What size blanks would you like to see?

[ed4copies]

I got an email today requesting 5/8" blanks. Seems the sender is getting more business in the slimline-comfort area and would like to "turn off less material".

So, is this a trend?

MULTIPLE answers will be allowed on this poll, but please be honest--if you would use more sizes for one or two pens a month, it doesn't merit us keeping it in inventory. But, if you sell a few pens a month and you see that many are slim, that's a trend and we should try to help.

Thanks for your answers!!

 

[arioux]

Well, let me start it. I use 50/50 3/4 and 5/8.

I turn a lot of perfume pens and 5/8 are often enough unless i want to do a more bulky shape. Again half the pen i make are slims or confort types so 5/8 do the job. I try to avoid wasting wood.

With some reseller saying that they sell 35,000 slim line kits , i think that there is room for 5/8 blanks.

 

[penmanship]

most of the pen's i make require 3/4" & I can usually squeak a large pen out of it ~ but it that isn't the case and i want some wiggle room i'll move up to the 7/8".

i don't even make the smaller pens at all (unless by special request & i like you:biggrin

 

[mrcook4570]

My personal preference is 5/8" blanks. I can make anything from jr gents down to slims (which covers 90% of the pens that I make). Occasionally, I will need a larger blank.

 

[JBCustomPens]

Ed, I usually don't comment in these, but I think this one I have personal experience in.

I usually buy 3/4 in less expensive blanks (under $50 because when I buy blanks, I usually don't know what I am going to use them for.

If I get 5/8" blanks, and I find that I really like the blank, I can really only use it for slimlines, because I can't drill straight enough with a 27/64" to make a Sierra out of a 5/8" blank.

But, if a blank is more than $5, I will usually buy 7/8" because I like the option of using it for a Statesman or just making a couple of Sierra's.

 

[Tanner]

I like the longer blanks for closed end pens. If there is scrolled art in a 5" blank that needs to be centered in the cap, there is not enough left over for a closed end pen. If those scrolled blanks had the art closer to the end you might get a closed end out of a 5" incher, however if the blank was 6" then the scrolled art could stay where it is. My 2 cents.

 

[KenV]

Ed -- I almost never purchase a true 5/8 blank. I can make most things from an 11/16 to 13/16 blank if it is not really badly warped (have some corkscrew shaped burls in the stash).

Specialty big pens -- Panache is an example take a huge hunk on one end.

I sometimes purchase for a specific run of pens -- 10 to 20 of a given style and go for what is needed for that style -- such as a closed end pen or a special laser design.

Note that I never ever make a slimline with a kit centerband, and most slimline kits go into cartridge pens or those which look more like a euro or some other special outcome.

 

[mredburn]

I purchase few blanks, I have way too many wood blanks I need to use up first but I prefer the larger size blanks when I do buy. Why? Because when I decide to make a certain pen size I cut strips off the sides the length of the blank to use for other things like inlays and segmenting. I can and have made slim line style pens out of 7/16sq blanks.

 

[Hucifer]

I don't make many slims, comforts or euro's anymore, so I don't use 5/8 blanks. I find myself making 3/4 blanks when I cut them for myself. I have yet to try any really big pens like a majestic, so have not needed the 7/8... yet.

 

[Andrew Arndts]

Being a relative novice, I find the 3/4 size a safe size to allow for the "Oh :censored:" factor. which in turn (no pun intended) also allows for a vast amount opportunity for what can be made.
Length really is not a big thing, that what gets cut off, get put in to the scrap bucket an for a future date becomes the building blocks for a segmented turning.

 

[rjwolfe3]

Ed, another thing to think about - depending on the number of blanks ordered, you can only get 20 3/4x3/4x5 1/4" blanks in the smaller USPS priority box. If you make them a bigger size then you would only be able to get half that for the same postage. I know you rarely sell just blanks but for those that do, it is an issue.