Easy Center Band Material

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Wmcullen

Wmcullen

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Dec 1, 2020
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Location
Fairfax, Virginia
I'm not sure if this process is right or wrong; unique or common. But I want to share in case it's interesting.​
30: Easy Classy Center Band
last post- 29: Scribe Tool for Octagon Cuts
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Wenge with Aluminum Composite ACM Centerband
Many folks have talked up Aluminum Composite as a segmenting material.
I just discovered it... and like it a lot!
I ordered a 12"x12" sheet for $5.50 with free shipping to my local HD store.​
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The material is thin, but I drilled a 1/4" hole in the middle and loaded it onto my mandrel to incorporate into a few pen designs as center bands.
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[Loaded between padauk blanks]
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Prepare blanks using barrel trimmer.
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Turn down to within the barrel trimmed diameter.
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Reload mandrel with centerband material.
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Turn down together.
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Summary
One advantage to turning on a mandrel is I can "see" how the upper and lower sections work with the centerband.
I can decide where the visual breaks are, even if they don't line up with pen components.
This Aluminum Composite is budget-friendly, easy to use, and a great new material to play with.
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pen31.17.jpg

Thanks for looking
- Cullen
 
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Dibond is the leader in ACM. If you like that material, check Rowmark, and Gemini. The surface material won't matter, as only the edge would be visible for this particular use. There are several other companies as well, but I use these brands often.
 
Is this the stuff with polyethylene core?
What became of that thin stuff we used to use as a tang liner on knife handles?About 1/32 to 1/16 thick and came in different colours...
 
Sounds like engraving plastic. They have indoor and outdoor. Check out plastic, engraved name tags. Same stuff.
 
Kenny Durrant said:
Since I'm not the only one that hasn't heard about the Composite Aluminum is it a metal material or a shiny plastic?
Click to expand...
I wondered what it was also. The site says "Aluminum Composite panels feature two thin sheets of Aluminum enclosing a Polyethylene core."
I wonder if it's available with different core colors? This looks pretty sharp!
 
As a former sign maker, I've never seen it (the center) in a color other than black. The outer layer of aluminum can be gotten in several color i.e. red, blue, black but that is only on the face. When used on a pen, you wouldn't even see the color
 
Wmcullen said:
I was also wondering if the polyethylene core was available in different colors, but haven't found that yet. Looks like this material is used for signs and as a lightweight but durable outdoor material.
Click to expand...
With ACM the sheet surface colour is the only thing seen.
Polyethylene is produced in millions of tons annually.Don't know what grade of PE the core is in ACM.
HDPE is also made in multi colour sheet form.Takes away some of the convenience but you could stick Al to that.Glue choice and adhesion could be interesting.
And then there's polypropylene, also available in multiple colours.Might be more brittle?
 
Wmcullen said:
I was also wondering if the polyethylene core was available in different colors, but haven't found that yet. Looks like this material is used for signs and as a lightweight but durable outdoor material.
Click to expand...
Mr.Sticky poly bonder apparently.
Short youtube video on process.
Hdpe needs a little heat treatment but also glue seems to need
.007" thickness.
 
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