Looking For Wholesale pen kit supplies

[andrew zen]

I am a manufacturing guy. Be working in the computer chip industry for a long time.

I am turning pens (and other things) as I recover from the enterprise software career.

I have 4 shopsmiths (rescues from craigslist) and a great and expensive workshop. (A great story)

I have been buying the cheap kits from Penn State and giving them away to friends and family and business associates and they love them. Looking to sell on Etsy, the pen price is down to $10 - $15 a pen. I can spend about 40 minutes to make a pen in groups of 20 (think Tom Hanks in Castaway efficiency). (not including drying time) I am working that down.

I have over 500 blanks that I predrilled ready to go at a given time using some weird woods including drift wood.

I am hating to go through the gauntlet of little plastic "crack" bags to get to the pieces of pen parts needed to turn about 25 pens day and sand another set the next.

Any ideas to get to a wholesaler that I can buy parts without the crazy markup ($4-8 a kit) and in unsorted boxes so that I can make some money???

I also laser inscribe them.

We all love wood turning, but I am committed to a little quantity to survive.

I could use some friendly advice, I will share advice - like gorilla glue from a custom applicator is the best to glue a brass tube to wood because of the rubber expansion filling the gaps so it is easier to cut the blank corners with better tube adhesion. Just have to wait 2 hours or apply water as an accelerator and then heat. Having a cure oven helps.

30 grit ceramic band sander is a good way to break the corners of pen blanks (from Shopmith at Lowes). Takes about 20 seconds to save 120 seconds of turning.


I hope you can help.

thanks

[Michael Gibson]

Andrew,
Have you looked at The International Association of Penturners site if anybody would know l think you will find the information there. Michael

[Tim Rinehart]

try Dayacom

[Richard Coers]

If you want to be the lost cost guy, and make them at incredible speed, why make them at all? You can buy a complete maple pen for $2.29, then laser engrave it. Google a company called laserbits. Otherwise, go to China and get the kits. I think they have minimum quantities of something like 1000 pcs., but can't be certain of that.

[andrew zen]

thanks, dayacom looks good. I have an order for 100 pens lasered. guy doesn't care about style or wood so the laserbitz pens are perfect. they look like dowels with center bore and an end taper. Which would be a great use of a metal lathe with a tool rest added. Doing myself allows me to do different woods and finishes. other than using alibaba, any names for a chinese mfg to take a chance on.

[Steve Busey]

I gotta say, though, I got some of the $3 pens from a bulk promo seller (but not from Laserbits) and they are NOwhere near the quality of the Penn State kits. The wood they use does not laser engrave very well either. Caveat emptor...

[andrew zen]

some of those dayacom kits look familiar. prices of 100 can be more than penn state. they have the premiums also. waiting for price break quantities, prob > 200 to 1000 avgood start.

[Dan Masshardt]

IAP is the place for pen turning.


Although if you are talking about selling pens for $10-$15 each, you won't find much support for that. :-/

You will also find that etsy can be a tough place to sell.

[Dan Hintz]

Dayacom is the biggest / most well-known. Rizheng is another. In the end, though, you need to order in bulk if you hope to save any dough. Don't forget import/shipping fees. The paperwork is always fun, too.

At 100 quantities, PSI-style companies still offer a pretty decent deal. When you start getting into the 500-1k quantities, ordering yourself can beneficial... but remember, you're usually ordering that quantity for a single plating style.

[Dan Grebinski]

Try Rizheng kits at http://www.penkits.com.cn/ You need to register first.

[Jeff Belany]

If you buy those $2.29 Maple pens, just remember -- you get what you pay for. You may have a quite unhappy customer. They look OK at first glance but will not impress anyone.

Jeff in northern Wisconsin

[andrew zen]

Dang, what are all these laser people doing in the turners forum. I went to the IAP and I think a good way to go is kitless. Maybe one of the makers will sell boxes of components not kitted. Get 1000 tristies, and nubs (different metals / colors), rings and clips and those clip nubs and get the cross or roller ball refills. I give pens away and then the people go "I wanted blue ink".
I might have local artisans make some custom rings or engraved Yeah $10 - $15 is a terrible price., less etsy charges, pretty scorched earth. A link to another website is usually what is included on etsy, until they don't allow that. I just hate those bags. I should keep them and sell them to the tweekers in the Santa Cruz mountains here.

[Dan Hintz]

Dang, what are all these laser people doing in the turners forum. I went to the IAP and I think a good way to go is kitless. Maybe one of the makers will sell boxes of components not kitted. Get 1000 tristies, and nubs (different metals / colors), rings and clips and those clip nubs and get the cross or roller ball refills. I give pens away and then the people go "I wanted blue ink".
I might have local artisans make some custom rings or engraved Yeah $10 - $15 is a terrible price., less etsy charges, pretty scorched earth. A link to another website is usually what is included on etsy, until they don't allow that. I just hate those bags. I should keep them and sell them to the tweekers in the Santa Cruz mountains here.

I turn, too, but the laser was first in the shop.

The kit manufacturers will sell individual components, but expect the min order to be pretty darn high (at least 1k, I would imagine, but probably 5k+ per component). Again, you will have to choose which plates to stock as they won't mix to reach the minimum order. A few of the IAP members do sell just the clip, nib, and centerband separately.

Don't be so hard on the baggies, though... they prevent individual pieces from banging against each other and scratching during transit.

[andrew zen]

I finished over 100 pens last week. Pretty fun, learned a lot. I bought the cheap funline slim and comfort pens of different metal finishes from PSI.

I have 6 twist mechanism fail, 2 were missing the bottom insert, 3 that didn't twist, 2 just plain wrong and 1 bent. 3 missing centerbands, 2 tubes wrong size (too narrow, can't get the nub in - measured thin), and 4 cross refills that did not work. So I should account for extra kits for donor parts. Thanks for all of the help. I got a Mandarin/Taiwanese translator and that has helped communications with Dayacom.

[John Lifer]

I was doing what you are trying to accomplish about 15-18 yrs ago. Sold a jillion, at about $15 a pop. At that time Craft supplies was the only big name, was about the time Berea and Penn State got started. There was a guy in CA that I ran across and bought kits mostly from him. He was importing direct. Got tired of this in about a year. And didn't really make much. I think being the low low cost guy is crazy, and won't work long term. I'd be soon trying to up the ante and make some $50 and $100 pens that you can actually take 10 times the time to make and still make more $ in the same time with less effort. Just my thoughts. BTW, I only make pens to give away or use right now.

[andrew zen]

Thanks, I am thinking $35 minimum, and then give away to a few that would value a free pen to them. I give a pen at a meeting and then when they leave it there I pick it back up and give to someone else. I tried Rizheng, less expensive, but shipping turned to be about $.50 a pen for quantities in the 100s for the both the cheap and nicer pens. Air freight. But they sell components like twist mechanisms and center bands. One thing I learned is that people are afraid to lose a nice pen and would rather buy a watch. To invent a pen that can't be lost, to do to do I also changed the shape around for more ergo feel, adds a shape step after the turn. I think I know everything now :)