How often do you turn a pen

[Lew]

I'm still fairly new to the pen turning world, but I was wondering how often the majority of people turn pens. Once a day, once a week, I just don't know what is usual (I almost said normal, but I don't think penturners are normal judging by what I have read here on IAP). And do you turn only one pen per session or more than that? I get in the shop just about every day but find myself doing other things than turning pens. When I do go about pen making, it is a several day process for me, some longer than others. Thanks for any comments.

 

[wouldentu2?]

I turn several times a week, have 3 mandrels so there is always several in some stage of finishing. I turn about 200 a year for Turn for Troops. Many times I'm doing some other wood project while finishing the pens.

 

[mmayo]

I turn several pens a week typically, but I also make other items every day. When the need arises I sometimes make 10-20 pens in a week like after a successful show. Best of luck.

 

[Darrin]

I'd say about 4-5 a week.
I also have a business and custom orders so that helps with productivity.

 

[mark james]

I graph out a new segmenting design, do some trials, redo the designs, do more trials... Maybe 10-20 pens in a year if I get requests for simple designs. I'm happy to come up with a few new designs a year, then take 2-6 weeks to tweak each. But, I don't sell pens, rarely sell blanks, and usually simply ask for material reimbursement. I just want to have fun and stay out of trouble... sometimes I'm successful.

 

[Argo13]

I probably make about 100 pens per year. But I go through streaks when I turn. I don't want it to be another job so I turn when I want to and relax when needed. It works well for me.

 

[GraiDawg]

this thread makes me happy.

 

[Wmcullen]

I'm with GraiDawg. I've been wanting to ask this exact question of this group for a while. Thanks for starting the discussion Lew!!
I'd say I make about 100 per year give or take. Sometimes I'm focusing on making a "specialty" or experimental pen. Other times I really just want to play and relax and turn 2-4 at a time.

 

[renichols]

I'm still fairly new to the pen turning world, but I was wondering how often the majority of people turn pens. Once a day, once a week, I just don't know what is usual (I almost said normal, but I don't think penturners are normal judging by what I have read here on IAP). And do you turn only one pen per session or more than that? I get in the shop just about every day but find myself doing other things than turning pens. When I do go about pen making, it is a several day process for me, some longer than others. Thanks for any comments.

At one time it was 3 or 4 a week when ever work allowed, now it is 1 every 3 or 4 months when the doctors allow. go figure.

 

[magpens]

Well ........ . to put it bluntly . . . . . .

. . . . . . not as often as I would like to . . . . .

. . . . . . but more often than my wife thinks is necessary . . . . . !!!!! . . . . . ( especially . . . . given the low return on investment . . . . . !!!!! . . )

 

[henry1164]

Similar story here - I turned almost 200 pens since starting a year ago. I initially did one at a time but now I do them in batches - cutting a number of blanks; scuffing tubes; gluing tubes; trimming ends; turning/shaping; finishing and then assembly. I try to keep blanks for around 10 pens that are cut/tubed/trimmed and ready for turning/finishing at any time. Gives me the option to do one pen complete start to finish, several pens in stages or several pens complete at one sitting. I like having options to fit what is going on during my day/week.

 

[Brandy]

Once a week at the most. I work 4 10's so have three days but adulting often gets in the way! I usually only turn one pen each week. Sometimes I'll make a blank one week and then turn it the following week. If I am playing with segmenting (something new to me) I'll spend several weeks on the one pen. It kind of also depends on the weather. I have trouble getting the shop up to a comfortable temp when it's really cold and that tends to keep me in the house.

 

[jttheclockman]

I make a few pens a year and depends on what I am doing. But spring and summer is off limits. My pen making as well as my scrolling is fall into winter months. I use to spend alot more time in the shop when my scrolling business was hot and heavy but over the years less and less shows and gave up the stores in malls. I put pens in the inventory some 15 years ago and sell a few now and then but give away more than I sell and keep some myself for family. This year I happen to not have any shows to go to so no need for scrolling items and thus I have dedicated a few months in making pens just for the fun of it. I make one of a kind unless there is a request for duplicates but I hate making the same pen over and over. Being a segmenter there is more time involved in making my blanks but I always have a few going at a time. Right now I have 10 pen blanks on the table with a few more getting started as early as tomorrow. Just put together 2 pens yesterday that laid around for about a week. I need to complete my group of 30 pens that I had set in my mind by end of about mid April and then will shut the shop down. I have a basement shop so no need for temp control. After I get the house complete in about 3 to 4 years I will have entire year to do shop work if I am still around.

