RussBerg
Member
For Christmas I am going to make Tru-Stone Majestic Jr. pens for my Family. I sure would appreciate any suggestions to help me avoid "screwing up". The Blanks are way too expensive to waste.
Because when it "offgasses", it can make the plated parts turn white. This can be removed fairly easily with acetone, which will also dull the finish on acrylics or CA finished wood.Why not use CA?
Thank you for the advice. I'll cross my fingers and see if I can do this.Here are a couple from my experience.
Sharp "normal" drill bits, not brad points. Drill smaller and step up diameters to reduce the stress. This material can lead to oversized holes so approach the filial dimension carefully and check.
Keep the blank cool.
Remove chips often when drilling at most I do three turns on the tail stock at a time.
Keep the blank cool.
Sand the edges of the blank before turning round.
Keep the blank cool.
Sharp turning tools and light cuts.
Keep the blank cool.
I use HSS to turn round then carbide to turn to shape.
I glue with epoxy and make sure I get good coverage. I wet sand only.
Keep the blank cool.
Alternate sanding direction with each grit, lengthwise then spinning. The goal is each grit removes the scratches from the previous grit. I Then micro mesh through 12000 and then use a liquid polish to finish. A buffer works great too but if it catches and throws the pen it will crack. It also generates heat, so be careful and ... well you get the idea.
Danny
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At what speed would you drill the blanks?Here are a couple from my experience.
Sharp "normal" drill bits, not brad points. Drill smaller and step up diameters to reduce the stress. This material can lead to oversized holes so approach the filial dimension carefully and check.
Keep the blank cool.
Remove chips often when drilling at most I do three turns on the tail stock at a time.
Keep the blank cool.
Sand the edges of the blank before turning round.
Keep the blank cool.
Sharp turning tools and light cuts.
Keep the blank cool.
I use HSS to turn round then carbide to turn to shape.
I glue with epoxy and make sure I get good coverage. I wet sand only.
Keep the blank cool.
Alternate sanding direction with each grit, lengthwise then spinning. The goal is each grit removes the scratches from the previous grit. I Then micro mesh through 12000 and then use a liquid polish to finish. A buffer works great too but if it catches and throws the pen it will crack. It also generates heat, so be careful and ... well you get the idea.
Danny
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I drill on my mini metal lathe that doesn't have a rpm meter. I'm guessing about 500-700 rpm. I would drill slower than I normally do for acrylic. Also I try not to drill all the way through the blank. It can chip where the bit is exiting the blank. I'll drill for the body then cut to length. I then drill the cap to length and cut off the excess.
Danny
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Thanks for the advice. Assuming I don't screw them all up I'll post the results.I am no expert at true stone by any means but this is good advise. I blew my first blank out as I exited with the drill bit. I have also cracked a couple pressing the parts together. I plan to go to slip fit and loctite on my next one.
Good luck. And I'd like to see the results when finished
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I'm excited to get at it. Just waiting for the kits and blanks to arrive.Russ, I'm sure you will do fine. You're gonna love the feel and finish of the TruStone when you're done.
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I ordered from Pen State, so it is what they call Trustone.All the above advise is excellent! Be patient and it will be worth the effort. I'll second Mr Vic's Q. There are very different densities to the varieties of Trustone. Also, is it actual Trustone or one of the more recent iterations?
Here are a couple from my experience.
Sharp "normal" drill bits, not brad points. Drill smaller and step up diameters to reduce the stress. This material can lead to oversized holes so approach the filial dimension carefully and check.
Keep the blank cool.
Remove chips often when drilling at most I do three turns on the tail stock at a time.
Keep the blank cool.
Sand the edges of the blank before turning round.
Keep the blank cool.
Sharp turning tools and light cuts.
Keep the blank cool.
I use HSS to turn round then carbide to turn to shape.
I glue with epoxy and make sure I get good coverage. I wet sand only.
Keep the blank cool.
Alternate sanding direction with each grit, lengthwise then spinning. The goal is each grit removes the scratches from the previous grit. I Then micro mesh through 12000 and then use a liquid polish to finish. A buffer works great too but if it catches and throws the pen it will crack. It also generates heat, so be careful and ... well you get the idea.
Danny
Sent from my iPhone using Penturners.org mobile app
When sanding the edges before turning the blank, can you explain what you do? Ex., how much do you sand, grit, on the lathe at slow speed or not, etc.? What speed do you turn the blank after sanding? I very much appreciate and advice you can give.I drill on my mini metal lathe that doesn't have a rpm meter. I'm guessing about 500-700 rpm. I would drill slower than I normally do for acrylic. Also I try not to drill all the way through the blank. It can chip where the bit is exiting the blank. I'll drill for the body then cut to length. I then drill the cap to length and cut off the excess.
Danny
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Thanks. Much appreciated.Sure. I sand the corners off the length of the blank using my belt sander. I break the edge so when I'm turning I'm not hitting a 90 degree edge with my cutter. It reduces the impact later when turning on the lathe. I use a 80 or 120 grit belt. I'm sure a large disc sander could also work.
Others have used a router table and holder to do the same.
I usually turn at about 2000 rpm taking light cuts until round.
Danny
Sent from my iPhone using Penturners.org mobile app
I am no expert at true stone by any means but this is good advise. I blew my first blank out as I exited with the drill bit. I have also cracked a couple pressing the parts together. I plan to go to slip fit and loctite on my next one.
I've got 4 done and 2 to go. All has gone very well except for number 5 which failed due to a rookie mistake. I drilled the blank crooked and did not like the result so I'm doing it over. At the price of true stone and the Majestic Jr. kits I won't do that again.I hope I'm not too late with this, but as was mentioned before, I too have had the most cracks when assembling. Be extra picky when making sure you have the insides of the brass tubes very clean, as in no epoxy or whatever glue you use to attach brass tubes to your blanks. It only takes the smallest bit of epoxy, etc. to create the extra pressure when assembling sufficient to crack your blank. I know from experience that the Tru-Stone blanks have absolutely no forgiveness for this oversight....