Sunday Night at the movies--a NEW kit!!

[ed4copies]

Well as we reach Thanksgiving, Dawn and I have been reminiscing a little about the "show season". Nice weekend weather has been met with, "Oh, I hope people still show up!!" and dismal weekends are greeted with, "Well, we don't have to move all that stuff in and out of the fairgrounds in the rain!!"

But on Thanksgiving, I used to spend the day turning cigar pens. Forty of them--from 8 am until I finished (often around midnight).

Last week we received a shipment of a NEW pen from Berea!! They have designed a new transmission, which should go into the 7 mm tube with more tolerance for "imprecision" (in other words, should not crack the blank), as well as operating reliably (not creeping up as you write). The pen is made by their factory in Taiwan---so the reliability is certainly likely to be outstanding!!

From a sales to customer perspective, we think this is a winner!! With the petite centerband and the longer lower barrel, it LOOKS like a ladies' pen. And over 99% of the people we sold to were LADIES!!!

In addition, you CAN sell it in the $20 neighborhood, if you like---cause you can buy the pen AND the pre-tubed barrels for under $5!!

So, take a look here: longline slimline - YouTube
for the Sunday night movie and

here: Exotic Blanks :: Pen Kits :: Pen Kits (By Kit Name) :: Stylish Longline Slimline :: Stylish Longline Slimline Pen Kits - 5 Pack Chrome Plating
you will find the pen, sold by the FIVE pack. YES, $9.95 per FIVE kits is the correct price---we hope to sell large numbers to keep the manufacturer busy and to dissuade Berea from handling it themselves!!

We can only succeed with YOUR support,
Comments are welcome, as always!!

Ed (this one is my project, so don't blame Dawn!!)

 

[BayouPenturner]

thanks ed, I enjoyed viewing the video.

 

[Dan Masshardt]

Nice video Ed. I like how you showed us the new kit and how to assemble it (I need to make one of those dowel jigs).

Also the marketing end was a great idea.

I've been looking at the pre-tubed blanks for other pens.

Find a way to get the pre-tubed in purple!!!!

 

[edicehouse]

Just to promote you some, I have a question. If you could get the cigar pens all set up, like you have, how much time would you have cut off your all day cigar making?

 

[ed4copies]

Nice video Ed. I like how you showed us the new kit and how to assemble it (I need to make one of those dowel jigs).

Also the marketing end was a great idea.

I've been looking at the pre-tubed blanks for other pens.

Find a way to get the pre-tubed in purple!!!!

At the price point for these pens ($20ish), I think I would prefer to sell them as "Christmas, seasonal".

Purple is very popular---save that for the $50 and up price points.

Just my opinion!!!
Ed

 

[ed4copies]

Nice video Ed. I like how you showed us the new kit and how to assemble it (I need to make one of those dowel jigs).

Also the marketing end was a great idea.

I've been looking at the pre-tubed blanks for other pens.

Find a way to get the pre-tubed in purple!!!!

Actually, you could use clear acrylic tubing and you could see what you are doing!!!

 

[ed4copies]

Just to promote you some, I have a question. If you could get the cigar pens all set up, like you have, how much time would you have cut off your all day cigar making?

I had the blanks drilled and the tubes glued in, so all I had to do was turn and buff and assemble.

One of the reasons I am structured in the way I lay things out on the lathe (nib is always at the headstock), was to be certain I wouldn't make too many mistakes while turning. If everything is always the same, you NOTICE when it changes.

Just turning and buffing and assembling, I would get 40 cigars done in a day. (About 15 purple!!)

 

[Jim15]

Thanks Ed.

 

[edicehouse]

Ed, how long did you spend drilling and prepping those blanks? I know 40 would take me several hours to prep.

 

[Ed McDonnell]

Do the kits come with a refill?

If yes, what is the difference between the "upgrade" refill and the kit refill?

