What length would you prefer?

[ed4copies]

A recent thread discusses the desire for 6" blanks. So, since we buy a lot of blanks, this is important to me.
Please take a few moments and "vote" and give comments. This WILL have an effect on the products we offer.

One note: commercial acrylic will take a LONG time to change, so I am focusing on Alumilite blanks for the moment,
they can be changed pretty quickly.

 

[magpens]

I voted for 6" . . . . but . . . .

. . there is ALSO a need for 9" . . ( I would not go to 10" ).

Some of the smaller makers/vendors are currently offering 8", which is quite good, but I think 9" might be somewhat better.

The reason I say 9" is that many of the recent new single-barrel KIT designs have brass tubes with lengths around 3".
With a blank length of 9" you might be able to make THREE of those newer KITS, or TWO with the remainder suitable for a Sierra-size.

8" is good for a KITLESS FP, especially if you are making the section from the same material as the body and cap.

Going up to 9" offers extra flexibility in the usage of more of the blank for a broader range of pen makers,
and the increase in cost over 8" is not very significant.

 

[duncsuss]

Since I don't often make kit pens these days, I'm not too concerned about the length of the blanks.

If I have to buy 2 (or even 3) to get a barrel and a cap and a section and a clip-retainer/finial, that's not a problem to me. More of a concern would be if the blanks no longer fit in a reasonably priced shipping container (e.g., for USPS a Small Flat Rate Box), as I don't even get left overs for that additional cost.

 

[magpens]

Duncan makes a very good point with regard to the purchased blanks fitting into the shipping box.
But . . . don't rule out the possibility of using an envelope for small quantities of blanks ( up to 12 or 16, I would say )

I am not totally sure about this, but I think there are two sizes of USPS Small Flat Rate box that ship for about the same price.

The larger of the two will accept a blank that is about 9.25" long.
The smaller of the two will accept a blank that is 8.5" long.

More complete measurements: larger 9.25" x 6.25"; smaller 8.5" x 5.125" . I did not measure the depths.

In any case, while we are at it, we could start working on USPS to enlarge their Small FRB . ! ! ! !

 

[dogcatcher]

I don't buy much in the form of pen blanks. I buy by the board foot and cut my own. I try to cut the blanks 18 tp 24 inches long. This way I land up with only one cut off end. In the game call making the 1.5 square blanks are expensive, a 3/4" long cut off is a waste of money. One of my sources Bell Forest sells the 1.5 square blanks in 18 and 24 inch long blanks sells them cheaper than I can get them locally and mill to my size.

 

[RGVPens]

I picked 6". I could get 2 of most pens I make, at this time, from a blank. I can "sometimes" get 2 from a 5" but have to think about the second ahead of time. An option for a 10 incher on some blanks would be nice...IF the freight didn't eat up any advantage.

 

[ed4copies]

Just an FYI: a few 10 inch will fit in the larger "small flat rate"--which only applies for international.
But the box fits in a padded flat rate envelope for domestic, too.

We would not ship anything in envelopes--shipping equipment will break blanks, refills, kits, etc. We ALWAYS use a box
unless it is ONLY bushings.

End of FYI

 

[CjG78]

10 inch round!! I'd pay a little extra for 19 mm round blanks!! Saves a bit of time, straight into the collet

 

[sorcerertd]

Thanks for asking about this, Ed. I'm glad someone is watching out for our needs (wants?) and trying to supply them. I wish more people would cast hybrids in a 6" length.

I'm sure we could come up with some pen kit requests, too. Something like a Sierra that would take a G2 without needing nib modification maybe? That or I'll just need to up my skills (I really do anyway).

In any case, while we are at it, we could start working on USPS to enlarge their Small FRB . ! ! ! !

Ha, they already raised the rate on it this year, too. They could give us an extra inch of box for that, right?

 

[jrista]

Thanks for posting the poll, Ed. I saw the recent discussion about this, and was thinking 6" would be better for many of the kits I make...I'd be able to get more use out of each blank, with less waste. With 5" blanks its often hard to find a good use for the remainder with many kits, outside of some kind of segmenting project (which is fine, but, it would be nice to have blanks that are a bit longer and support an average of two or so pens out of the box.)

 

[darrin1200]

My preference would be 6" and 9". I use both sizes in my Kitless building.

 

[its_virgil]

10 inch is nice. I like to make the section from the same material as the rest of the pen. The extra gives me more than one shot at the section in case I need it. 19mm would be nice as already mentioned.

 

[TonyL]

I would like 6"

 

[wolf creek knives]

I recently bought some 12" blanks from PSI, however the picken's were pretty slim (mostly out of stock). Most were lava bright (which I have no idea what or if there's a difference between others). I'd love to see some 12" blanks offered if possible (the survey suggests up to 10" only). My order with PSI, which included some pen kits, came to less than $7.00 in shipping (in a cardboard box). Pretty good deal but if Exotic Blanks had a better offer I'd move to them for my blanks. Butt'a I gotta say the cost for shipping the PSI 12" blanks was no where near $15.00, about half that cost (and again, it was in a cardboard box with no damage).

 

[hcpens]

Instead of getting caught short with a 5", I would go with a 6" or larger.

 

[gimpy]

My wife stated…….oh, never mind