Tru-stone. unaxol

[Fatstrat]

Hello, im just looking for recommendations on drilling, turning, and finishing tru stone. I havnt yet tried, so im not sure what im in for. Also, what is it made of? The ads say its semi-precious stone, but not what kind of stone. I assume that all of the colors are the same stone, but just dyed differently. Am i correct? If not, please set me straight. Also, im planning on trying some unaxol. I went to mobydicksupplies and filled out their form, but havnt been contacted yet. Anyone know how long they take to get back to you, cost, etc?
Thanks

 

[thewishman]

Fatstrat, I get my tru-stone from randbcrafts here on IAP. No finish is needed, just polish the material to get a great shine.

 

[GoodTurns]

contact Richard at R&B, or just read his ad in the classifieds. It gives a pretty good (and very accurate) description of the various blanks' hardness. There is a fairly large difference in the different makeups and turning them is not particularly difficult if you keep your tools sharp and cut lightly!

 

[ed4copies]

contact Richard at R&B, or just read his ad in the classifieds. It gives a pretty good (and very accurate) description of the various blanks' hardness. There is a fairly large difference in the different makeups and turning them is not particularly difficult if you keep your tools sharp and cut lightly!

THAT is a matter of opinion.

But they are certainly NOT all the same.


Sharp tools, light cuts (this time, it applies) and lots of sharpening in between.

Oh, it DOES polish beautifully - micromesh or sand to 1500 then tripoli - whatever you like

 

[NewLondon88]

so far I've only turned the turquoise, malachite and red jasper. But I ordered more as soon as I turned them.

First, they feel like expensive blanks SHOULD feel.. heavy, dense, solid and consistent.
They feel substantial.. they feel real. and they're even the correct size..
(square, so you can mount them in a chuck on the lathe)

As others said, sharp tools, light cuts.

But I used some fairly heavy cuts. I don't think I used anything but a roughing gouge.
Might have used a mini skew on the ends of one or two .. but I don't even think
I did that. The sides of the roughing gouge acted as a scraper anyway.

They cut cleanly, no chattering, no 'skitching'
(you know .. when you're scraping an acrylic and you hear this gawd-awful
noise that sounds like "SKITCH" and you KNOW you just took out a big chunk
of material .. probably shouldn't have sneezed while turning..)

Polish like a dream. I sand to 600 and then wet sand with micromesh to
12,000. I might or might not hit it with White Diamond, maybe Brasso or
Novus2 plastic polish. I usually put on some Ren wax to keep the fingerprints
at bay. But finishing is real easy, real fast and really really good.

I love this stuff.

ps . I'm still a beginner, so these aren't great. But the material makes it easy to
get better very quickly.

 

[marionquill]

It's not the real thing - tru-stone is imitation stone, 85% stone material and 15% resins made to look like the real stone; the company doesn't specify what kind of stone is used. The company that makes it is based in Arizona but you have to buy it in large blocks so it's much better to get it from the folks here on IAP; you get a wider variety than what is sold at, CSUSA for example, and they are already cut As far as turning it goes, some types are much harder than others but for all the ones I've turned it's been a lot like turning acrylic - light cuts and keep the tool sharp and the blank cool. The bloody basin jasper is a nice one to start with - it comes off as kind of a powder and small ribbons and turns down quickly. All the pens I've made with it turned out stunning. Drilling the blank, I use light cuts and put a bit of water in the blank (careful, your tools will probably rust, even if you're careful) and as far as finishing, I start with 220 and work up to 400 grit, all wet sanded, then skip the first micro-mesh and wet sand all the through 12000 grit and to finish it up I polish using plastic polish.

Jason

 

[amosfella]

Does anyone know what the website is for the manufacturer is or the manufacturer's name?? I have been looking for the info as I would possibly be having someone wanting a large sheet of the turquoise.