If no, is the upgrade refill price of $0.89 per pen or per pack? Looking at it another way, is the price for a pack of 5 pens with upgraded refills going to be $10.84 or $14.40 (or some other price?)?

Does this kit use standard sized cross style refills? How doss that work with the longer lower tube? Transmission pushed in further?

Ed

 

[ed4copies]

Do the kits come with a refill?

If yes, what is the difference between the "upgrade" refill and the kit refill?

If no, is the upgrade refill price of $0.89 per pen or per pack? Looking at it another way, is the price for a pack of 5 pens with upgraded refills going to be $10.84 or $14.40 (or some other price?)?

Does this kit use standard sized cross style refills? How doss that work with the longer lower tube? Transmission pushed in further?

Ed

The "5 pack purchase" is found here: Exotic Blanks :: Pen Kits :: Pen Kits (By Kit Name) :: Stylish Longline Slimline :: Longline Slimline Pen Kit - 5 Pack Sampler Pack (Kits & Drilled AA Blanks)

For a change, the picture is accurate--the 5 kits are complete--tubes and refills included.

The transmission is shorter than the 7mm we are "used to" and the lower tube is longer, so it is pushed in about the same amount as the "standard" 7 mm transmission. I have always used a jig similar to the one I show on the video---it is pretty much "foolproof".

Thanks for the "heads up", we have changed the pricing for the five "upgrade" refills.

Of course, this is a new kit, so we have no experience with the refills. Personally, I would use the "upgrades" if my selling "price point" was over $20. YMMV!!!

Thanks for your comments!!!! Ed

 

[ed4copies]

Ed, how long did you spend drilling and prepping those blanks? I know 40 would take me several hours to prep.

Funny, I never actually timed the "prep" work. I always knew how long it took to TURN pens, and buff and assemble. But, I drilled on the drill press, and many blanks were destroyed there---either blowing out the end (Yes, I tell everyone to stop short and cut off the end, but it cost me many dozens of blanks to learn that I should NOT drill through!!!) or having the hole crooked enough that it could not be made into a pen!!

An "evening" of making pens nearly always had a 10% or higher failure rate. So, to get 40 ready, I would probably drill 45 or so. At about $4 a blank, that means I threw away $20 worth or so.

Gluing was easy---I always used Thick CA and never buffed the tubes, just put thick CA on the tube, put it in the "away from center" side of the blank, rotate and push in and out of the blank, about 10 seconds (after the blank was completely cool and dry). Then, insert in the "center" side of the blank and repeat the rotate and push in and out. Then, push into the blank until just a little below the edge of the hole.
(Side note: I rarely wore gloves, so for the next 12 hours and two showers, my fingers could not grip very well--they were CA coated. The "life" of a CA finish on your fingers is short, but "slippery"!!)

FACING was another area of potential disaster. I did not discover the sandpaper method--everything was done with a pen mill and I was NOT good at sharpening this tool. Again, probably 10% ended up as waste. Another $20 or so.

So, in retrospect, to get those 40 that I turned, I probably attempted 50.

No point in me determining a value for my time, but the material cost was certainly higher than the "cost of a blank".

I BELIEVE you will save LOTS of time and money if you use the pre-drilled and tubed!! IF this project is successful, we expect to bring in additional choices. I was not aware that the "patterned" pieces would not, necessarily match----my mistake!! However, for the green and red "chip" designs where there is no pattern match required---they can be GREAT time savers!!

Nothing to lose by trying!!
Ed

 

[Teeball]

Another good video Ed, thanks.

 

[TimS124]

Any chance those could some day be available as well in gun metal please?

Just ordered some of the chromes as a customer ordered one last night…and I discovered non of my on-hand slimline kits are chrome. Oops.

I have some antler on hand and love pairing it with gun metal. The slimline kits should let me use some of the slimmer parts of the antler (and I'm a general fan of the gun metal finish).

Thank you.

 

[edicehouse]

I started watching this video and the girls were running around,,,,