Question: Finishing Truestone

[Joe Burns]

Hi everyone,

I have a question that probably has been asked a thousand times. I'm presently turning a truestone blank for the first time. No issues so far.

My question is what is the best finishing procedures I should use. Many will say just like acrylic. Ive only turn wood so far.

• Do I turn until its just proud of the bushings and then start the finishing?
• I have micro mesh and am used to wet sanding a CA finish. Do I use the same process as I would for CA with the micromesh?
• Also should I dry sand before I start the micromesh?

Joe

[islandturner]

I just did my first one a week or so ago, and simply buffed it. It came out with a nice glossy hard finish -- I don't think any other finish is required...

Steve

[Don Wade]

Beware of what type of truestone it is. Some will burn rapidly and others are much more forgiving.

[jasontg99]

Joe,

I have turned a few trustones. I turn them to fit the bushings and do a light sanding if necessary. I then wet MM through all the pads. Simple as that.

Jason

[GoatRider]

I've done one, I sanded it up to 1200 and then used jeweler's rouge. Worked great. I've heard other people have had good luck with PSI's one-step plastic polish.

[SteveG]

I recall a caution previously posted. I believe that some types of Tru-stone with gold veining (matrix) will leave dark colors on your buffing wheel. Maybe those who have experienced this could identify which colors cause this problem. Also, in my personal experience, the "imperial jade" did not buff up to as good of a shine as other Tru-stone blanks.

[Dave Turner]

I also have good luck with a light sanding up to 400 grit, then run through the micromesh pads with water as lubricant. I previously used plastic polish as my final step, but now use a buffing wheel. It gives better results and you can orient the blank so it's length-wise, which eliminates any remaining microscopic micromesh lines (you can see them under high magnification).

I also noticed that the imperial jade did not polish up to as high a gloss as the other Tru-stone blanks. I thought it might have been me, but everything I tried failed to give it that high gloss. Renaissance wax did help.

[drgoretex]

I have had great success working my way through the grits up to the 12000 micromesh. Just don't get too hot, or it can burn and streak.

One other thing about trustone is that while you can get an awesome polish on it, it does fade and dull relatively quickly with use. I assume that is because of the particles suspended in the resin matrix. Regardless, I have started putting a CA finish on my trustone to preserve the gloss, as the rapid dulling of the finish can be very disappointing!

Cheers,

Ken

[toolcrazy]

I've always WET sanded my tru-stone. In fact, I wet sand all my plastic/acrylic finishes. I just cut my sheets to size, then throw it in a tray of water. The MM last longer and you don't have issues with heat. Plus, it eliminates the dust. Some even throw a drop of liquid dish-washing soap in the water, they say that it increases life and it cuts faster. Haven't tried that, yet.

[Joe Burns]

I appreciate it everyone. This gives me a good idea on finishing the blanks. Now that my holiday company is leaving tomorrow I can start back up on the lathe.

Joe