How do you keep your pen orders straight?

[navycop]

I got a couple orders for a slimline in corian and one in wood. Probally not a big deal when the kits are the same. Is there a way to keep the refills, clips and nips from getting mixed up?

 

[ctubbs]

I break out the contents of one kit at a time and place the components into a grove routed into a board in the order they go into the finished pen. That way there is no way to mix the parts of one pen with those of another. Otherwise, I would probably have a pen with two nibs and no transmission.
Charles

 

[ohiococonut]

I have a 4'x8' table in the middle of my workshop. When I have a bunch of pens to do I spread them out and lay the blank on each kit. As I cut the blank I lay it and the stub back down by the kit. When I drill all of the blanks it makes it easier to remember which kit the blanks go to because of the stub. The only thing I remove from the kit is the tubes. I try to do each of the prep steps at the same and nothing else comes out of the kit until the blank is complete.

 

[rizaydog]

I do it almost exactly as ohiococonut said. It feels more like a factory job when you are doing it, but it save a huge amount of time.

 

[zig613]

I generally have 4-5 pens on the go at any given time. To help keep things organized I purchased a dozen small 3"x5" plastic trays for about $3 from the Dollar Store. Each tray will hold the contents of the pen kit plus the blank. The bag of components and the tubed blanks are sorted and stored in the trays and set aside on my work bench out of the way so that they don't get knocked over. If the components are removed from the bags I will place a scrap piece of paper on the bottom of the tray with the kit name on it.

Wade

 

[Old Lar]

I eat a lot of sandwiches at noon. I save the plastic containers that lunch meat comes in to keep the pen kit and blank together. I also write the type of blank on the plastic bag that the kit comes in for less confusion. These containers are free and help me keep all blanks and components straight.

Those containers come in handy for keeping lots of other things sorted, with or without the lid.

 

[Ruby pen turning]

What is an order?
Oh for pens? ... I have not had an order in almost a year.

 

[azamiryou]

Once I've picked a blank to go with a kit, I write it right on the kit bag. Once the blanks have been cut, they usually fit in the bag with the kit so I do that to keep them together - unless I just CA'ed the blanks, then I leave them separate.

 

[Brooks803]

This is the system I have in place to keep my blank orders organized. You can do the same with kits and even pen orders.

 

[seamus7227]

So jonathon,i like the set up, but do you work from the top bins first or are they dated so you can see what is priority over others?

 

[Chasper]

I do long production runs, often in the 25-50 range. I keep extra tubes on hand and make up ready to turn blanks (selected, cut, drilled, painted, tubes glued, and squared). I have about 600 ready to turn blanks on hand right now.

When it is time to make up some pens I pick out the ready to turn blanks I need, usually I have to make a few more, and turn them to size, and polish. The last step is to open the kit bags, take the tubes out of the bags and replentish my supply, then assemble the pens. I keep ready to turn blanks in a variety of boxes that I stack on shelves.

 

[Brooks803]

So jonathon,i like the set up, but do you work from the top bins first or are they dated so you can see what is priority over others?

They're dated :biggrin:

I had to double stack bc I was running out of shelf space! I guess that's a good kinda problem to have

 

[Rangertrek]

I generally have about 5-10 pens in production at a time. I keep each blank and its components in a plastic box. The boxes are actually sandwich containers from Wally Work and have lid that seals. They come 5 to a pack and are cheap. I have a note taped to the top about the pen, its production number, the kit cost, the blank cost and any notes about turning that are above my normal time and cost for a pen.

 

[Smitty37]

Work one at a time

Not doing huge numbers of pens. I work on one at a time. (most of the time) and mixing parts is not an issue.

When I do work on several pens at once I limit it to one style and if at all possible one finish. If I'm doing 10 gold slims, who cares if the parts get mixed. They'll all be from the same supplier and better be interchangeable.

Pens where things (including the thing making the pen) could get mixed up or confused I stick to one at a time.

 

[JimB]

I keep all the parts in the original bag. I add the blank to it. Sometimes, of the blanks look similar I will put a small piece of paper with the material name on it inside the tube. That way if I have more than one out at a time they will not get mixed up.