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Steve Clarkson
01-26-2009, 11:17 PM
I'm happy with the $3 pens available from Laserbits et.al. but I'm wondering if I would get better deals (like Corian pens) finding a pen turner to buy from. The few searches I did came up with $30-$50 pens.....

Does anyone buy their pens directly from a pen turner?

Tom Radachi
01-27-2009, 7:35 AM
Hi Steve,
I make pens and got my laser to go accompany my woodworking business.

A $3 pen is a terrific deal. Just the pen parts cost $1.00 for a thin plated slim line pen. Add to that a stick of wood or corian and the time to cut, glue, turn, sand and finish.... I know there's no way I could do it for that price:eek:

Joe Chritz
01-27-2009, 7:41 AM
As long as you plan on spending at least $10+ for a slimline in bulk and charge accordingly there is no reason why not.

It could be one of those "extras" you offer.

Another alternative is to just turn your own to match orders. The investment to get started and continue is pretty small. There is a learning curve before you are knocking them out quickly and with quality but it isn't difficult overall.

Joe

Tom Radachi
01-27-2009, 7:46 AM
I agree, $10 for a slimline in bulk is much more reasonable to me as a pen turner than $3.

Mike Null
01-27-2009, 8:07 AM
Steve

I'll pass on a little bit of sour grapes regarding pens. When I first started I had a fair number of turners for whom I engraved pens. My price was in the $4-5 range. They were always complaining about the price. I refused to lower it--after all my machine cost $20,000 and theirs a few hundred and my skill level was certainly equal to theirs.

I now refer the pen business to another engraver who will soon tire of it as well.

Steve Clarkson
01-27-2009, 8:20 AM
Hmmmm.....let me clarify a little bit. I didn't think that a pen turner would or could ever sell a pen for $3.....and $10 is certainly reasonable.....it was the $50 pens that I couldn't justify getting.

I have no interest in learning how to turn pens at this point, so that's not an option.

The Laserbits pens are very reasonably priced to allow for a nice profit...but their selection is limited. Some of the Corian and other pens that I have seen are magnificient. I just didn't know if I could get them for a more reasonable price.

Thanks for your input.

Pete Simmons
01-27-2009, 8:27 AM
Only way to make any $$ with pens is if you make them yourself.

If you engrave the cheap import pens there is someone who can engrave 50,000 per day and does them for $0.04 each. Good luck competing with them.

If you buy pens from a penturner you will need to charge a very high price in order to make a profit. Remember that $10 - $20 Slimline is the bottom of the penturners world. The next level of pens are $35 and up.

There are lotza pen turners out there so for me I use the laser to make special pens that are in the $150 - $400 range. Works for me because I enjoy making the pens. Is it a profitable business? No! Special pens like that take way to much labor to be able to make very many of them.

I had a request for 500 of my topline pens 2 weeks before Christmas. They thought I just added my logo to the box. I told them it would take me 5 months to fill that order.

So if I was just a laser engraver I would avoid pens.

Steve Clarkson
01-27-2009, 12:36 PM
Thanks Pete....hey, can you post a pic of one of those $400 pens? I'd love to see it.

Pete Simmons
01-27-2009, 1:33 PM
Ken Nelsen makes a kit available from Craftsupplies to make these pens.

With a laser and some work on a rotary tool you can make your own. I made my own special rotary tool that works well on this kinda stuff.

Of course you need to put it in a nice case. The puzzle pieces on the case are also inlayed.

Steve Clarkson
01-27-2009, 3:03 PM
Wow! That is awesome!

George Brown
01-27-2009, 3:09 PM
Hi Steve,
I make pens and got my laser to go accompany my woodworking business.

A $3 pen is a terrific deal. Just the pen parts cost $1.00 for a thin plated slim line pen. Add to that a stick of wood or corian and the time to cut, glue, turn, sand and finish.... I know there's no way I could do it for that price:eek:
Where do you get pen parts for $1???

Frank Corker
01-27-2009, 4:35 PM
Pete that pen looks fantastic!

Tom Radachi
01-27-2009, 5:25 PM
Where do you get pen parts for $1???

www.Woodturningz.com (http://www.Woodturningz.com)

Ooops.... I just checked, they're $1.70 each. It's been a couple years since I bought a bunch of slimlines...

Sorry all!