Magnetic Graduates in Tru-Stone

[Ted iin Michigan]

Here's a couple Graduates in Tru-Stone. I saw them in the PSI ad and thought they might be worth a try.

Basic evaluation: nice rollerball kit. The cap and bodies require different diameter drills (10.5mm & 12.5mm) so it requires 2 setups but that's no big deal. The kit itself looks to be nicely manufactured. Fir & finish is good. One thing new to me is the clip assy. It has an adjustment screw inside on the bottom of the assembly that you can use to modify the standoff gap of the clip. It's not mentioned in the instrs nor on line or in the PSI catalog but it's interesting. Wonder if it'll be worthwhile to anybody.

I did these 2 in "Wild horse jasper" Tru-stone and "Sodalite" Tru-stone. LOML saw the Sodalite and "appropriated" it before I got through the door from the shop.

I continue to wowrk on finishing. These 2 came out good, I think. Finishing schedule was wet sand through 2000 (including longitudinal sanding on each grit), then Novus 3 and 2 then a quick buff on the Beall wheels with Tripoli and white diamond.

Photos are with a Sony digital - 2 seconds at f22 or thereabouts. Then color and exposure corrections on the computer. Resized on line.

Thanks for looking. Comments welcome (encouraged).

 

[Ruby pen turning]

Look great. Love the Sodalite.

 

[plantman]

Ted; Good looking pens, blanks, and photos. Jim S

 

[mikespenturningz]

Nice.... Great looking pens.

 

[Mordi]

Those came out great!

I recently ordered some truestone blanks. After seeing your pics, I can't wait to starting turning them.

Nice job on those two

Mordi

 

[Turned to Write]

Hey I'm new to the site and am excited to learn from the group. I am looking forward to turning some Tru-Stone. I am purchasing some pieces from R & B crafts, And have some finishing questions for the group. Do I need to invest in a carbide tipped turning tool? My first attempt failed miserably with Azurite/Malachite Natural. I was excited to work with the uniqueness of the material. It seemed to turn well until I got down to finishing, as soon as I started to put the finishing touches on with my skew, sharp as it was all it did was burn the blank. Now I'm looking at turning the white with gold matrix and wondering how difficult it will be, any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

 

[Boz]

Don't know what your original files looked like but looking at the color in your background look into the white balance on your camera. If you have the feature to do a custom white balance try it out and it will save you a lot of time.

 

[Ted iin Michigan]

Boz - Thanks. Still working on it (new camera).

Turned to Write - Yeah, Tru-stone can be a pia to work with sometines, but I think the trouble is worth it.

Couple things: 1 - Take it slow and easy, esp in the drilling operation. This stuff heats up quick and it'll blow out if it gets hot. Lousy way to ruin an expensive blank. If you're doing a long hole (say, for a "Clicker") check the bit often for heat and don't be afraid to walk away for a while to let the blank cool down.

2 - As hard and tough as Tru-stone is on the tools, it sands real easy. Don't be too aggressive here. I like to stop cutting when I'm getting close and sand (it's been called a "100 grit skew"). I sand dry to 400 then wet sand to 2000. You don't need too much water but protect the ways on your lathe. Polishing after that.

3 - Carbide tooling is nice but not mandatory. When you get about halfway, consider a quick touch up on the tool.

Good luck - let us know how it turns out.

 

[ryanclark]

Nice pens and pictures

 

[yorkie]

That blue one is amazing!

 

[flyitfast]

I have always liked the tru-stone blanks and yours are good colors. They also go well with the kit. I think I'm going to add that kit to the inventory - it looks great and you made it look good with the blanks.
gordon

 

[PeetyInMich]

To Mordi and Turned: Ted is absolutely correct on the first 2 points, the third point was my justification for buying a carbide tool. And some Tru-stones are much easier to turn than others (dark greens seem to be among the most difficult, exotics website mentions relative turning difficulty). And on point #2, I think sometimes the sandpaper may cut faster than the tool (keep the blank cool).