Can I turn a part from hard clear plastic?

[cazclocker]

I want to re-create a small plastic part from an ultra-rare tiny watchmakers lathe, the Rivett model 1R, which was only manufactured post WW2, between 1946 and about 1950. Estimates say only about 500-600 were ever made & sold. I have #195.

My #195 needs to be cleaned and restored, but two parts are missing from the tailstock which prevent the lathe from being complete.
The part I'm asking for help here, is the little knob at the end of the tailstock runner.
The thing is, the knob is made from a transparent red plastic - from what I can tell, the plastic was known as Tenite or Permaloid. The Rivett 1R came with three different knobs made from the same material - my 1R has the other two knobs, but lacks the TS one.

Apparently, right about the same time, the tool company Millers-Falls came out with some tools with handles made from the same stuff.
I found a nice example of a screwdriver with the Permaloid handle in the color I want, but my question is: realistically, can that material be turned in a lathe? I'm used to turning steel, iron and brass, even wood once. But plastic? Yikes.

Right now there's a Millers-Falls screwdriver on eBay for cheap - but I'd rather know it can be done before I even try it.
I'm attaching pics of:
A pristine Rivett 1R in perfect, never used condition. See yellow arrow for the knob I'd like to make.
My tailstock, you can see somebody tried to make a knob from some blackish material. Yuck!
The screwdriver I might buy, if it's even remotely possible.

Opinions welcome.

 

[WobblyHand]

Permaloid appears to be a form of acrylic. You need slow speed to turn it with a high feed rate and very sharp tools according to: https://www.dekmake.com/acrylic-machining-a-complete-guide/ I'd try it. What do you have to lose? The cost of one screwdriver?

 

[Provincial]

Acrylic, also known by the trade name Plexiglass, is very machinable with the right speeds, feeds, and tool bit design. A piece can be roughed out by machining, smoothed with increasingly finer grit sandpaper, and polished with cloth wheels/rouge. Acrylic comes in many colors, so try an online search for vendors.

As to the screwdriver, old plastics get brittle and may not do well when being machined. You won't know until you try.

 

[cazclocker]

Permaloid appears to be a form of acrylic. You need slow speed to turn it with a high feed rate and very sharp tools according to: https://www.dekmake.com/acrylic-machining-a-complete-guide/ I'd try it. What do you have to lose? The cost of one screwdriver?

Acrylic? That's really interesting - I didn't know that! I read an article at one of the old-time woodworker's tool websites said "The Permaloid components, made from a Hercules Powder Company cellulose acetate, were not manufactured in-house but were subcontracted to the Worcester Moulding Plastics Company." It's all Greek to me...
Anyway, I'm going to give it a go. Your comments, and the other comment from WobblyHand, are very appreciated. I plan to order the screwdriver tonight.
And, I plan to take plenty of pictures as I go. That's my usual custom.
Thanks for the encouragement, guys!
...Doug

 

[Weldingrod1]

Acrylic is very grouchy to drill. Modify drill bits like the ones for brass (removebrake angle), but much more pointy!
I'd just buy some red acrylic...

Sent from my SM-G715A using Tapatalk

 

[SLK001]

Go slow with plastics. Too fast and the swarf will start melting and bonding to everything, plus the surface finish will suffer. If that happens, just slow the turning speed down a notch. It finishes quite nicely with fine sandpaper (again, not too fast and not too slow).

Use VERY SHARP HSS tools.

 

[cazclocker]

Acrylic is very grouchy to drill. Modify drill bits like the ones for brass (removebrake angle), but much more pointy!
I'd just buy some red acrylic...

Sent from my SM-G715A using Tapatalk

Thanks for that. The first operation I'll have to do will be to drill a hole in the end, to receive a threaded insert. After that I'll start forming the shape.

 

[SLK001]

I don't know how big your end piece is, but here's a link to some 1" diameter red acrylic rod on ebay. Plenty to experiment with and to get things correct.

 

[markba633csi]

Sure you can turn plastics on the lathe; you may have some polishing to do afterwards if you want the part to have a clear shiny finish.
Also drill to size, don't use a pilot drill as is often done with metals. Plastics can crack and shatter when trying to enlarge an existing hole
-Mark

 

[francist]

They can also crack and shatter if you get greedy with a cut too….