# Finishing Tru-Stone



## latelearner (Dec 3, 2010)

I have never tried the tru-stone before and was wondering what do you experienced turners use? Do you finish it the same as acrylic? Thanks for any information.

Larry


----------



## BigguyZ (Dec 3, 2010)

latelearner said:


> I have never tried the tru-stone before and was wondering what do you experienced turners use? Do you finish it the same as acrylic? Thanks for any information.
> 
> Larry



Many turners do Trustone the same they do any plastic blank.  Sand and polish.  If you buff your blanks, please keep in mind that the Trustone with metal webs will make your wheels black.


----------



## latelearner (Dec 3, 2010)

Many turners do Trustone the same they do any plastic blank. Sand and polish. If you buff your blanks, please keep in mind that the Trustone with metal webs will make your wheels black.[/quote]

Thanks for the reply. I must have the wrong name or ask offensive questions since all the views and no replies. So much for the "close knit IAP community."


----------



## omb76 (Dec 3, 2010)

I finish them the same as acrylics.  Sand through 400, then micromesh through 12000 following up with a plastic polish after that.  Should yield you some great results!

Be patient, not everyone who looks at your post will have an answer for you.  I don't think think there are near as many turners out there that use trustone compared to wood blanks.


----------



## jttheclockman (Dec 3, 2010)

latelearner said:


> Many turners do Trustone the same they do any plastic blank. Sand and polish. If you buff your blanks, please keep in mind that the Trustone with metal webs will make your wheels black.


 
Thanks for the reply. I must have the wrong name or ask offensive questions since all the views and no replies. So much for the "close knit IAP community."[/quote]


Now now don't be like that. There are alot of people who never tried truestone because it is pricey. I just tried it a few weeks ago myself and I have been turning pens for 2 years now. I finish it just as I would any acrylic. It has resins in it so it polishes to a nice shine using MM and a plastic polish. I am not a fan of buffing. I get the same results with MM and plastic polish.


----------



## ldb2000 (Dec 3, 2010)

I have done allot of Tru-stone , I finish it the same way as Acrylic . As Dave said , if you buff use a separate buff for tru-stone . The nature of the pigments in it will discolor your buffs and the metals (Brass powder) will turn them black . The black discoloration don't affect the buffs if you keep them clean , it's just the fibers getting stained but you still don't want to buff a clean CA finish with a black stained buff . 
If you don't buff , you should consider it . Buffing will give you a glass like finish on all of the tru-stones , even the ones people commonly complain about getting a good shine on . Plus buffing allows you to get that glass like shine with far less work then stepping through all the mm and polishing steps . If you do a 2 stage buff using Tripoli and White Diamond you only have to sand to 600 or 800 grit .
Buffing is a very inexpensive way to get a fabulous shine on any material or finish and eliminates the very fine circular scratches that allot of people complain about .


----------



## latelearner (Dec 3, 2010)

Since I opened mouth and inserted foot, I will be man enough to apologize. My wife keeps on me all the time to practice patience, and as you can see, I still need more practice. Anyway, thanks alot for the information provided.


----------



## Lenny (Dec 3, 2010)

I have only turned one trustone pen so far and when it came to finishing it I had some difficulty initially. Following my usual procedures including buffing didn't work so well (for me). When I went back a re-did it I skipped the final buffing and instead used MM and plastic polish. Next time I will follow Andy Littles' recomendation and use Novus 2 followed by Plastx.


----------



## Rick_G (Dec 3, 2010)

I've only done a couple truestones.  I sand to 1500 - 2000 grit and then polish with a liquid auto body polish.


----------



## MarkHix (Dec 3, 2010)

sand to 600, buff w/ EEE and WD. 

FYI:  The different Trustone blanks have different hardness.  some are easier to turn than others.


----------



## renowb (Dec 3, 2010)

I have done a black and white. It seems that the black was tougher to turn.


----------



## witz1976 (Dec 3, 2010)

I have turned a few trustones, I use MM wet then hit it with Plastx  I always get a high gloss and goes pretty quick.


----------



## skywizzard (Dec 3, 2010)

As pointed out different tru-stones turn and finish differently, but generally finishing with wet Micro-Mesh and then buffing gives an excellent finish.


----------



## SteveG (Dec 4, 2010)

I have turned about a dozen different varieties of Tru-Stone.  The Imperial Jade yields less shine than all the rest that I have used, but still a nice sheen.


----------

