Slim Shapes

[RDH79]

I make and sell alot of slims. There basicly the normal looking pen. I have seen alot of really different shaped pens posted here.
My question is do people buy the odd shaped pens? I personally like the basic shape, thats why I only make them. I have been turning slims for 4 days now to get caught up for 3 more shows in the next 4 weeks. There really starting to get boring.
Thanks
Rich H

 

[Mark]

I don't do beading and big bulges on a slim. I know I have seen some that make very unique looking pens, using a slim style. My slims stay basic too. To keep it interesting, I use a lot of different materials. I make a few wood, then a few acrylic, then a few tru-stone, maybe a couple corian. Throw a bamboo in for giggles. Variety is the spice of life. Change it up a bit. Try a couple without CB's. Make your own CB. Segment them, cross cut them. What ever you can dream up. Go for it.

 

[ToddMR]

Well I do give them some body most of the time. I try not to make the mid section too fat. As for if they sell or not I will find out on Dec 4th lol. A lady I work with I made a cedar slim and gave it body or slight bulge in the middle sections. She loves it like that. So I think it depends on the person really. You could always make 2-3 like that and see how they do. I do have a couple I made recently that are pretty straight, although I have not posted them on here yet.

 

[its_virgil]

Here is a picture of my favorite slimline design. I rarely make a slimline the standard way anymore.
Do a good turn daily!
Don

 

[mick]

My slims have a slight swell toward the CB and then roll inward meeting it....nothing extreme or wasp like. Occassionaly I'll turn a slight bump or swell the nib out continuing the angle of the nib. Some people really like this at the nib end so I keep 3 or 4 in addition to my "normal" slims. lately I've been getting the comfort CB from Ed and using them to make a really nice larger diameter slim

 

[gwisher]

Here is a picture of my favorite slimline design. I rarely make a slimline the standard way anymore.
Do a good turn daily!
Don

I like that look, they kind of look like a euro.

 

[sbwertz]

Most of my slims look much like these two

 

[alphageek]

I have to agree... I really like those no-cb slims... The euro type look is really nice and Don's "black" line effect is awesome! New thing to try! Thanks all!

 

[KenBrasier]

Most of the slimlines I sell are purchased because they are "slim" and the majority are purchased by the females. I do some variations, but the skinny ones sell best.

 

[Aberfanturning]

Options with slimlines

Hello

I use a lot of slimline kits but I also use comfort centre bands to make a his and hers matching pens. I sell about 50/50 of thin and thicker bands.

I much prefer making pens with thicker bands as there is much more wood to play with.

I experimented with all sorts of shapes but I make these basic designs and they sell well.

Sean

www.aberfanturning.co.uk

 

[its_virgil]

Thanks Dean and Greg. The longer lower tube gives the euro look along with the larger upper diameter. The black band can be different widths to give different looks as shown. I also like to move the black band up to just below the lower end of the clip.
Do a good turn daily!
Don

 

[GaryMGg]

Most of my slims are made very traditionally.
However, two shapes which have received a lot of positive feedback:

In the pen above, the lower barrel slides into the upper barrel with a mortise and tenon type effect so there is no gap between the two.

Here's another one which is similar albeit in Black Cherry. My wife has confiscated this for her personal use.

 

[PenMakerWillie]

I thought about this when I first started. IMO if we're (fellow turners) doing a pretty big assembly of slims we usually get bored and want to try adding shapes to get something different. However, if you think about it, the people buying the pens are usually looking at the color and how the acrylic/wood POPS at them, not the shape. So I got away from crazy/bulgy shapes and stuck with some nice smaller curves that allow the attention to be drawn to the blank. I'm not saying just do the same ol same ol stuff but I think the customer is more interested, in most cases, in the color combination rather than the amount of curves and shapes. Just my .02

 

[kludge77]

Here is a picture of my favorite slimline design. I rarely make a slimline the standard way anymore.
Do a good turn daily!
Don

I really like the look of these. Do you have to drill out the center band segment larger than 7mm?

 

[its_virgil]

Thanks Peter. They are quite easy to make. Lower barrel longer than normal...I just use the bottom tube length from the euro and cut my own from 10 inch tubes. Measure the unused centerband and make the lower tube longer by that much.

For the top just round the blank and part off the width of the wooden CB you want to use. Cut a slice of the wood you want to use and square one end. I actually drill the blackwood blank and use a tube and pen mill and square the end. Cut off a slice the desired length and glue the squared end in the parted off space. This picture may help.


Do a good turn daily!
Don

I really like the look of these. Do you have to drill out the center band segment larger than 7mm?

 

[BigguyZ]

I'm not big on the pregnant or wasp slimlines. However, I have found that people do like slims that are thicker than a straight B2B slim. Especially women, in my experience. Women tend to like some figure to the pens.

Personally, I like the slims with the larger CBs- specifically the Biscayne slims from AS. They're smaller than other pens, but not too tiny. I have a bunch of those to complete.

 

[juteck]

I make mine a little thicker at the center band and add very short radius to the center band.

 

[Rmartin]

Here is a picture of my favorite slimline design. I rarely make a slimline the standard way anymore.
Do a good turn daily!
Don

You've sure got a way with slimlines. I love them!