An inquiry

[Steve Busey]

I have a customer that MAY be interested in 150-200 laser engraved Jr Gent II pens with a CA finish. I could do them, but it would take me about a year with the limited shop time I have.

So I wonder what some of you Georgia IAP folks might charge me, if I give you the tubes and the wood, to return turned and finished barrels (no assembly). And how many you could easily produce in a month or so.

For consistency in the product, I'll be using the Stickfast Wood Finishing CA kit, with one coat of thin and 5-6 coats of medium.

The customer may come to the April meeting to see some of your sample CA finishes, if you're interested.

Think about it, ask any questions. Not on a firm timeline, but looking at options.

 

[The Penguin]

you're inviting a potential customer to a chapter meeting with other penturners?

sounds like a good way for someone to take your customer - unless you have a lot of trust in your chapter members.

:biggrin:

 

[southernclay]

you're inviting a potential customer to a chapter meeting with other penturners?

sounds like a good way for someone to take your customer - unless you have a lot of trust in your chapter members.

:biggrin:

From what I've heard most of them are all alright. There's one guy I'd keep him away from that lives up in Dawsonville though! :biggrin:


Steve I'd be about two years and have to go to the loony house with an order like that. Not sure which members are setup for that kind of volume but sounds like a pretty cool deal potentially.

 

[TonyL]

I would turn a dozen or so for you for free. It's therapy for me. I don't use Stickfast, but i have used . I use the Mercury Medium or EZ Bond medium. if interested just send me a PM.

 

[jcm71]

I'm just up the road in Chattanooga and am interested, unless this is a Georgia only offer.

 

[Steve Busey]

Wow, quick responses! Thanks, guys.

The customer is interested in the quality and consistency of the finish; that's why he was interested in seeing what folks are doing.

We're thinking a "divide and conquer" production strategy is the only way to crack this nut - if we can find a handful of guys that can do 10 or 20 or 30 sets, that might work. He's got a guy that does pens who can put a lower quality satin finish on it, but he really likes the CA glossy look. It takes me about 5 minutes per barrel to finish, using the Stickfast Wood Finish kit/process (of course, I still micromesh it after the 400 Abranet - old habits die hard!).

My value to this customer is the laser engraving, so I'm not real concerned about losing pen making to someone else.

So think about what you'd want pen set for:
(given wood and 10.5/12.5mm tubes (I maybe even throw in a CA Wood Finish pack - remember "consistency" :good))
drill wood
glue to tubes
trim blanks
turn to Jr Gent II size
CA finish

I'll do the laser engraving and assembly.

BURLMAN, I think the post office still runs both ways, but we'd have to figure the shipping costs on top of the production cost to make sure we're in the wheelhouse.

 

[jcm71]

Steve,
Perhaps a way to look at it is to work backwards from your customer's cost per pen. How much do you want for your engraving and assembling, packaging and delivering to your customer. I would imagine that you'll have postage costs with GA pen turners as well. Do you foresee those being absorbed by you, potential turners, or your customer. My recommendation is to figure out your customer's cost per pen and subtract what you want your "take" to be and go from there. BTW I use EZ Bond for my CA finish (6 coat thin, 6 coats medium). Is using Stickfast a must?

 

[jttheclockman]

My take on it is false representation of your work. You did not make the pens. Turning and finishing a blank is all we have when doing kit pens. Assembling and engraving is nothing. Just another thought. Good luck.



Just a side question for my own curiosity. When a pen is engraved does the size of the blank matter in the set up??? Say one person turns the blank BtoB and another puts a belly in it. Does this throw the engraving off. ??? Never seen a pen engraved. Had a few engraved but i am a bushing to bushing guy and they had the same shape when engraved.

 

[JimB]

My take on it is false representation of your work. You did not make the pens. Turning and finishing a blank is all we have when doing kit pens. Assembling and engraving is nothing. Just another thought. Good luck.



Just a side question for my own curiosity. When a pen is engraved does the size of the blank matter in the set up??? Say one person turns the blank BtoB and another puts a belly in it. Does this throw the engraving off. ??? Never seen a pen engraved. Had a few engraved but i am a bushing to bushing guy and they had the same shape when engraved.

I don't think it is false representation. The customer is going to see the finish of the other turners so he knows the OP is not doing all the work.

 

[jttheclockman]

My take on it is false representation of your work. You did not make the pens. Turning and finishing a blank is all we have when doing kit pens. Assembling and engraving is nothing. Just another thought. Good luck.



Just a side question for my own curiosity. When a pen is engraved does the size of the blank matter in the set up??? Say one person turns the blank BtoB and another puts a belly in it. Does this throw the engraving off. ??? Never seen a pen engraved. Had a few engraved but i am a bushing to bushing guy and they had the same shape when engraved.

I don't think it is false representation. The customer is going to see the finish of the other turners so he knows the OP is not doing all the work.

I did not read that. Then if he is good with it then great. Seems weird though.