 

[Kenny Durrant]

I've been turning pens for several years. When I was working I turned in my , what little I had, spare time. Like mentioned before it was what I could get by with and keep peace with my wife. The sign of addiction is that's all I think about. What and how to build something. When a neighbor trims his trees I slowdown to see if there any prospects for a pen. Then I started casting. That's another addiction within an addiction. Since I've retired that's all I do is cast or think about something new to try. To answer your question I only turn when I have someone that wants a pen or I want to see what a blank looks like turned. I still have a hobby problem that any time I can get away with is occupied with some part of it. And once again if I don't have time to do it I'm daydreaming about it. Good Luck!!!!

 

[pshrynk]

As often as I can, but not as often as I would like. Summers usually put a crimp on things because of owning a house and there being an environment out there. Winters usually quite a bit more. This year, with all the folderol with COVID, my spare times in winter were sucked up with other things. I usually batch things. I'll spend a day cutting and drilling blanks for 5-6 projects, then glue up later that day. Then when i can get to it, I turn as many as i can at one time.

 

[walshjp17]

My penmaking has slowed a bit with age and arthritis but I still mage a few pens a month - sometimes more if the weather is nice.

 

[howsitwork]

Well ........ . to put it bluntly . . . . . .

. . . . . . not as often as I would like to . . . . .

. . . . . . but more often than my wife thinks is necessary . . . . . !!!!! . . . . . ( especially . . . . given the low return on investment . . . . . !!!!! . . )

Ditto Mal

however I spend time semi turning to near size. There are about 10 to 15 pairs of blanks awaiting finish turning. Also quite a few blanks in stages of prep mainly slimlines but starting a few other types . Every so often i do a fountain pen ( craft supplies uk kits not got a clue what kit as got some time back and " stored" ) just to keep my hand in with the digital calipers and small skew .

I have now started " saving" any money from sold projects to " finance this hobby. At current rates another 40 years should break even ( just )

oops quick count up , 20 prepared blanks as well, ie square ones pre first turning .

 

[leehljp]

I average a pen a week. Sometimes two or three, then go a month to six weeks without making a pen - and work on other things, and then back to a pen or two.

I am not a production hog. I like to look at the wood or cast or segment as it develops, and measure several times along the way, etc - which means I will take the blank off the lathe and put it back on 3 or 4 times during the process. Quite often - one out of every 4 or 5, I will not like what I am seeing, and then take/turn the wood or casting off, or set it aside because it is not developing like I think it should. (Off Topic: BTW, I have been doing that almost for eons. It is this process of turning a blank clean of wood or cast - down to the brass tube, that lets one see just how much CA or Epoxy actually makes contact between the tube and the blank - a WHOLE LOT less than the vast majority of pen turners think, including Epoxy converts, Epoxy converts, you can swear how much, but I know for a fact from a hundred blanks or more turned clean of wood or cast. There are far more air bubbles in there than one would believe. And for that reason, I am a believer in expanding urethane glues.)

I have had some good ideas, especially in segments - that looked bu** ugly when turned (too many awkward combinations). They get thrown into the burn barrel! That makes me take a couple of weeks off and mull over why I missed the outcome so bad in my mind!

 

[jttheclockman]

I average a pen a week. Sometimes two or three, then go a month to six weeks without making a pen - and work on other things, and then back to a pen or two.

I am not a production hog. I like to look at the wood or cast or segment as it develops, and measure several times along the way, etc - which means I will take the blank off the lathe and put it back on 3 or 4 times during the process. Quite often - one out of every 4 or 5, I will not like what I am seeing, and then take/turn the wood or casting off, or set it aside because it is not developing like I think it should.

I have had some good ideas, especially in segments - that looked bu** ugly when turned (too many awkward combinations). They get thrown into the burn barrel! That makes me take a couple of weeks off and mull over why I missed the outcome so bad in my mind!

You are alot like me Hank in the blank making theory. I can see the blank but when turned round it does not look good. I have a couple right now that I should have used a thicker kit to show the design better and that is a problem with the manufacturers of kits. They do not make many kits designed to show a segmented blank especially one piece kits. Now I will show these pens here later but they did not pass my stink test. They get a B- grade for this. Where we differ though is I am constantly designing blanks in my head and have so many designs I want to try I will not live long enough to do them all. That is why I am a one-of-a-kind pen maker. I segment, cast, and make special wood pens so the designs are numerous.

 

[jalbert]

Maybe one per weekend

 

[aalmond]

I go in spirts, a lot of times I will have a larger project like a bowl going on my larger lathe and the go back and forth to my small lathe to make pens. Last week I did 6 I think, so far this week zero, day job keeps getting in the way . I can say this, I get grumpy when I don't get lathe time.

 

[qquake]

It varies. Sometimes several pens in a week. Sometimes one pen in a week. Sometimes several weeks between pens.

 

[penicillin]

Like others, pen making seems to come in waves for me. I may go months without making a pen, then suddenly need several.

