Aloha swaylockians,
Ready for the holidays?
I recently scored two huge sheets of 3/4" lexan or polycarb and four smaller sheets of 1/2". I will try foiling some fins with it this week and heard from an old thread here that finishing to 400# then flashing with a torch will clear it to a polish finish. Has anybody had experience with these materials recently?
I’m trying for something like this. 1979 Star Systems M.R. twin.
Mrs. Claus wears these,
Glass slippers.
Mahalo.
I’ve tried with polycarbonate and I ended up melting and rounding the sharpish leading and trailing edges with a flame. Here’s hoping you are more skilled than me !
maybe it’s more about polishing to the finest degree (1200) and then using the heat of polishing to turn the surface into a smooth surface.
I used to make dental caps , crowns , plates , bridges and dentures and its easy to polish up a mirror surface on a small item with just a buffing wheel but over a whole fin … I’m not sure…
Maybe cut off a smallish piece and test your technique before you cut and foil a whole fin and then figure out it can’t be done.
im keen to see if you can make it happen.
Sadly…Maybe buying off eBay may be the easiest way to get the fins you’re after.
Thanks SFoils, I just can’t bring myself to buy of ebay, like you, makin it from scratch is where it’s at for me. I’ll start working on a few small pieces this week and see what happens. I love the learning through experience bit and this project has the recycling factor also. Double bonus.
....please , can you take photos as you go , and keep us updated , dlock ?
I , too, have had 'meltdowns', trying to reshape existing ['dumper bin find'] ones , in the past . So I am interested to see how you go with it ... all the best !
cheers mate
ben
[edit : I always liked the look of those M.R. twinnies , when I first saw them 'in the mags' , back in the late 70s . It woulda been nice to have had a pair , or have a pair now , as well as the twinny [board] to go with it !]
No worries guys, I’ll get lots of pics. I’m not even sure of the material composition as it was very dark when I picked them up. lol.
Nah, relax, I know a guy who busts down houses over here and already received the go ahead to rummage through his scrap yard about a year and a half ago.
EDIT-Just found this: Weldon 4 melts the polycarb at the molecular level, wonder what it is made of? Heated baking powder and some acid prolly??
The vid is amazing: http://www.star-prototype.com/services/rapid-prototyping/vapor-polishing-of-polycarbonate/
It’s definitely acrylic. Not sure about the value of foiling acrylic and don’t want to have the fins just snap on my new kookbox mini so if you guys have tried making acrylic fins let me know your results with acrylic. Love that clear look though.
Mahalo
I used that technique on a windshield for my boat that I cut out and bent. The torch definitely works on edges, it gave a nice clear finish to the sides that were cut with the saw but wasn’t completly smooth. I bet it would go clear but a whole side of a fin might get a bit wonky and ruin your nice foil. I didn’t sand the edge down smooth though, give it a shot if you have extra material.