 

[Steve Busey]

Right. Fair questions. The customer wants X number of pens, knows I can't produce that quantity in a timely manner, so we're exploring options. I'm trying to solve the customer's problem. If I found a half dozen of you guys that could turn 20 sets of barrels each, that would be a huge help!

And I mention the Stickfast finish because it's a pretty foolproof system that produces a consistent result. And consistency is important to the large order.

 

[Steve Busey]

Just a side question for my own curiosity. When a pen is engraved does the size of the blank matter in the set up??? Say one person turns the blank BtoB and another puts a belly in it. Does this throw the engraving off. ??? Never seen a pen engraved. Had a few engraved but i am a bushing to bushing guy and they had the same shape when engraved.

Good question. The laser has a very small vertical focal point, and a crisp engraving can occur over maybe 1/8th inch of surface depth variation. So I've never seen it be an issue to pen barrels, they're usually all "in the wheelhouse"!

 

[Curly]

Am I overthinking this?

I'm not a candidate for this but I am curious if the customer expects the form to be consistent across all the subcontractor's pens? Straight bushing to bushing, slight curve, plump curve, or something else? If a curve or something else are you supplying a template or dimensions to ensure all the pens are the same?

 

[Steve Busey]

I'm not a candidate for this but I am curious if the customer expects the form to be consistent across all the subcontractor's pens? Straight bushing to bushing, slight curve, plump curve, or something else? If a curve or something else are you supplying a template or dimensions to ensure all the pens are the same?

I just wanted to plant the seed here, so we could meet some turners at the meeting and discuss needs/requirement. This was never meant to be a fully detailed disclosure. Just kinda took on a life of its own. :bulgy-eyes:

Having said that, customer likes the slight curve pens I showed him over the straight line work he's had done in the past.

 

[Curly]

That's fine. I brought it up just in case. One mans slight curve is another's holy smokes that's a fat pen.

 

[Charlie_W]

Steve,

I am seeing more variables and questions here.
Such as:
- Are these pens to be turned using a mandrel and stock bushings or turned single with TBC bushings?
- Painting tubes?
- Gluing of tubes.
- Sanding Techniques
- out of round blanks
- finished diameter of blanks.......before sanding,..after sanding,....after finish is applied.
- CA finishing method, plastic polish, buffing
- radial scratches

Not trying to be a downer but Just throwing out some thoughts.

Good luck in your quest.

 

[Smitty37]

Wow, quick responses! Thanks, guys.

The customer is interested in the quality and consistency of the finish; that's why he was interested in seeing what folks are doing.

We're thinking a "divide and conquer" production strategy is the only way to crack this nut - if we can find a handful of guys that can do 10 or 20 or 30 sets, that might work. He's got a guy that does pens who can put a lower quality satin finish on it, but he really likes the CA glossy look. It takes me about 5 minutes per barrel to finish, using the Stickfast Wood Finish kit/process (of course, I still micromesh it after the 400 Abranet - old habits die hard!).

My value to this customer is the laser engraving, so I'm not real concerned about losing pen making to someone else.

So think about what you'd want pen set for:
(given wood and 10.5/12.5mm tubes (I maybe even throw in a CA Wood Finish pack - remember "consistency" :good))
drill wood
glue to tubes
trim blanks
turn to Jr Gent II size
CA finish

I'll do the laser engraving and assembly.

BURLMAN, I think the post office still runs both ways, but we'd have to figure the shipping costs on top of the production cost to make sure we're in the wheelhouse.

Steve, I would almost bet that mailing to Chattanooga would be the same as mailing within Ga. USPS now uses zone pricing and Chattanooga would almost certainly be zone 1 from your PO as would all of GA.

 

[JimB]

Right. Fair questions. The customer wants X number of pens, knows I can't produce that quantity in a timely manner, so we're exploring options. I'm trying to solve the customer's problem. If I found a half dozen of you guys that could turn 20 sets of barrels each, that would be a huge help!

And I mention the Stickfast finish because it's a pretty foolproof system that produces a consistent result. And consistency is important to the large order.

It may be foolproof and consistent for you because you use it. Everyone has their own method for doing a ca finish that works for them. Asking them to use your method may not work for them.

 

[Smitty37]

I have a customer that MAY be interested in 150-200 laser engraved Jr Gent II pens with a CA finish. I could do them, but it would take me about a year with the limited shop time I have.

So I wonder what some of you Georgia IAP folks might charge me, if I give you the tubes and the wood, to return turned and finished barrels (no assembly). And how many you could easily produce in a month or so.

For consistency in the product, I'll be using the Stickfast Wood Finishing CA kit, with one coat of thin and 5-6 coats of medium.

The customer may come to the April meeting to see some of your sample CA finishes, if you're interested.

Think about it, ask any questions. Not on a firm timeline, but looking at options.

Every time I see a thread like this i get a chuckle and I think "Ask what time it is in an IAP forum and someone will tell you how to build a wrist watch". :laugh: I think this is a pretty straight forward question. Sounds like the material is wood - provided by Steve, tubes provided, turner drills, insets tubes, turns and finishes (as Steve wants them finished). Steve asked for a ball park figure to do that. Seems pretty simple to me.

