It will be a long time before I use tru stone again

[Haynie]

Maybe the beginner's luck is wearing off or I am a complete moron. Turned another tru stone blank this morning. This time white turquoise. Turned beautifully everything was great until I started micromeshing. The damn thing cracked. How can something crack when you are micro meshing? So, no more tru stone for a while. To top it all off the laminated blanks I made for the my PITH pen keep blowing up. I thought this was supposed to be relaxing. AAARRRGGGGG!!!

I am going back to Acrylic and PR. SOOOOOOO much easier to use. Of course now that I have said that everything is going to go to hell.

Grumble grumble grumble.

 

[renowb]

I was told once, "Cheer up" things could be worse, so I cheered up and things got worse!

 

[bensoelberg]

Are you wet micromeshing or dry? If you are using it dry, my first guess would be too much heat. In a rush to finish usually means putting too much pressure on the blank while sanding which causes too much heat and the blank cracks. If that's not it, I'm not sure what happened. Bummer, though.

 

[Haynie]

I always wet micromesh with very light pressure. Did not even think about doing it dry.

 

[Rmartin]

You may have the blanks too tight on your mandrel. Try loosening the nut and just barely tighten when sanding.

 

[joefyffe]

Have you considered cut out dolls, or maybe stamp collecting? Only joking. I love tru stone. Haven't had problems, but maybe that's beginners luck. I haven't turned much of it. What I have turned I've tried to frequently sharpen and keep the heat down. Now, I'm gonna have to turn another to see if I was just lucky?????

 

[76winger]

I love Trustone, but the darker the color the harder it is. Most Dark Blue, Purple, Black, etc. variations will pretty much require a carbide tipped cutter to work them down. Sanding doesn't seem so bad once you get them down to size though. But as mentioned, use light pressure and keep the heat down. And once you start Mico-Meshing, start wet-sanding. Not only does it run cooler, but the finish is much smoother and brighter once you're done.

 

[alphageek]

I wish I could help - Can you tell us a bit more about your issue? The White Turquoise you were using should have been ok... What kit were you using? I agree that it seems REALLY weird to crack at that point. Was it right at the start of MM? The only thing that I can think is that you heated it up while sanding then the wet MM cooled it too rapidly.

I'll tell you that the razors (you saw my post) were pretty safe. The razors use a 7mm tube, but are as big finished as the small part of a Jr Gent.

 

[Haynie]

I was on the second pad of the MM.I really don't think it was too hot. The more I think about it I wonder if it started when I was turning and just decided to open up. Poo happens.

 

[alphageek]

I was on the second pad of the MM.I really don't think it was too hot. The more I think about it I wonder if it started when I was turning and just decided to open up. Poo happens.

Huh... Then I'm at a loss. I don't know what to think. If it makes you fell any better, I have a nemesis product too. Lucite gives me fits. It's pretty, but I just can't get the looks I want. The few pieces I have saved are waiting until I attempt making a project without tubes.

 

[nava1uni]

I wouldn't stop using tru stone just because one cracked. It seems to me that there is always going to be one that breaks, cracks, chips, just won't fit properly or something else. In all the years I have been making pens there has always been the opportunity for something to go wrong. It just seems to be a part of making almost anything, but an opportunity to learn and grow in the skills. Don't give up too easy.

 

[gawdelpus]

The first suspect is the Glueup.Forget CA as it is a brittle glue when hard,and not a great gap filler. Any voids between tube and material will create a weak point, A lot of the higher pens have very little wall thickness when finished ,so the closest fit to tube you can get is best option, same goes for acrylics really ,as you say its possible to set up fractures in the roughing process ,that wont appear till almost finished .I make it a habit to sand off all the corners of acrylics and truestone to reduce the "hammer" affect you can get before material is roughed to round. I have to confess I never liked turning truestone with hand chisels,so do mine with carbide tools on a mini metal lathe ,light cuts and steady pressure takes all the heartache out hehe. Try a good epoxy glueup with a close fit tube (easily filed out by hand with a round file ) and as has been noted not all truestone blanks have the same turning qualities,same as acrylics some are easier than others Good luck in the future cheers ~ John

 

[PenMan1]

The problem IS heat build up. It could have happened in drilling or cutting, but it shows up during sanding because your blank is getting much thinner.

Tru Stone should be drilled at the slowest lathe speed (additionally, I use PAM as lubricant). Tru Stone also prefers frighteningly sharp carbide tools for cutting. I also cut at the lathe's highest speed using water to cool and VIRTUALLY NO pressure on the sharp tool.

Other than black Tru Stone staining my fingers when wet sanding, I have no issues with Tru stone.

 

[randyrls]

as you say its possible to set up fractures in the roughing process ,that wont appear till almost finished .

Yep Ruined a few this way. Light shearing cuts with a carbide tipped tool. Use a tool with a tip close to 90 degrees. A tip with an angle of 45 degrees is too grabby for acrylic but works well for wood.

I make it a habit to sand off all the corners of acrylics and truestone to reduce the "hammer" affect you can get before material is roughed to round.

+1 on this. I have a small drum sander I use to knock the corners off.

Try a good epoxy glueup with a close fit tube (easily filed out by hand with a round file ) and as has been noted not all truestone blanks have the same turning qualities,same as acrylics some are easier than others

I prefer Gorilla Glue or other polyurathane glue. The foam action of the glue fills any voids or cracks and gives the blank just a little bit of resilience.

 

[alphageek]

The problem IS heat build up. It could have happened in drilling or cutting, but it shows up during sanding because your blank is getting much thinner.

Tru Stone should be drilled at the slowest lathe speed (additionally, I use PAM as lubricant). Tru Stone also prefers frighteningly sharp carbide tools for cutting. I also cut at the lathe's highest speed using water to cool and VIRTUALLY NO pressure on the sharp tool.

Other than black Tru Stone staining my fingers when wet sanding, I have no issues with Tru stone.

Ok. With processes like that, there is no doubt that you won't have problems Andy. However, I am the reverse case of you (and John above you) which makes me much less confident in the OPs issue than you are. I agree that its probably heat, but then again, given my processes I should have issues too than.

For me - I drill at about 1200 rpm, no lubricant. I do back out often and let the bit cool back down at least once during a blank. I glue up with CA and I don't knock any corners off (all done on the lathe). I run about 50/50 where I use a gouge or my carbide tool to do the roughing. I do turn at the highest speed, but nothing to cool it other than air until MM time.

Haynie - back to your issue... If you use Andy and Johns processes, you will likely have less issues. But no guarantees. The only other tip that I've thought of is to make sure that you have squared the blank right to the brass tube. If you have any extra material sticking off the end, your bushings may push on the material, not the brass and that will cause cracks too.

 

[PenMan1]

Another thought on Tru Stone is that it hates pen mills almost as much as laser kits.

One reason that I drill so slowly is that you can "hear" the blank at 500 rpms. If you hear a "click" with Tru Stone, it's usually history, even though you may never see a crack.

Additionally, I never use a gouge on TS, as I can actually feel the heat build up on the tool blade. I usually use a "corner jig" on the band saw for rounding, or a belt sander as a last resort.