Last minute Pens

Messages
105
These are the last of the "last minute" Christmas gifts requested by people I know. Normally, I am finished with Christmas gift orders at least a week before Christmas, but there are always a few "stragglers", ya know! ;)

7mm Streamline Pen kits.
L to R - Curly Maple, "Dymondwood" laminate blank, Acrylic, Redheart, Acrylic.
Strmpens1600x535.jpg

These Pens are a new kit, for me anyway. These are a "Euro" pen, in the "Mont Blanc" pen style. These have a black Titanium plating, and they are a great looking pen.
Europen600x292.jpg


That completes my last minute work for Christmas. If anyone else calls for that "special thing that only you can make", I will be a wealthy man! :D

Thanks for taking a look! :wave:
 
Last edited:
Those pens look real nice, Kevin. I've also been turning a lot of last-minute pens. Many of them have been acrylic...they seem to sell as good or better than the wood ones, and thay are faster to finish. The Streamline is one of my best sellers, and I've done a few of the Mont Blank kits like yours (in the black titaniun, too) and I like them also. Hopefully I'll make time in the net day or so to post some pics of some of the latest ones.

Earlier this week I discovered the pre-drilled and tubed acrylic blanks at Rockler. They are ready to mill the ends and put on the mandrel...no drilling or gluing. Rockler's regular price is about the same as I've been paying for undrilled acrylic blanks, but they're running a 25% off sale on all their blanks and kits right now, so I stocked up on a number of the pre-drilled blanks.
 
Those will be appreciate gifts.
Whose Slimline kit is that with the ribbed center band?
Vaughn, half the fun comes from screwing up the drilling and glueing of fancy blanks. Wars yer sense of adventure? :rofl:
 
Those will be appreciate gifts.
Whose Slimline kit is that with the ribbed center band?
Vaughn, half the fun comes from screwing up the drilling and glueing of fancy blanks. Wars yer sense of adventure? :rofl:

I agree with Frank..............if ya ain't blowin' the sides out of those burl blanks, you ain't even CLOSE to havin' a good time! :eek: :p :rofl:

Frank, those kits are the "Streamline" kit from Berea Hardwoods. You are correct, it is the same animal as the Slimline, but with the large, ribbed center band, you can do a lot more with the style of the pen. (They cost about the same, but you can sell them for more.....because they look like "more" when they are done. It's a conspiracy I tell ya.......:D
 
Very nice pens Kevin!

I hate drilling blanks, my little toy drill press does not have the stroke for it, so I have to do it on the lathe, take way too long :rolleyes:

I'm going to have to buy a drill press with a longer stroke, and make up a vice thing and then drill a good bunch of blanks at one time!

How much do you guys charge for pens?

I told my wife that I'd like to get around $40 a pen, and she just rolled her eyes (same old problem, I make stuff for her for free, so she don't value it).

I see pens selling here for $50 at least, so I figured $40 for a nice one would sell well...?

Remember, I'm in Japan, price are different, but I'd still like to get an idea of what your market can bear.

Cheers!
 
Thanks Stu!

The price of the pens I turn depends on the wood type, and the style of pen. (The price of the kit makes a bit of a difference.) I sold these Streamlines for $35.00 each, and the 2 Euro pens for $40.00 each. That is a bit more than I usually sell the Streamline for, as I normally get between $25 and $30 for them. These are the first Euro pens I sold with the black Titanium plating, and I thought they looked so good they were worth at least $40 each. (The Euro went to a return customer.)

These were last minute requests........one of those "Ya GOTTA help me out here" kind of things. So, they said "name the price" and I did. Tomorrow when they pick them up, we will find out if everyone is happy! ;)
 
Top