(I’m sure there is a mini tutorial hiding in here somewhere) – First in line was this ring. I made it from acrylic

Acrylic Ring

sheet, plexiglass. The saw had to do a bit of work but we got there in the end. – My elbow only hurt for a little while.

Once the, at that point, sort of oval form, had detached from the rest of the sheet, everything else was formed by filing and sanding. My arms are a little stronger now, great upper body workout.

Start sanding with coarse paper if you need to remove some of the material.

For the fine-tuning you can use higher numbers like 240 to 300.

When the shape is ‘final’ you can start to polish using the sanding paper, use very fine sanding paper starting with 400 and higher depending on the finish you would like.

You may also want to move to wet sanding after a while – remember to wear a dust mask at all times. The water helps to catch the little bits and pieces flying around and can made it easier to see the detail of the piece.

When you are happy with the look, make sure all the scratches have been removed, you can give the item a final polish after applying some polishing paste.

Whatever you do don’t rush, take your time sanding with different grades of paper to make sure all scratches are removed and the shape is as you want it.

The finished item can look like glass. In which case you need to be careful, every fingerprint and reflection will show. So no touching just before you take any photos.

Next on my list are some coloured sheets. As soon as the saw has recovered.

As the material is very light it is also suitable for earrings. This is were having just two hands turns into a bit of a problem, there is only so much we can do at the same time. And there is some exotic/precious wood waiting to be turned into jewellery pieces.

I will also try colouring the acrylic sheet, if it works, I will post a tutorial later. (After cleaning the kitchen).