I know this has been done. . .

[MDWine]

. . . and I've seen the thread, but for the life of me I cannot find it now.

I want to take my acrylic/plastic/resin/etc cutoffs and get them to smaller pieces, then cast them into blanks.
Not technically difficult, but I wonder the best way to make my cutoffs smaller?
I want the individual pieces in the 1/8" range... kinda small compared to what I have seen before.
I'm thinking start with a hammer, and maybe that's all I need?
What about an electric mixer kind of machine? Maybe that would make things too small and/or dusty?

So I am polling the IAP collective for thoughts and ideas on the topic...

(the IAP BORG... all your blanks am belong to us) lol

 

[turncrazy43]

Not done it myself, but some have used the hammer method to break the cut offs into smaller pieces and then place them into a mold with a single color resin. I've seen it done with a white resin. I suppose you could do it with any other color you want. If you have a fine tooth chop saw you could cut the cut offs into small slices and then snap them off with pliers to get smaller irregular pieces. I will wait to see what others may offer as I have lots of cut offs sitting in boxes with no place to go.
Turncrazy43

 

[randyrls]

Hmmm... Wrap the block in cloth, squeeze in a metal vise? Something like a stone crusher?

 

[Mikeyt]

Just use a steel awl and a hammer works great and sometimes get good or different edges


Sent from my iPhone using Penturners.org mobile app

 

[Gary Beasley]

If you are particular about chunk size you might want to use a screen to sift the particles then put the leftovers back through the crushing process till you get what you want. A somewhat finer screen can separate the dust from the desired size too.

 

[Charlie_W]

Michael, you can use an iron pipe cap as a mortar and a hammer as the pestle and smash those cutoffs.

 

[MDWine]

What are the opinions on using a blender? I wonder ...

 

[TonyL]

What are the opinions on using a blender? I wonder ...

I like the idea..small food processor too.

 

[howsitwork]

re the blender idea I suppose it depends on how fast you can run when the wife spots you !

Should work but for consistent sizes you might want a garden sieve to run stuff through. i wou"do use a bandsaw and accept the losses from the blade curf. Hold the pieces in a wooden clothes peg NOT your finger though and have the hpguard set really close to the pieces. If you cut a piece of hard cardboard and tape it in place half cut it will stop the segments getting drawn i to the blade orifice.

 

[Ed McDonnell]

Pen blanks should be no problem for this blender....

Ed

 

[Charlie_W]

If you have an old garbage disposal laying around, that might chew up some cutoffs!

 

[TattooedTurner]

I put a blank in a plastic bag then busted it up with a 5lb sledge. After casting the pieces in white resin this is how it turned out. I think a blender would give similar results depend on how long you ground it up for.

 

[MDWine]

I put a blank in a plastic bag then busted it up with a 5lb sledge. . . this is how it turned out. . .

Yep, exactly what I'm looking for, but I would like my "chunks" a bit smaller.

 

[MDWine]

Thanks everyone for your responses. I just may have to look for a used blender on the yard sale sites and give this a "whirl"... lol
This will be a winter project, I gotta turn some 'birdie houses' for Christmas!

THANKS!!

 

[InvisibleMan]

I've frozen thin pours of resin to make them more brittle, and then pounded with a hammer. This was Alumilite, which does not break quite as easily as PR.