TruStone turnability

[Chaz]

I see TruStone offered in levels of difficulty - easy, medium and hard.

Regarding Hard, what does that mean? What are the characteristics of a Hard TruStone blank, that make it the most difficult to turn?

 

[BHuij]

I keep my HSS tools razor sharp. The only time I've ever turned TruStone, it was dulling my roughing gouge to the point of not being able to hardly cut anything, within literal seconds. After my 5th trip to the grinder in as many minutes, I admitted defeat and turned the rest of it with my carbide tool, which went better. That was a small section of a Malachite Green TruStone I was using as a decorative band on a pen cap. Not sure whether Malachite is considered easy, medium, or hard.

Take that for what it's worth. I'd just go straight to carbide.

 

[ed4copies]

Carbide is better than HSS.

The gold veins are especially difficult, the material wants to break at the veins when drilling (see my video on popsicle stick reinforcement, if you want to improve your odds)

And the material is expensive, so failures are costly!!

Faux stone is a good substitute.
FWIW,
Ed

 

[randyrls]

Malachite is one of the softer of the trustones and like Ed use carbide and present the tool below center. You will get endless stream of fine ribbons. This is a slower cut and will take awhile to complete the blank. If you have square blanks, use a disk sander and coarse grit paper to round the corners of the blanks before turning. It does not have to be even or pretty, just enough that you don't have to turn away that corner.

PS. You can sharpen flat topped carbide bits with a credit card diamond hone. Take bit off the tool. Put a drop of water on the hone, lay bit cutting surface down on the hone, swirl in a figure 8 pattern 8 times. Turn 90 degrees and repeat three more times. Dry off hone and bit. Takes about as long to do as it took to write this.

 

[carlmorrell]

Over the years there has been more than one type of trustone. I am not referring to yunstone or other imitators. The first stuff I bought many years ago, I think I remember the term "lapidary grade". Looked a felt like stone. I still have a few pieces. Years later another type appeared which is much easier than the older stuff, but still very hard to turn. Then some other crap came out that seemed no different than alumilite. I cant comment on last years new production.

I also found the common trustone (like the material from beartoothhardwoods). not all are the same difficulty. The white/gold matrix is much easier to turn than the black/gold matrix, for example. I agree, that for the black I switch to carbide.

When I do commissions, and the request is for the best, trustone is my suggestion. In the photo with the blue, that's the old rock.

 

[carlmorrell]

Over the years there has been more than one type of trustone. I am not referring to yunstone or other imitators. The first stuff I bought many years ago, I think I remember the term "lapidary grade". Looked a felt like stone. I still have a few pieces. Years later another type appeared which is much easier than the older stuff, but still very hard to turn. Then some other crap came out that seemed no different than alumilite. I cant comment on last years new production.

I also found the common trustone (like the material from beartoothhardwoods). not all are the same difficulty. The white/gold matrix is much easier to turn than the black/gold matrix, for example. I agree, that for the black I switch to carbide.

When I do commissions, and the request is for the best, trustone is my suggestion. In the photo with the blue, that's the old rock. It only came in 5/8" thickness.

View attachment 386005View attachment 386007

 

[BHuij]

PS. You can sharpen flat topped carbide bits with a credit card diamond hone. Take bit off the tool. Put a drop of water on the hone, lay bit cutting surface down on the hone, swirl in a figure 8 pattern 8 times. Turn 90 degrees and repeat three more times. Dry off hone and bit. Takes about as long to do as it took to write this.

I have heard a couple of different anecdotal suggestions that honing a dulled carbide cutter like this will get you up to something like 70% of its original sharpness. Believable. Curious about your experience. Even if it doesn't get as sharp as it came new, this is probably worth doing. Might give it a shot today.