 

[jttheclockman]

I have a customer that MAY be interested in 150-200 laser engraved Jr Gent II pens with a CA finish. I could do them, but it would take me about a year with the limited shop time I have.

So I wonder what some of you Georgia IAP folks might charge me, if I give you the tubes and the wood, to return turned and finished barrels (no assembly). And how many you could easily produce in a month or so.

For consistency in the product, I'll be using the Stickfast Wood Finishing CA kit, with one coat of thin and 5-6 coats of medium.

The customer may come to the April meeting to see some of your sample CA finishes, if you're interested.

Think about it, ask any questions. Not on a firm timeline, but looking at options.

Every time I see a thread like this i get a chuckle and I think "Ask what time it is in an IAP forum and someone will tell you how to build a wrist watch". :laugh: I think this is a pretty straight forward question. Sounds like the material is wood - provided by Steve, tubes provided, turner drills, insets tubes, turns and finishes (as Steve wants them finished). Steve asked for a ball park figure to do that. Seems pretty simple to me.

I think there is more involved than meets the eye.

 

[Smitty37]

I have a customer that MAY be interested in 150-200 laser engraved Jr Gent II pens with a CA finish. I could do them, but it would take me about a year with the limited shop time I have.

So I wonder what some of you Georgia IAP folks might charge me, if I give you the tubes and the wood, to return turned and finished barrels (no assembly). And how many you could easily produce in a month or so.

For consistency in the product, I'll be using the Stickfast Wood Finishing CA kit, with one coat of thin and 5-6 coats of medium.

The customer may come to the April meeting to see some of your sample CA finishes, if you're interested.

Think about it, ask any questions. Not on a firm timeline, but looking at options.

Every time I see a thread like this i get a chuckle and I think "Ask what time it is in an IAP forum and someone will tell you how to build a wrist watch". :laugh: I think this is a pretty straight forward question. Sounds like the material is wood - provided by Steve, tubes provided, turner drills, insets tubes, turns and finishes (as Steve wants them finished). Steve asked for a ball park figure to do that. Seems pretty simple to me.

I think there is more involved than meets the eye.

I don't - he didn't ask for 'locked in' quotes. Anyone should be able to look at that an say I can do that or decide they can't. This stuff is not rocket science.

 

[jttheclockman]

Again Smitty you and I differ. Just because some one asks a question we are not allowed to bring up points that maybe they did not consider??? I think valid points were made. I did not hear any quotes how about that. ???? Maybe he got his answers via PM. I see no $$$$$$ values being thrown around here. Not sure anyone said anything about building rockets either. But your general statement about every time people ask questions someone tells them how to build the watch is off base to me. By the way if you want to know how to build a watch Smitty I am your guy. I will give you precise details.

 

[Smitty37]

Again Smitty you and I differ. Just because some one asks a question we are not allowed to bring up points that maybe they did not consider??? I think valid points were made. I did not hear any quotes how about that. ???? Maybe he got his answers via PM. I see no $$$$$$ values being thrown around here. Not sure anyone said anything about building rockets either. But your general statement about every time people ask questions someone tells them how to build the watch is off base to me. By the way if you want to know how to build a watch Smitty I am your guy. I will give you precise details.

I'll never ask you what time it is. BtW I have built a few clocks but not the movements although I have worked on a couple enough to know I would never have made a living as a clock maker or watchmaker.

Personally I just think that a number of people here make every question more complicated than it needs to be. As far as $$$ here I would expect if anyone mentioned them it would have been by PM rather than in the public forum.

 

[Steve Busey]

I think this is a pretty straight forward question. Sounds like the material is wood - provided by Steve, tubes provided, turner drills, insets tubes, turns and finishes (as Steve wants them finished). Steve asked for a ball park figure to do that. Seems pretty simple to me.

I thought so, too, Smitty. Had an opportunity for some of my local peeps to do some side work, and folks from all over the country pop up on the thread to question what's going on! I'm not looking for formal quotes here on this thread, but by planting the seed here, it will be easier to bring it up at next month's meeting.

 

[jttheclockman]

I will be honest with you Steve. I never looked at what forum this was asked in. Just saw the question and jumped in. I never pay attention to different forums to give help. So forget all I said and do what you have to. I will pay more attention to the forums i look in on. Hope you get 100 people jump on board and they all can do 2 pens. Good luck. Sorry about barging in. Maybe Smitty will make some pens for you. He is concerned for your well being.

 

[Curly]

Ditto to what John said.

 

[Steve Busey]

No worries, John. Nice to see folks taking in the full IAP experience!

 

[Smitty37]

I will be honest with you Steve. I never looked at what forum this was asked in. Just saw the question and jumped in. I never pay attention to different forums to give help. So forget all I said and do what you have to. I will pay more attention to the forums i look in on. Hope you get 100 people jump on board and they all can do 2 pens. Good luck. Sorry about barging in. Maybe Smitty will make some pens for you. He is concerned for your well being.

JT Smitty gets people to turn pens for him. I can't spend a whole lot more time turning than you can.,,lungs don't like it.