Finally done! 33 Jr. Statesman Cactus Pens with Mesquite Boxes

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Verne

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Good going Curtis. Excellant finished product, however, none of us would expect anything else from you!
Vern
 
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ngeb528

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Fantastic job, Curtis!

Just out of curiosity (since you asked for input) what did you end up charging for the boxes, if you don't mind my asking?
 

MesquiteMan

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Very impressive production of very impressive pens. I have to ask -- in the process of turning 33 pens, did you have any failures (I hope not, but I expect I would have)?

-Barry

Barry, Actually, there was a monumental failure in the beginning! I had cast, drilled, and painted 20 or so blanks with cheap black fingernail polish. Lupe (El D here on the forum) graciously offered to help me with the order (at no cost, btw!) by rough turning the blanks round. He turned them at his shop and then came over one Saturday to help me try to get it knocked out. My original deadline was for 22 pens in 3 weeks and I was MAJ ORLY stressing on the Saturday before the Monday I was supposed to ship.

Well, I picked up one of the blanks Lupe had turned for me and mounted it in the lathe to finish turning it. When it got down to bushing size, I stopped the lathe and it looked TERRIBLE! The paint had released from the inside of the blank in spots and they were blotchy as heck. I checked the next one, and it was the same. I ended up checking each one of the 40 halves and EVERY FREAKING ONE was the same! Remember, this was Saturday, 2 days before my expected shipping date and I now had to start all over. The worst part was, I did not even have any more cactus blanks cast! I was ready to pull all my hair out!

I took a break and went inside to call my client. Fortunately, on a Saturday afternoon, the CFO or a publicly traded energy company answered my call on his mobile phone! I told him about the problem and he told me that the dinner had been postponed for a few weeks the day before and that they just had not had a chance to let me know yet! Talk about a MAJOR relief!!

I ended up turning the cactus off each tube and starting over completely! There goes $400 worth of cactus blanks! Talk about a valuable lesson learned...don't use cheap fingernail polish for the inside of a blank! I now use only Testors Model Masters Acryl. It is not cheap (relatively speaking) but it also does not fail!
 

MesquiteMan

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Fantastic job, Curtis!

Just out of curiosity (since you asked for input) what did you end up charging for the boxes, if you don't mind my asking?

NOT NEARLY ENOUGH!!

I charged $200 per set for one pen and one box. That is $150 for the pen and $50 for the box. I will not do them that cheap again! They were fun but were also a real pain. I ended up making 45 boxes to allow for some expected failures from working with the mesquite. (Cracks, blowouts when cutting, etc). I have 4 boxes left over for some special Christmas gifts!
 

MesquiteMan

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Nice job Curtis! I thought you were going to say the bigger smile was when you got the check.

Being the unbelievably trusting (or stupid?) guy that I am, I shipped the order to them with an invoice due on receipt. I did not even ask for any type of deposit! I did get a message from the CFO today (they received them today) saying they were "tickled pink" and that he had already approved the invoice for payment and that my check would go out Friday!
 

Kaspar

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Ahead of the curve. Waaay ahead.
Heckuva job!

NOT NEARLY ENOUGH!!

I charged $200 per set for one pen and one box. That is $150 for the pen and $50 for the box. I will not do them that cheap again! They were fun but were also a real pain ...

Wow, really? That little? That's a lot of work and worry for that time frame. Seriously, you should have gotten twice that. 1.5 times, at the very least.
 

John M

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Those pens are so sweet, I cant wait to get enough money to buy a couple blanks. I might say that is the coolest blank out there.
 

MesquiteMan

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Here is a link to where I got the plans for the box. Sorry, but it is not free. Like I said, I had to modify the box in both width and height in order for it to accept the Jr. Statesman pens. I would be happy to share the dimensions needed as well as other modifications I made to the plans with anyone who buys the plans. Obviously, due to copyright law, I can not make a derivative of the plan with my measurements and share it or I would!
 

Daniel

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I ended up turning the cactus off each tube and starting over completely! There goes $400 worth of cactus blanks! Talk about a valuable lesson learned...don't use cheap fingernail polish for the inside of a blank! I now use only Testors Model Masters Acryl. It is not cheap (relatively speaking) but it also does not fail!

This need to be in the Library of an excellent example of when lower cost does not pay. $400 would have bought an awful lot of Testors paint. Higher price is not always the way to go but at the very least think about what it might cost you if cheaper does fail.
 

Bree

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Buffalo, NY
Curtis...

You did a terrific job. You showed your quality by redoing the defective ones and by the attention to detail on the box. The pens themselves look outstanding and the whole package rocks.

I'll take 50! Need em all by Christmas!
:eek::eek::eek:
:biggrin::biggrin::biggrin:
 

jttheclockman

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NJ, USA.
Hello Curtis

First let me say congrats on the completion of such a huge task. I do know what it is like to make so many of the same item. Also they looked like you did your A++++ work on each and everyone so monotny did not affect the outcome which is sometimes hard to achieve.

