I stopped at Rockler to a few things and spotted some Inch and half by 6 inch Inace Acrylester blanks.

I've never turned plastics before and have some questions. I went to youtube and watched a couple of videos and it seems to be easy.

 

1. If I want to turn a ball, can I predrill it and use an Oak dowel center to center? 

2. If so, what kind of glue would I use to glue wood to acrylic ?

3. Are there some important do's and don'ts?

4. Does this stuff tare out?

5. Will it melt if I drill/turn too fast or slow?

 

Thanks

1- yes

2- super glue or epoxy

3-sharp tools are a must and don't rush it

4-it can if you rush it

5-yes it will melt if drilled to fast.  It will grab onto your drill bit as it cools and you will never get it out without breaking the plastic or drill bit. 

5-shouldn't melt while you turn it unless you rush it.

+1 on the sharp tools and going slow.

I drilled a quarter inch hole thru and I used 2 part epoxy on an Oak dowel. Didn't know what to expect, so I did everything slowly. First thought, this is fun. Second thought STRING ALONG WITH ME!

There were plastic strings everywhere   I had to stop many times to clear the stuff away. Also to see to it that there was no build up/friction problems. I did find that some of this piece is more brittle than others. I played with it and came up with this prototype. I think I am now ready to make something out of it. 

Thanks for the advise...........worked fine, finishing a snap

That turned out great, Ron!

 

The only things I've made from acrylic are pens.

Lew, I turned down some Padiuk (spelling) for the piece. The more I turned it down, the more it split out. Must have been a very old board. Anyway, I did come up with something that looks OK. Not great.  Then the glue up didn't go as I liked. OK not like I wanted. Maybe I can fix it.  THEN   I dropped it. I didn't look at it, just picked it up and put it on the bench.  So you may see a picture of my first acrylic ornament or not. 

On 11/7/2016 at 2:51 PM, Ron Altier said:

Second thought STRING ALONG WITH ME!

There were plastic strings everywhere   I had to stop many times to clear the stuff away.

what happens if those strings get to the DC's impeller???

Fortunately, the ribbons of plastic did not go in that direction.  Some did get in my One way chuck, made it hard to turn and required cleaning. I had to clean the whole area behind my lathe where all other cutting tools are. I was concerned that my lights would ignite the plastic, but the LED lights were cool.  Next time I'll take a picture. Another concern was my vacuum. It is the double bag half horse and the plastic goes thru the squirrel cage before it goes in the bag. So I cleaned most up by hand, wasn't difficult to clean.

 

I forgot to thank Handy Dan for the answers and advise.