Acrylic Cubes

Fabrickator

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I bought a 2" x 2" slab of cast acrylic and cut out some cubes to make some dice. I cut them out on my band saw and trued them up in the lathe. I lapped them with 400 grit and then polished them with my 10" cotton buffing wheel with tripoli compound @ 2400 rpm. They came out super clean & optical clear and throw off some cool optical illusions when you walk around them. I plan to make one a die and other I may make a turner's cube. These are straight forward, one-piece clear cubes with no lamination's (like the pics may infer).

IMG_2277.JPG IMG_2279.JPG
 
Very cool. Nice work. Fun with optics. But a turner's cube in plastic? Wow. Gotta see that one.

CHuck the grumpy old guy
 
PS A great polishing job. You sir, are a very patient man.

CHuck the grumpy old guy
 
I bought a 2" x 2" slab of cast acrylic and cut out some cubes to make some dice. I cut them out on my band saw and trued them up in the lathe. I lapped them with 400 grit and then polished them with my 10" cotton buffing wheel with tripoli compound @ 2400 rpm. They came out super clean & optical clear and throw off some cool optical illusions when you walk around them. I plan to make one a die and other I may make a turner's cube. These are straight forward, one-piece clear cubes with no lamination's (like the pics may infer).

View attachment 118672 View attachment 118673

You are truly a patient person. In my business we sold and fabricated acrylics. Fabrication can drive you nuts. Gluing is even more potentially problematic. Nice Job.
 
That's cool you can buy them, but that takes all of the fun out of making it. : ) I got a good deal on the slab for $10 as a remnant and I can get 4 more out of it. I've seen someone on the web that made a turners cube out of acrylic, so it can be done. Of course, it would be near impossible to polish inside the bores.

I bought the buffing wheels and compounds for my wood projects (bowls, vases, boxes) 20 years ago, but they've come in real handy in my metal projects. Each cube was lapped in about 5 minutes w/400 grit and polished in about 15 minutes.

SHOP TIP - I use my standing drill press for lapping. Just tape a half sheet of wet dry on the front side of the table and it works great. Standing up is more comfortable for my back than bending over a bench using a surface plate.
 
Great job on the cubes! Your aluminum "diamond" would look great done in acrylic.
 
That would be very cool. Cutting it would not be a problem, but lapping/polishing would be tricky. Plastic, like aluminum is so soft, it's hard to polish the facets w/o losing the delicate edges. I would have to make (and I've thought about this for a while) a lapping/polishing articulating arm jig to hold the angles, much like a lapidary wheel polisher.
 
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