Been Doing A Little Sorting

[William Young]

I have a couple off of orders of pen kits on the way to me in the mail so I decided to sort out my pen blanks while I was waiting for the kits to arrive and label the blanks as to species and combine multiples of any one kind with elastic bands.
I have 46 different varieties and 95% of them are exotic woods from around the world .
Gotta love turning because most of these blanks are donated ones . I find that turners like to share wood like no other form of woodworking. I have shared a bunch of blanks with some other pen turners before taking this picture and the ones shown are the ones that I want for keepers. There are a few that I have no idea what the kind of wood is because the sender did not label them. No doubt I will figure out what those ones are in time.
I also have a variety of acrylic blanks which I bought but forgot to include them in the picture.
Perhaps I will sort out the ones that are not named and start a new topic some time with a guessing game as to their species.

W.Y.

http://pic20.picturetrail.com/VOL1620/1718813/4821935/230719057.jpg

[JTTHECLOCKMAN]

The problem with guessing species of wood pen blanks is there is not enough wood to tell charateristics. The ones that are obvious like the bloodwood or holly or lacewoods are easy but when you get into the rosewood family, mahagony family, and others things get tough.

One thing I do not see much with pen making and not sure what the reason but the mixing and matching of woods. Say a light top and dark bottom and vice versa. If I were into pen making that is what I would concentrate on and also inlay work.

[William Young]

No problem John.
I always appreciate constructive critsism and I realize what you are saying.
If I was in a big city where there are lots of high level wage earners I would definitely take the extra time to make the ones you are referring to because I would be able to get my time and money back out of them.. I have made some like that but the market is just not here in an area that is predominanty retirees that move here to enjoy the beautifull scenery and moderate climate in this particular part of BC. They just won't buy high end stuff . Most are on a meager government pension like I am and the ones that do have money with several other pensions or from other means are so darned tight they squeak and won't part with it ;)
I have tried the ones you refer to with such things as titanium and cobalt etc kits which cost mega bucks and the averege person around here could care less about the expensive metals compared to the lower priced gold and chrome ones. I wound up selling the expensive ones for the same price as their lower priced counterparts because they see those nicer ones and that is want they want or nothing but won't pay any more for it than the ones beside it at a lower price. It just isn't woth the extra time to make an expensive pen that will only sell for the price of a lower priced one..
Perhaps it is difficult for a city person or a person in a highly populated area to realize what I am talking about here.
But I really do enjoy making pens and I will keep cranking them out as long as they are selling so well. There is an outdoor craft sale/farmers market that is going to be running from spring to fall in town this year every saturday morning and I have booked a space in there. The space is free. I will just back in with my pickup truck and set up a portable table outside of the tailgate and go for it. If I only sold one $30.00 pen in a morning it would be $30.00 I didn't have before I got there but an average of ten pens in a morning of the style and price I make is a definite reality.
This is one thing I like about turning. A few thousand dollars worth of pens can be displayed on just one table and of course I would have other turnings like bowls and lamps and spurtles and vases and weed pots etc, etc for variety.
I want to have at least another 150 pens ready for when that weekly sale starts and the number that sell will determine how many I will need to make each week between sales after that for backup stock.
The most important part of pen making for me at this point is using nice figured woods with an excellent finish that I can guarantee will not wear off quickly like some of the less desirable finishes I have tried while getting to this stage in my pen making.
W.Y.

[William Young]

John.
I see you edited out the critique part of your previous message. That was not necessary and I did not take any offense at all from it. It was well written and meaningfull.
W.Y.

[JTTHECLOCKMAN]

Sorry about that. I guess we type about the same speed. The thing was I reread my post and thought I may have overstepped the line a bit so edited the post but you answered it well anyway. Thanks for that. I guess I was thinking out loud because I have seen your pens on this site and others and figured you would get bored doing the same thing and knowing your abilities thought you would try different things. Anyway continue to crank them out and continue showing us the results. I do understand about the pricing thing and trying to sell our products. Good luck with the selling.

