This one almost killed me :)

[brownsfn2]

This is the one material that I have had the hardest time dealing with. I have ordered Charoite tru-stone at least 3-4 times. Every time I drill I blow out one half of the blank. Well I had an extra El Grande and found two halfs of left over Charoite. This time I drilled short and cut the blank further to size instead of drilling through. Worked great.

This peice of tru-stone sensed it was almost foiled so it put up quite a fight to get turned. I was at the grinder every 5-10 minutes sharpening my skew. It was the hardest tru-stone I have done yet (yes I have done the black with gold). I could not believe hot hot this material got and how hard it was to cut. I can't wait until my woodchuck comes in the mail.

After turning I sanded, micro meshed, novus 2, and buffed.

I am pleased with the end result but getting there was quite the chore. Thanks for listening.

 

[ctubbs]

That pen was obviously worth the extra work. She is BEAUTIFUL! Congratulations on sticking with it. Present, for sale or your own keeper? Which ever, that is one fine pen.
Charles

 

[woodgraver]

Great job, way to hang in there! Sounds like you were extremely careful to do it right and the end product is fantastic!

 

[thewishman]

That looks like it was worth the fight - a real beauty!

 

[wiset1]

Well it looks like it was well worth the effort...perhaps now you can be friends and stop all the fighting :biggrin:

 

[hewunch]

The carbide will help a good deal. I did a kitless ( threaded and all) out of this stuff.

 

[sumterdad]

Wow that looks good. Glad you roughed it out

 

[brownsfn2]

Thanks for the comments. I have declared a truce with the tru-stone material for now. I am sure I will win the battle once the carbide tools come in.

 

[Drstrangefart]

Sticking with it paid off. I don't even use HSS tools right now, so there are a LOT of materials I stumble across that require that treatment.

 

[drgoretex]

Very, very nice. Awesome work in showing it who's boss - you came up with a beautiful pen for your efforts, so it paid off. But, I know what you mean. When I get orders for trustone pens, I groan. Then I try to convince them they don't really want that

Ken

 

[glycerine]

That's a beautiful pen, Ron!