Has anyone turned one of these to be used as a reel seat insert? If so, can the same tools used for turning wood be used on acrylic? I assume heat build up will be a problem.

Jim - I have turned pens on acrylic blanks and standard lathe tools work just fine. There's a little extra heat build up but I usually take lighter cuts on acrylic.

Doug

Hey Jim;
I have used them a number of times in the recent past. Yes you can, as Doug said, use a standard lathe. The big thing to keep in mind is heat. When you start to sand the blank keep it and the sand paper wet. I mean dripping wet. I use 1,200 grit paper to start, than go with finer grits as needed. So far two to three grit sizes are all I've needed. I keep a plastic bowl of water handy while sanding. Dipping the sand paper in it to keep it wet. As you are sanding, cup the sand paper in you hand. Kinda underneath the blank to help hold water. If you start to feel ANY heat you need more water. After you get the smooth surface you want, take an acrylic gloss and polish the blank. Make sure the blank is dry from the water first. Just keep the blank on the lathe and apply the gloss with a clean cloth. I found the faster you turn the blank while applying the gloss, the more brilliant the finish. I think that may be something to with the amount of heat that is produced due to the speed.
Oh. Another thing. I learned the hard way. I would recomend turning the blank for shape, then dill through to slide onto the rod blank, and sand and finish last.
I hope this helps. Good luck and let us know how it turns out.

Tight Lines and Clean living.
Paully

I have use the pen blanks as the core of my encapsulated grips and they work just fine on small diameter blanks but you can only ream them out to about a 1/2" ID, this is the smaller ones "5/8 x 5/8". I have not tried the 3/4" x 3/4" pieces Jesse

One thing to remember when drilling through the blank, go VERY,VERY slow. Take your time and remove the shavings often, allowing the blank and drill bit to cool.