Nice "RETIREMENT" project!!!

[Bobby McCarley]

As some of may know I retired in February of this year and was excited that now I can spend some time in the shop. Well, right before after I retired I was contacted by a company that I had done some pens for last year, 100 pens, and they wanted to know if I could make some more pens for them. I said sure, when did they need them and how many were they talking about. They told me they would get back with me in a couple of days. Well a couple of days later I get an e-mail with the details, they wanted another 100 pens with their name engraved on them. About five minutes later I get another e-mail telling me they made a mistake in the previous e-mail, that they wanted 1000 pens and they wanted them for November. Needless to say, I was dumbfounded, I could not believe my luck. This was a "THE" pen order of a lifetime in my opinion. Well, when it was all said and done, the order grew to 1500 pens with their name engraved on them. I just completed the last of the pens last week and got them all assembled, put in velvet pen sleeves and boxed up to be delivered to the company. I want to give a big "THANKS" to Ernie at Bear Tooth Woods for his help and support in this project, I don't think I could have got it done without him. He went way above what he need to do to make this order possible.

I have included what 1500 pens look like, sorry for the quality of the pictures, it's hard to photograph that many pens.

As a side note, I got a call from the company about the possibility of another pen order!!!!

Bobby
Louisiana

[John Keeton]

And I have trouble making four of anything!! Congrats!

[Dan Hintz]

PLEASE tell me you did this with some sort of duplicator attachment (or CNC)... After 100 done manually, I think I would shoot myself.

[Peter Fabricius]

Hi Bobby; That is indeed a fantastic pen order and you did a fantastic job completing that many pens. I think I am with Dan on the 100 then get bored... nice job, they look great. Peter F.

[Marc Himes]

Like John, I have trouble doing much of anything repetitive, but you have done an amazing feat. Way to go and congrats on the order, along with your ability to complete it!

[Dennis Nagle]

Very cool. Did you use a duplicator?

[Rick Gibson]

Largest order I ever had was 30 and he supplied the cherry he wanted them made from. I was glad when it was done I can't even imagine 1500 the same.

[Jim Burr]

I've done 100 twice, contemplated jumping off a cliff after each, but 1500 is crazy!!! Well done Bobby and your are right on about Ernie...that brutha rocks!!

[Brian Kent]

Hope it's not misspelled:)

[John Beaver]

And I though you "retired" in February. I guess you have a new career. Congrats on the great order.
John

[ray hampton]

how many boxes did you need ? 12 dozen per box =10.41 boxes , I would get confuse if I try to count the boxes

[Steve Doerr]

That is amazing. My biggest order has been 50 and I thought I would go crazy. Can't image doing 1500. I think it's time for that retirement vacation.

[Eric Gourieux]

That's amazing. Congrats

[Matthew Little]

I just got to ask, how much did you charge per pen?

[Baxter Smith]

Amazing is about all I can say.

[Bobby McCarley]

Thanks for the comments, they are appreciated. All of the pens were done one at a time. I did buy ten sets of bushings though and would turn ten pens, take a break and then turn ten more. I tried to turn 25 to 30 pens a day and then would work on other projects. I also started out turning and finishing each pen as I went but after awhile I found that I could rough turn the pen blank to size and move on the next one and do a whole bunch and then sand and finish them. I got to where I could rough turn about 75 to 80 pens in a couple hours and then sand and finish them. I tried to leave weekends open to give myself a break so I would not get burn out on them. I do hope to have a break from turning pens before I try another order of this size.

Bobby

[Kathy Marshall]

Wow Bobby! That is quite an accomplishment! Congrats on the order and on getting them all done! Now it's time to take a break and enjoy your retirement.

[Sid Matheny]

Holy Cow! You need to go back to work and get some rest!

Sid