This is how to turn a pen in under 10 minutes

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dougle40

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This is in responce to the poll that I ran regarding the length of time required to make a pen.
This is the answer that I just got from the person who originally posted the 10 minute time .
Please note that these times are from WET log to boxed pen ready for sale . Total time ??? 9.3 minutes per pen .


quote:Since I was on vacation paid for by money made turning $20 pens last year and didn’t get to participate in your little poll let me give you my times. Note I use various homemade jigs to speed up my process and not all steps are done on the same day.

Time to cut 24 1†wide blanks from a 12†long by 8†diameter log via a band saw 20 minutes
Time to dry 24 blanks via a microwave 4 to 5 minutes
Time to cut 24 blanks to length 10 minutes
Time to tube 24 blanks 10 minutes
Time to square 24 blanks 8 minutes
Time to load 24 blanks on to 24 mandrels 8 minutes
Time to turn, sand and shella wax 24 pens 130 minutes
Time to remove from mandrels and assemble 24 pens 20 minutes
Time to buff, inspect and box 24 pens 20 minutes

Total time spent on 24 pens 223 minutes done over a couple of days average profit per pen $13.50 average number of pens sold per month 150.

Now , for anyone out there that believes this , I've got some "OCEANFRONT" property in Arizona for sale cheap . :D:D:D

OK , now lets all get out there and get all this pen making time down to under 10 minutes (wet log to finished product).[}:)];)
 
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Fred in NC

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I have turned 10 min pens, but that was from blanks that were dry already. The 10 mins did not include boxing the pens. These 10 min pens were slimlines.

The only way I have been able to do this is by using friction polish, Crystal Coat. Needless to say, this is not my standard finish for pens.

I can produce at least 3 basic slimlines per hour. These are not straight barreled pens, but without beads and coves. I use 4 mandrels in batches. I can' imagine someone having 24 mandrels.... AND bushings for each one !!!

Anything other than simple ballpoint pens takes longer.

Now let's see: 150 pens will take 8 hrs x 3 ys. Profit at $13.50 is $2,025 for 3 days work making the pens. Profit per hour $81.

Total yearly income $24,000+ before taxes.

Something along the way makes me think there is some FISHING in there too....
 

RussFairfield

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Sounds to me like the same guy who brags about getting 28 MPG on his diesel truck while pulling a 34' trailer over the mountains in Southern Oregon and Northern California. I think he missed a couple fuel stops in there somewhere.

There are a couple steps in that description that are unreasonably fast, like drying 24 pieces of wet wood in 5 minutes?? Or drilling and gluing the 24 tubes in 8?? I would have to see those in action before I would believe it.
 

woodpens

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About one week of that kind of "woodturning" would do it for me. I'd be ready to go be the Wal-Mart greeter for some relaxation.
 
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I don't think I have ever done a "basic" anything.(I actually did a absic slimine once,and only once...too boring, plus I hate having to "hit" all the bushings."
 
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Originally posted by Fred in NC
<br />Eagle, please read my interpretation of basic above..... there are pics in my album if you want to see what I mean. OK ????????
Fred-What i wrote I said tongue in cheek.
I usually wind up doing things the hard way.
As far as slim lines way back when my first attempt at a slim line yieded me two blow outs, The wood peeled off the pen like a soda straw.
I guess that's why don't do "Cross Style" slime lines. It's too nerve racking trying to get a straight line across that skinny little piece of wood.
I have to do an antler slimline soon for a relative and I keep putting it off.
My experience with Krystal coat is why I and Mylands and/or CA.
 

jwoodwright

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I came close with a Corian Slimline. Cut pieces, drilled it, Used CA, accelerator, barrel trim, mount, turn, sand, polish, assemble. 15 Minutes...[:I]

Talk about hopping, I'm going back to poly, glue today, turn tomorrow...[8D]
 

dougle40

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I came close with a Corian Slimline. Cut pieces, drilled it, Used CA, accelerator, barrel trim, mount, turn, sand, polish, assemble. 15 Minutes...

Yea , but you didn't have to cut a wet log and dry it before you started !!![}:)][:D][:D] LOL
 

tipusnr

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Personally, if I EVER turn a ten-minute pen I'm giving up this hobby! I'm here for the journey not the destination. Luckily, I make enough at my day job where I don't have to sell pens. I only sell to keep them from piling up in the house and to pay for penmaking "toys".
 

btboone

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Fred, 223 minutes divided by 60 is only 3.7 hours worth of work. So, $2025/ 3.7 hours = $550/ hour, which is respectable, but totally unbelievable.
 

Fred in NC

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Sorry....

3.7 hrs for 24 pens !!!! It actually takes 23.75 hours to make the 150 pens. That is actually $85 per hour...

In my first calculation I did some rounding... but the general idea is the same.
 

btboone

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Got it. I thought that was a bit much for pen making. I can do the $550/hour in short bursts with the right rings, but there's a catch; I have to sell those ones to be able to do that. [:)] I can consistantly do about half that though. I come nowhere near with pens yet.
 

btboone

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Yup. I have to multitask to do that too. I'll be machining one on the lathe and one on the machining center while hand finishing one and computer engraving another. It's a lot to chase after, but it's becoming necessary to get that efficient. This month is a record month, which is very surprising to me. June is our big month, so if the trend continues, it may be a hectic summer.
 

btboone

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John, it is doing very well. It does take up all my time though and doesn't allow much time for experimenting with pens. I figure I better get it while the gettin's good, because you never know what might happen. It is overwhelming on some days, and on others it flows a little better and doesn't seem so bad. It's all about figuring out more efficient ways to do the same things I've been doing. I just got a 6th Foredom rotary tool so I don't have to change out tips so much when hand finishing rings. It saves little snippets of time here and there that add up. The computer engraver is slow, but I don't have to do it by hand anymore, so it can run while I do something else. Little things like that are making all the difference when I'm stretched so thin.
 
