Would this be insane?

[Brandon25]

I have completely eliminated turning two blanks on one mandrel, like both halves of a slimline or something. I had too many issues with out of round as I got closer to the distal end of the mandrel. I turn one piece of wood at a time. For a Baron I'm selling for $60, that's okay by me. For a Sierra, no biggie- it's just one blank. But for a slimline, it almost seems not even worth making them since the one at a time way takes so long. Eventually, I will get a dead center and go mandrel-less....except for Euros and those dang slimlines. So that's another reason I wont like them.

Anyhow, would I be crazy to price a slimline higher than a Sierra, just to discourage its sale/encourage Sierra sales? The Sierras are so easy, and not much more for, say, a chrome kit, than a slimline would cost.

Note, I have sold 6 slimlines for $15 when I started out, but I wont make another pen ever that's this cheap. They were $1.65 10K kits.

Tomorrow I'll drop off my first real order, which is as follows:
chrome slimline $25
chrome Euro $30
chrome Sierra $40
chrome Sierra click $45
chrome Baron rollerball $55

So my question is, what if I switched things up a bit? Like, make the Sierras $30, the clicks $35, the slims $40, and the Euros $45? Would this be crazy? On one hand, I think, no, the Sierra is easier, faster, I like making it, so I want to price it to sell. the slim is more complicated, more time consuming, and so I'll price it higher. On the other hand, I think there's no way I can justify a normal slimline selling for $40. I hate to just simply eliminate my lowest price kit for those that cant afford a $50 pen, but honestly, (and these are my only 5 styles I've done so far) the two cheapest are the two hardest right now. My slimlines are curvy, so they take more care and time thinking about shape, and the euros have that tenon you have to cut, and a fair amount of curve. The others are pretty much bushing to bushing, with a very slight convex curve.

So what do you guys think? What would you do or what have you done?

 

[Snorton20]

What does mandrel less look like for pen turning. I have never seen this before.

I sell my slims for 15 and sierra for 30.

 

[Brandon25]

For kits like a sierra, you know how the bushing goes inside the brass tube? It's a "step bushing." This means you can put a dead center in the heastock, a live center in the tailstock, and just insert the center points in the bushings themselves. No mandrel needed. I've been told it eliminates a lot of mandrel-related issues that you might not have even known were mandrel-related.

 

[Firefyter-emt]

"Mandrel-less" or "Between Center Bushings" is as simple as using a dead center to turn the blank. This is very accurate and simple to turn this way. I also love being able to remove the blank from the lathe in seconds so I can measure with calipers in my hand. I feel more in control of the measurement than trying to do it on the lathe.

Here is a photo that should clear it up for you. Once you go this way, very few have ever gone back for obvious reasons.

PS, the bushing part is from the custom made ones that John makes (If I remember right)

 

[1080Wayne]

Brandon Absolutely nothing insane with your thinking . Most of us just don`t have the guts to do it . Why not leave your Sierra`s where they are , and go up with the others from there ? The Sierra`s will still sell . Nothing the matter with taking more profit from something that is easier to make . And you may surprise yourself and find that you also sell more slims and Euros . Wayne

 

[thewishman]

Set your prices at a level that makes you happy to see them go. Price it any way you want, but pay yourself enough to make it worth your time.

Lots of people have lots of ways to figure out what to charge. Don't worry about them, charge what makes you happy. There is no magic number.

I sold some cigar pens to a jeweler for $45 each. He had someone come in and buy two and order an additional three. When I delivered the new pens, I noticed that he was selling them for $131.00 each!!! I decided that if he can charge that, then my prices were not too high. At first I felt cheated, but I was happy for the price I got, when I got it. I raised my prices a bit after that, though.

 

[leehljp]

What does mandrel less look like for pen turning. I have never seen this before.

I sell my slims for 15 and sierra for 30.

Most of the time, Mandrel-less users have two steps in turning and finishing, but it takes longer to type this than to change the two steps of use.

First step: using bushings as Lee shows above - for turning to shape.
Second step: quickly remove bushings and finish sanding to size and applying CA or other finish.

Lee's drawings show the Bushing usage for turning to shape. Below is the link to my first home made drive (before I got a "dead center").

http://www.penturners.org/photos/images/940/1_Dead_drive_1.jpg

SLIMLINES and Mandrel-less: I have a set of bushings that allow me to turn slimlines. I purchased them from Lee (FireFyter) over a year ago and am not sure he makes them anymore.

But this does eliminate several problems associated with mandrels.