But you would be a good example to help explain some thoughts about pricing which is going on in another thread. ( great thread by the way) Thanks for revealing the price you received for a setup. With that stated you mentioned you would not do that again for that price. My question would be why and for what particular reason would you increase the price ( assuming that is what you meant)??? The reason I ask there is some production work involved with both the pens and the boxes so time can be saved using the production line methods. Maybe not so much in the pens but surely in the boxes. I assume you would sell one of these set-ups for the $200 price on a regular bases and that is how you arrived at your price??? Or did you reduce it for quantity purposes??? Would the saving on time making multiples not be enough to counteract the shear bordom of doing multiples??? Did selling the line to the company that you did play a part in your pricing and is this always a good starting point when determining the price??? I guess the bottom line ??? I am asking is how did you determine your price for such what I think all of us consider a high quality pen??? Thanks for the reply and have a great day.
 

MesquiteMan

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John,

The boxes were the killer. There was a LITTLE economy of scale but not much. Each lid had to be hand tuned and fitted. The inside, which does not show up in the pic very well, is all flocked with black flocking. That means hand painting on the flocking glue and then applying the flocking. Then, talking about production, if you mess up, you mess up them all! Take the tube failure example. If I had been doing one pen at a time, I would have found the problem before I dilled, painted, glued, and rough turned 20 sets of tubes. That would have saved me $400 and a boatload of time! I have used nail polish MANY times in the past so I know it works fine, just not this particular brand.

I quizzed you guys on pricing for the box. That's how I came up with my overall pricing. I charge $150 for a cactus Jr. Statesman rollerball whether is it one or 33. I then used advice from here on the boxes. Some suggested $50-60 and many said said $15-20 each, max! I knew what goes into them somewhat so I went with $50 each for a total package of $200. The laser engraving cost me $8 each so that is a net of $42 for me. Not nearly enough for the amount of work I put into it.

In the future, the pens will be $150 and the boxes will be at least $75 for a total of $225 each PLUS laser engraving. Or, if you are a cheap box kind of person, the box is $25 and the pen is $200!
 

jttheclockman

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John,

The boxes were the killer. There was a LITTLE economy of scale but not much. Each lid had to be hand tuned and fitted. The inside, which does not show up in the pic very well, is all flocked with black flocking. That means hand painting on the flocking glue and then applying the flocking. Then, talking about production, if you mess up, you mess up them all! Take the tube failure example. If I had been doing one pen at a time, I would have found the problem before I dilled, painted, glued, and rough turned 20 sets of tubes. That would have saved me $400 and a boatload of time! I have used nail polish MANY times in the past so I know it works fine, just not this particular brand.

I quizzed you guys on pricing for the box. That's how I came up with my overall pricing. I charge $150 for a cactus Jr. Statesman rollerball whether is it one or 33. I then used advice from here on the boxes. Some suggested $50-60 and many said said $15-20 each, max! I knew what goes into them somewhat so I went with $50 each for a total package of $200. The laser engraving cost me $8 each so that is a net of $42 for me. Not nearly enough for the amount of work I put into it.

In the future, the pens will be $150 and the boxes will be at least $75 for a total of $225 each PLUS laser engraving. Or, if you are a cheap box kind of person, the box is $25 and the pen is $200!



Thanks for the reply Curtis. I did not know you had some failures with the blanks. Yes I can see where getting into production mode can overlook some of the problems and you can have some losses. These are good lessons for us all to watch for. As far as the boxes go, it really has to come down to your decision because we can not see all the features and the process needed to make them. I guess the lock in point was the pen price. That is where the money needs to be made. Anyway you did a great job and those cactus blanks are the tops. Thanks for showing and sharing.
 

CSue

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Jan 16, 2007
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Laveen, AZ, USA.
Curtis, if this doesn't open doors, I don't know what will. Excellent work, display, photography. Pens, of course, are so beautiful! Can I say you are the "Cactus King?"
 

Nowicki

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Aug 12, 2009
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Baltimore
I was wondering if you do cactus blanks in 1 1/4 " square. I think they would make a great dagger handle or something for a hidden tang knife.

Larry
 

bitshird

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Aug 27, 2007
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Adamsville, TN, USA.
Curtis, that is an amazing job, I think a lot of us think we would like to get a job like that, until we actually got about half way through it. You did something bordering on spectacular with this order, having just seen and held one of your cactus blanks, I am amazed.
 

Rangertrek

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Sep 10, 2008
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Bossier City, Louisiana, USA
Relatives name

I was viewing your pictures and noticed the name 'Ben Marchive' on one of the boxes.

My business partner is Lauren Marchive. I showed him the picture and found out Ben is my partner's cousin!

I hope thay enjoy the pens. Great work.
 
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