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I want to see a demonstration. In fact, I'd pay to see a demonstration.

If you could glue up one set of blanks, end mill them, mount them on the arbor, turn, finish and remove them from the arbor, then assemble the pen. With me holding a stop watch on you, I'd......your.....in Times Square at 12:00 Noon if 10 min. or less was on that watch.

That doesn't include cutting the blanks, drying them and drilling the bloody holes.
 

jwoodwright

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I'll take the pictures...[:D]

I only tried to make one fast to see if it could be done. Quality suffered...

Bruce, all production shops have more than one tool set-up for one task each. They sell 3-arbor shapers, it's a triangle machine set for the 3 cuts you need to make... Even Norm uses more than 1- router... Makes good buisness sense...[8D]

Still, You must feel like that proverbial paper hanger...[:D]
 
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Originally posted by Mac In Oak Ridge
<br />I want to see a demonstration. In fact, I'd pay to see a demonstration.

If you could glue up one set of blanks, end mill them, mount them on the arbor, turn, finish and remove them from the arbor, then assemble the pen. With me holding a stop watch on you, I'd......your.....in Times Square at 12:00 Noon if 10 min. or less was on that watch.

That doesn't include cutting the blanks, drying them and drilling the bloody holes.
Well that shoots poly and 5 minute epoxy(unless they a REAL GOOD.)[:D]
 

btboone

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I agree that those numbers were straining credibility. Just opening those silly plastic packages eats a lot of time! I can probably do a 30 second cycle time per side on the CNC if I push, but there's still finishing time, sawing time, drilling time, glueing time, assembling time, and buffing time. It all adds up. You would have to be pretty darn good to get a nice shape that fast by hand and produce a pen that someone would want.

Talk about a one armed wallpaper hanger!
 

Fred in NC

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Well, here is my story!

I made a pen from oak dowel. Drilled, glued, squared, mounted, turned, sanded, finished with Crystal Coat, and assembled it. Just under 10 mins. Hardest part was assembling before the finish was fully dry, I used kleenex to handle it. Nothing spectacular, of course! Just an oak dowel pen . . .

One day I put it in my pocket, and went to an indoor flea market. The woman who owns the place saw it, took it, and wanted to buy it. She would not return it, but paid me for it, after a bit of bargaining.

More recently, I made 3 pens in ABOUT 1/2 hr. Same kind. Making them in batches was a lot easier. Two I gave away, the third sold last December at the craft fair.

Normally I don't use friction polish for my pens. The way I finish my pens it takes a minimum of 15 minutes to complete one. About 3 slimlines per hour in batches is a good time for me. AND I <b>DON'T MEAN </b>STRAIGHT BORING BARRELS !!!

At the Freedom Pen project in Charlotte last year, I turned a pre-glued pen, finished with friction polish and assembled, in about 5 mins. It was a wasp slimline.

This means that it can be done. BUT, and this is a big BUT, there is only so much one can do in limited time. No way I can make a $50 pen in 10 minutes!!! No way !!!

Please, don't understand this as bragging. It is doable, but in my opinion is not practical. I would not like to be at a craft show with a table full of 10 minute pens. I would be bored to death making this kind of pen all the time.
 

dougle40

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Fred ,
I don't doubt that you turned those pens in the time you say , but you left out 3 steps -- cut the wood from a wet log -- cut them into blanks and lastly dry them .
 

RussFairfield

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Why are you guys so slow??

There was a guy on the Yahoo site for a long time who claimed he was making and selling 3000 pens a month, and got really irritated when anyone doubted his word.

That is a sustained rate of 12 per hour, 10 hours a day, 6 days a week with no breaks.

That's 5-minutes per pen. But of course, we can believe everything that someone tells us on the Internet.
 

Fred in NC

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If he made 3000 pens per month, how did he manage to find time to sell them ???

If I made pens full time, 5 days a week, I doubt that I could produce more than 200. Half of my time would be spent in sales. That is, if I could find a market for them !!!

At one time a guy had a contract with WalMart for a large order. Maybe that is the one. I read that most of the pens were returned unsold, and he had a great loss. I wonder what the pens looked like!

After I finally retire, I intend to make other turned items. It would be too boring to just make pens all the time, even the nicer ones.
 

woodpens

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I guess if your finishing technique involves making your last cut with a skew and forget about sandpaper and polish of any kind, maybe somebody in top shape could sustain this pace for a brief time, but why??? You could buy cheap imports at 80 cents a piece that look about the same as a pen you could make in 5 minutes, and sell those just as easily. Your craftsmanship is certainly not an issue with these kind of people, seller or customer. I wonder how long Taiwanese factory workers take to make a pen... [;)] I wonder how much they make for a day's work. I have too much fun making pens at MY pace to turn it into a pen making race. A few nice pens beat a lot of cheap ones every time in my book.
 

woodpens

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If Russ was talking about the guy I think he was, he made pens at a small area he had set up on a corner where he also sells them. He did not look like a rich man to me, so something about the story doesn't quite strike me right. Then again, Howard Hughes didn't look like a rich man either. [:D]
 
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jwoodwright

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Those "cheap" imports are made on automatic lathes with knives.[:)]

Go to any craft store and they have bags of assorted wood parts, handles, knobs, wheels, etc. Most are rejects from those auto lathes.
The lathe even "feeds" itself, almost any mass produced wood item comes off them...[8D]
 
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