Trustone Pens

[grumps]

I don't see too many pictures of trustone pens so I thought I'd give them a try. Here's a blue lapis trustone as a Baron TN-G and a pink-coral trustone living as a chrome Sedonna. The pink coral was very easy to turn but I was surprised at how difficult it was to shape the blue lapis. I'm not imaginative enough to embellish trustone blanks so they ended as basically B2B turnings. I've got a red jasper trustone pen blank remaining that I hope to try this week. I've made a stopper from this color and it was a gem to turn - hope the pen is as easy!

If you haven't tried this alternative material, give it a shot. It's fairly easy to drill (leave a bit of extra material when you drill) and it seems easier to turn than a lot of other materials we use.

I'm not a photographer and don't have a light-tent so the pictures aren't as sharp as I'd like.

 

[Glenn McCullough]

looking good, Jim...Havent tried the true stone, may have to give it a whirl.

 

[martyb]

Great looking pens.
Yes, the blue lapis is easily the hardest of the tru-stone to turn. But it's just too good looking to pass up.

 

[Stevej72]

Great job, Jim. I did a blue lapis and found it very difficult to shape, too.

 

[grumps]

Thanks for the kind words y'all. I've done a few trustone stoppers but never the blue lapis flavor and I was really surprised at the hardness of that thing - especially considering how easy the pink-coral blank turned. Took me over 90 minutes to just turn it and I know I sharpened that skew 4 or 5 times before I finished! []

I had intended to match it with a sterling sliver Baron FP but as I turned the thing I realized that the TN-gold would be a better choice. The picture doesn't show it but the blue lapis does have more of a shine what it appears here.

 

[mrcook4570]

Pens look great. Nice choice of hardware for the blue lapis - the gold really complements the lines in the lapis.

 

[huntersilver]

very nice looking pens!!

 

[jkirkb94]

Beautiful pens! I've had a little harder time turning trustone...really dulls my tools! I also learned to save the shavings to use whenever I use woods with voids. [8D]

 

[grumps]

Thanks for the idea, Kirk. I never gave that any thought but it adds a new dimension to decorative materials for voids.