I "batch" the preparation process. Five to ten blanks are cut, drilled, glued, cured, milled, (corners sanded/rounded if needed) together.

The very first thing I do is put the pen blank and the associated pen kit together in a fold-top sandwich bag along with a Pen Making Record slip. I update the form as the pen goes through the process. The notes section is used for the name of the recipient or other comments.

I usually do the gluing in the evening hours inside the house on a Rockler silicone mat (and wax paper if extra is needed), and let them cure 24 hours.

I rarely turn more than one pen a day, but on rare occasions there may be a rush to make gifts for a couple or a group.

When the pen is complete, the bag has a pen and a Pen Record slip. I make a Pen Gift Label for the recipient and put it in a pen display tube (as a gift box) with the pen, label facing out. Sometimes we tie a thin ribbon around the pen display tube. The Pen Record slip goes on my desk. I enter the information in a spreadsheet, and save the fold top bags in a larger bag to await the next pens.

Example Files and Links:

Pen Display Tube - They are 69 cents at our local Rockler in packs of ten. They are less expensive than most other gift boxes and sleeves, and they look good. The ones at Rockler don't fit the larger cigar-type pens, so beware. You can buy larger ones elsewhere.
https://www.rockler.com/pen-display-tubes

Example Files - Feel free to use, steal, copy, modify, claim, etc.
Pen Making Record slips - They live in the bag with the pen blank and pen kit.
Pen Gift Labels - These fit inside the pen display tubes. I insert them facing out.
Pen Making Tracking Database Example - An example of the spreadsheet I use to track each pen I make. It has proven to be more useful than I ever thought it would.

 

[Lew]

Like others, pen making seems to come in waves for me. I may go months without making a pen, then suddenly need several.

I "batch" the preparation process. Five to ten blanks are cut, drilled, glued, cured, milled, (corners sanded/rounded if needed) together.

The very first thing I do is put the pen blank and the associated pen kit together in a fold-top sandwich bag along with a Pen Making Record slip. I update the form as the pen goes through the process. The notes section is used for the name of the recipient or other comments.

I usually do the gluing in the evening hours inside the house on a Rockler silicone mat (and wax paper if extra is needed), and let them cure 24 hours.

I rarely turn more than one pen a day, but on rare occasions there may be a rush to make gifts for a couple or a group.

When the pen is complete, the bag has a pen and a Pen Record slip. I make a Pen Gift Label for the recipient and put it in a pen display tube (as a gift box) with the pen, label facing out. Sometimes we tie a thin ribbon around the pen display tube. The Pen Record slip goes on my desk. I enter the information in a spreadsheet, and save the fold top bags in a larger bag to await the next pens.

Example Files and Links:

Pen Display Tube - They are 69 cents at our local Rockler in packs of ten. They are less expensive than most other gift boxes and sleeves, and they look good. The ones at Rockler don't fit the larger cigar-type pens, so beware. You can buy larger ones elsewhere.
https://www.rockler.com/pen-display-tubes

Example Files - Feel free to use, steal, copy, modify, claim, etc.
Pen Making Record slips - They live in the bag with the pen blank and pen kit.
Pen Gift Labels - These fit inside the pen display tubes. I insert them facing out.
Pen Making Tracking Database Example - An example of the spreadsheet I use to track each pen I make. It has proven to be more useful than I ever thought it would.

I love your ideas! I will definitely start using these or something simliar.

 

[Lew]

Thanks to everybody for your responses and encouragement. As someone said here, it can become an obsession and it has definitely started feeling that way to me. I am becoming more involved each day with segmenting, casting, trying to come up with new ideas for pens, reading about them as much as I can, and basically driving my friends and family crazy (although they like the results). I'm also glad to see that others (especially those that have been doing this for a long time) will become disappointed with the results of a pen and wind up throwing it away. I think I've had as many failures as I've had successes. Sometimes I just turn a simple pen just for the joy of turning a pen and getting a good result. As I've said before, there are so many possibilities that I don't think there is enough time to do everything.

 

[Joebobber]

I usually turn minimum of 1 a day, unless I get a large order for something else. I spend the mornings cutting n gluing with my wife, then turn while she presses everything together. Then get an idea of what I have to do for the next day.

 

[Todd in PA]

I have now started " saving" any money from sold projects to " finance this hobby. At current rates another 40 years should break even ( just )

I have a goal now of being able to sell some pens to be able to reup on supplies. But I won't hijack this thread... I'll start a new one.

I now make about 4 pens per week. I'm new and have caught the bug. I have been prepping blanks during the week. I pour some resin or cut some wood Mon/Tues. Drill and paint Tues/Wed. Glue in the tubes Wed/Thurs. And can take those 3-5 pens to completion over the weekend.

Todd