Red with Black Tru-Stone Churchill

[SCR0LL3R]

From what I have noticed on the forum, Churchills always turn out looking great with blanks that have a lot of black on them. When I saw this blank, I knew I had to put it on a Churchill and now that it's all together, I think it was the right choice. I am really happy with this one.

 

[renowb]

That is awesome looking!

 

[TxDade]

Nice looking pen! What tool do you use to cut Tru-Stone with? I am new to pen turning and would like to try tru-stone, but I don't know how hard it is to work with. Do you use a regular drill bit and how easily does it sand? Thanks and again great looing pen!

 

[johncrane]

Great choice Keith! looks great from here.

 

[SCR0LL3R]

Drilling and sanding (and polishing/buffing) are pretty easy, I just go really slow and take many pauses to avoid making too much heat. When I use plastic polish (HUT ultra gloss), I go light and slow and don't build up heat like I would with CA or acrylics.

For turning, I think you really need a carbide cutter. Just to turn the one pen, I dulled my cutter noticeably on the entire circumference. Thankfully I have some diamond stones that I used to re-sharpen the carbide disk so I don't have to spend a fortune replacing it all the time. I think the diamond stones are a very good investment when you look at the cost of replacement carbide cutters on most tools. Some people get carbide cutters cheaper, but I don't know from where.

I use the carbide cutter and shaft on this page : https://warrencutlery.com/store/product-info.php?pid207.html with the longer handle that they sell. I have most of the set from Warren Cutlery and the carbide tool and 1/8" cobalt cutter are great for some stuff, but if I were to only use it on pens which don't have sharp curves or shaping, I would probably buy a larger tool myself. (Something like on this page: Tools or here: Easy Wood Tools - Woodturning Made Easy - Carbide Woodturning Technology - Never sharpen again! : Purchase )