Shopsmith Forums

fredsheldon wrote:Unless I could sell these for $50.00 a set, I'm having second thoughts about doing this for retirement income. Much more work involved than I would have thought.

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Sometimes I can whip things out. Sometimes they REALLY bog down.... latest one was the new gimmick for my wife.... the Chalk Holder turning kit from Penn State:

- Had new Penn State catalog, mentioned the new gimmick to my wife.
- 7 days later, wife (a teacher) said, "that's a good idea".
- Ordered kit on-line.
- 4 days later, had materials in hand.
- 3 days later, started mustering energy. Noticed the catalog description called out a drill-bit size different than any I had. Panicked.
- 1 day later, looked at the kit physically and decided the catalog was wrong, and I had a close-enough drill size in my inventory. Drilled the blank and glued-in the brass tube.
- 1 day later, started roughing-out the blank. Knocked off a chunk of nice black-ash burl, leaving the brass tube exposed. Panicked. Then epoxied the rogue piece back onto the tube.
- 6 hours later, resumed turning but decided to go ultra-cautious and do remaining shaping with 80-grit sandpaper. Went through a couple of sheets to do this.
- Finally finished the kit and assembly for the better-half. If she only knew what went into it.

I was selling pens for $20 a piece with decent results. So $50 isn't outrageous.

I hope those $20 pens were kit slimlines and not fountains or roller balls with rhodium plating. $20 is about right for a plain Jane slimline, $30-40 for the Euro/Designer, Cigar, etc depending on plating, finish and blank material and then up from there.

Yes just slim lines I got the kits for $1.99 at the time.

With all of the switching around, how long does it take you to do a pen?

Terry,

With all of the switching around, how long does it take you to do a pen?

A suggestion: When you think you have achieved your final shape run your fingernail across the bushing onto the wood. If it catches, work it down until it doesn't. I use an Easy Wood tool with a square cutter for most of my pen turning, if not I use the point of a skew with a very light touch to avoid cutting into my bushings.

This little detail may not be that noticeable when looking at the pen, but your hand will notice the ridge every time you write.

In response to turning the pen blank down to flush with the bushing--I prefer to turn to slightly proud of the bushings and then sand down to the bushings. I did discover that on a pen I turned I machined below the bushings. I have not mastered the skew as of yet. But after sanding I used medium CA to build up the finsh to the bushings. Pen turned out OK.

Regarding how long it takes to turn a pen. Once the tubes are glued into the blanks, less than an hour to scribbling for a slimline without any coves, beads, or other embelishments if using a friction polish like shellac-wax. As with anything the more you turn the more proficient you will get. Make note that not all pen styles are not turned the same. Some have tenons that need to cut, different size bushings for upper and lower barrels. Referring to the instructions for the specific pen can prevent an "oh darn!"

Regards,
Dwight

scollins wrote:With all of the switching around, how long does it take you to do a pen?

I'm new to this hobby but I have finished about 50 pens and 35 letter openers so far. It takes me 1 minute to clamp down the blank, 2 minutes to drill the hole, 1 minute to switch out a new blank. I have been doing about 20 blanks at a time. I spend about 1 minute cleaning the brass tube and gluing it into each blank. When dry I set up my disk sander and sand each end of the blanks down to the brass tube and round off the sharp corners. This takes about 2 minutes each. Then I spend about 10 minutes setting up, turning, sanding and polishing two blanks at a time. It takes about 30 seconds to switch out one set of blanks for another set. Last night I turned, sanded and polished 15 pen/letter opener sets in about 3 hours. I then spend about 3 minutes pressing all the parts into the turnings. So, when you get the hang of it I would say you could turn out a pen and letter opener set in about 30 minutes total time, which includes 3 turnings for each set. You also want to figure in about 10 minutes for every 5 sets or so to sharpen your tool. Now I'm sure every pen maker here has a different story to share based on their unique production methods.

scollins wrote:Terry,

With all of the switching around, how long does it take you to do a pen?

I can crank out a batch of 10 slimline style pens from board to blanks to finished pens in 3-4 hours. I do let finishes rest overnight between application and buffing. so, 2-3 hrs 1 day, 1-2 hrs the next day I then let the finish rest another couple of days before final packaging. Nothing ruins plating faster than CA Glue including off gassing from the finish curing. I will often chunk these into smaller blocks as I can't always get 3 hours in the shop just for pens.

Cut the blanks, drill and glue one day
square, turn and finish another,
buff and assemble another etc. or any combination depending on available shop time.

Sometimes I can only get 30 minutes in the shop before something else comes along.