To answer a few questions;
Mrs.S, I haven't sold that many of these to know which the ladies prefer but the two Asian Coral I have made were purchased by ladies and the turquoise pens are also popular.
Jared, All of the blanks above turn very easy except for the #7 Blue Lapis which is very hard and requires constant sharpening of the tools. I use a 1" roughing gouge and can make two or three passes before sharpening, the same with the skew. I actually prefer working with these blanks over acrylics as they are a pleasure to turn and finish easily. After turning I wet sand with 600 grit, use the novice #3 polish then off to the buffer and that's it.
Mike, I hear you but I don't have that many calls for gold nibs in these smaller pens. I keep a small box full of nibs just in case though!
Keith, No transparancy issues with any of the truestone blanks I have tried to date except the tortoise shell which is like amber. The pink coral coral can be turned thin with no problem. Here is a Sierra I did recently where it matched perfectly with the two tone chrome!
For anyone wanting to try truestone, there are a few hard materials to stay away from like the imperial jade and charoite because they are like carving granite! The others like the ones above and the gold veined "matrix" and "web" styles turn as easily as acrylics, actually easier in my opinion!