I hope to be able to start turning again after getting some things done and with working overtime on my job, it takes away from shop time. I look forward to the day I retire and can really enjoy this great hobby.

[PaulD]

The market here in central WI sounds like Bill's. I too stick pretty much to the basics of penturning and box turning. I seem to be able to regularly sell what I want to in the $20-$30 range, but the buyers above that levels seem to be few and far between. I've done some laminated work and played with polymers and acrylics, but the market seems to prefer the simpler approach. My wife is playing with the segmented bowl stuff which is beautiful, but has yet to find a buyer in this market. I suspect that we'll have to branch out to the web and/or ebay to find a broader market for the more expensive stuff.

[William Young]

Hi Paul.
Nice to see someone else that is in the same type of situation. Slimlines and modified slimlines will sell here for $19.95 and no more. Nicer kits that cost more than the $1.70 slimline kit ($3.00 to $7.00) go from $25.00 to $30.00.
Either way there is more money in selling pens at that price than with any other form of hobby woodworking I have done previously.
$1.70 kit with a little piece of free wood and such a quick and easy process of making a pen adds up to a very good margin of profit as far as I am concerend.

I can certainly understand about the segmented bowls. I love making those things and they bring so many oohs and awwws but nobody will begin to offer any where close to about 1/4 of the time it takes to make them. Therefore I just make segmented bowls for gifts for very special people who appreciate the time and effort that goes into it.

Of course if someone wants to make $50.00 or more an hour they might be wise to look at a different kind of hobby and if they find one I would like to get in on it :D
W.Y.

[Gunny]

One thing I do not see much with pen making and not sure what the reason but the mixing and matching of woods. Say a light top and dark bottom and vice versa. If I were into pen making that is what I would concentrate on and also inlay work.
Actually JT, I do a lot of combining of species. However, most of the time it's a result of one of the blanks moving too close to the tool when the phone rings. :rolleyes:
I've learned to keep a small box on hand of short pieces already drilled. When I break a blank I use the parting tool to clean the broken end down to the tube and then I glue a contrasting piece onto the cleaned tube and pick up from there.
You can see some samples at
http://themeadow.us/wood/woodturning/93.jpg
http://themeadow.us/wood/woodturning/107.jpg
http://themeadow.us/wood/woodturning/97.jpg
http://themeadow.us/wood/woodturning/18.jpg

I've also tried mixing caps and barrels:
http://themeadow.us/wood/woodturning/71.jpg
http://themeadow.us/wood/woodturning/87.jpg
and if you happen to like maple walnut ice cream you might like
http://themeadow.us/wood/woodturning/86.jpg

Truth is though, except for the maple walnut set, all the others were born because I broke one piece or another while turning... :D

[William Young]

Yes, mixing matching woods can be fun. I have made quite a few by laminating different woods like this.
W.Y.

http://pic20.picturetrail.com/VOL1620/1718813/4821935/67680634.jpg

[JTTHECLOCKMAN]

Gee I clicked on the turning forum here and see a bit of activity. Love to see this. I know there are turners out there that look in. Gunny the pen and pencil sets you have in the case with the burl wood is exactly what I am talking about. I do not know exactly what it is but I like combinations of woods like that with the burl and the straight grained walnut. I just think the pen gets some character with combinations. I guess it might revert back to my scrolling times because of mixing colored woods together. As I sit here waiting for my pen kits to arrive along with the mandrel and stuff. I am going to give this pen thing a shot.

Gunny ~~as a beginner i will probably start out with a friction polish before I try other concoctions. What finish do you use on your pens and do you sell them and if you do have you ever tracked any to find out how well they hold up????

Bill~~ you are about the the only one that shows many pens and I know from reading your past posts you use CA/BLO as your finish now. I just read on another forum and will have to look into this but have you ever tried using melted plexiglass as a finish. Supposed to be easier and even glossier???
Anyone else try using this method feel free to answer as well. I am wondering about both the CA and the plexiglass method taking something away from the natural feel of wood pens and feel and look more like an acrylic with a plastic coating. Any thoughts on this???