of the turner:
- Alumilite - Easy (level 2 to 3)
- Kirinite - Moderately Difficult (level 5 to 6)
- Rhino - Moderately Difficult (level 6 to 8)
- Inlace Acrylester - Highly Difficult (level 8 to 9.5)

I hope this helps answer your question - at least a little.
Dave

Oh, thanks David. I downloaded all that to read at a later time.