Finally done! 33 Jr. Statesman Cactus Pens with Mesquite Boxes

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MesquiteMan

MesquiteMan

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Location
San Marcos, TX, USA.
As some know, I was approached by a company in Houston, TX to make 15-18 Jr. Statesmen "Original Cactus Pens"™ with laser engraved Mesquite boxes. Well, I reluctantly accepted the commission (I hate production work!) and the order started to grow. First, they changed it to 20 sets, then 24, then 29, and finally, 33! The due date was short (6 weeks) and I am now COMPLETELY sick of making cactus pens and mesquite boxes! Anyway, I finished packing them all up today and took them to the Fedex office. I sat there and watched as they loaded my box with all my hard labor into the Fedex truck, hoping to God that they don't mess them up on their short 200 mile journey to Houston. They went out overnight for a dinner event tomorrow (Tuesday) evening.

This order was for an energy company who is having a "bond closing" dinner for some of the biggest investment guys in the US. I am hoping that this big order opens some doors into the high end corporate world.

Anyway, here are some pics of the finished order. The pens are all made with my Crystal Clear "Original Cactus Blanks"™ reverse painted black and finished with a CA finish. The kit is the Jr. Statesman platinum with black ti. The boxes are from Texas Mesquite that I salvaged from road construction sites, sawed into lumber on my sawmill, and dried. The box finish is 4 coats of Deft satin lacquer.

Thanks for looking!

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Wow...!

Great project....! The pens look outstanding. The boxes look outstanding. And the photo will serve as an important marketing tool in the years to come.

Really impressive....!

Steve
 
I am in awe. Those boxes look great. What are those dark areas where a hinge would normally appear? They add to the looks of the box. Do you have your own laser engraver? If not, you must have had a heck of a time coordinating this event. Kudos to you.
 
Those are Fantastic!!! I like the lift up box's I guess you got your monies worth out of that plan, I guess it was worth price.
 
The plan was worth the price just for the concept. I had to completely re-do it, however, since the original plan only allowed for smaller pens and would not hold Jr. Statesman pens. I also modified the lift arms since the original plan made the slot so sloppy that there was no friction so when the lid was opened, the weight of the pen would close the box on its own!

Thanks for the nice comments!
 
Jgrden said:
I am in awe. Those boxes look great. What are those dark areas where a hinge would normally appear? They add to the looks of the box. Do you have your own laser engraver? If not, you must have had a heck of a time coordinating this event. Kudos to you.
Click to expand...

The dark areas are the lift arms that also serve as the hinge. Pretty neat concept, actually. I do not have a laser engraver. My custom cabinet maker has one and did all of the laser work for me.
 
I think I saw you spelled David wrong on that one box :eek: :biggrin:

Nice sell, big project, should bring you many more future sales with that type of crowd recieving them. :cool: Congrats
 
PenWorks said:
I think I saw you spelled David wrong on that one box :eek: :biggrin:
Click to expand...

Scared me for a minute! Actually, the fault would lie directly on the shoulders of the executive assistant who sent me the list. I simply forwarded it direct to my laser engraver and he did a copy and paste into his software!
 
Good grief.... just stacking the boxes for the photo would be too much work for me! Now whatcha gonna do if they call up wednesday wanting 50 more? :eek:

I am impressed with the whole order however, they look smashing!
 
Hey Curtis,
Great job on the pens and boxes. They look great and should be a great hit. Hope they open the door for some future work. But some times that can backfire. You might end up with way more work than you want.

Bobby
Louisiana
 
Curtis it's all been said can only add another

WOW :eek:

I've only done one other production job for a doctor and it was only 20 Sierras all the same purple acrylic. Then I had to deliver them what a P.I.A. :beat-up:

I just can't imagine 33 of those casting, painting, building, turning, the boxes OMG. :hypnotized:

It must have been grueling. Now sit back and let the complements flow in. I am sure there is a card in the bottom of each box. :wink:

I hope you get a bunch of calls. :tongue:

.
 
WOW! Great job. Now tell us Curtis was it worth all the work??? I hope you got a small fortune for that.

Custom making boxes $$$$
Laser engraving $
Cactus blanks $$$
Kits itself $$$$
TIME $$$$$$$$$$$$$$ $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$

LOL
 
Curtis, IT is funny how we love to sell our pens, even hope and pray for them to sell. Until they REALLY! sell. My limit is about in the 20 pen range, It really does make you start to hate making them to do to many more than that all at once. You did good though and now go buy yourself something nice to get your excitement back up where it should be.
 
Designing and making the first one is a challange, making 2-3 its nice to get it right, more than that is is hard work, 30+ is damned hard work. Nice job Curtis and as a side note, thanks for the tip on the sandpaper post its. I made up several of them. Mike
 
Congrats Curtis! I know all too well the pressure from doing a large order, although in my case it's puzzles, I'm sure you feel like a big weight is lifted off your shoulders! :cool:
 
Very cool Curtis. Even though I am sure the recipients will love them it's a shame that they won't be able to full appreciate what you put into them. You did a awesome job!
 
Good job.

What I think is even better about the project is that you created these blanks (and boxes), from scratch, yourself. I think that would be even more rewarding than 'just a pen order'.
 
Very impressive production of very impressive pens. I have to ask -- in the process of turning 33 pens, did you have any failures (I hope not, but I expect I would have)?

-Barry
 
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