Pens?

[Burt Alcantara]

I'm new to SMC. My interest in a mini lathe is, at the moment, strictly to make tool handles. I don't have one at the moment.

In all of the forums I've visited there is a lot of talk about pens. My question is where do you sell these pens? I can certainly see the fun in making pens .I can imagine if I got into making pens I'd end up with hundreds.

Burt

[Jon Shively]

I have only been turning for a few weeks, a couple of weeks for pens. They are selling themselves at this point! Do you or your wife work for a company that would like quality pens for meetings/visiting dignitaries, laser engraved with their name or logo? The sky is the limit.

[Burt Alcantara]

I'm retired and my wife works at home. We're sort of hermits, she at her computer, me in the shop. Some neighbors are interested in some of my tables though.

Once I get some inventory up I was thinking of selling via garage sales as they are big in this town. Maybe I'll try a few pens, once I buy a mini, and sell them in a fancy box.

BTW, my local Woodcraft does not think much of the Rikon. They only sell Jet and One-Way. When I talk about the Rikon they all give me the business about them being junk, don't do this, don't do that..."I had one a few years back...was a piece of sit"

Wish the shipping wasn't so bad otherwise I'd order one from the web.

Burt

[terry miller]

A lot of people here and other forums I visit use the Rikon with no real complaints. As far as the pens go I would advise to stray away from selling at garage sales. This will only set your price at a point where you will not make much of a profit. The best method is word of mouth when you go some where make sure you have a pen with you and when you sign the receipt make sure to use your pen. Give a couple for gifts to higher income people like doctors you have known for a while. You can also talk to some of the small business owners in your area like cigar shops or jewelery stores. After a while it will get out that you make pens and people will seek you out especially if you live in a small area.

[Bernie Weishapl]

Burt there are a bunch of us who have the Rikon including myself. I bought it for several reasons such as you can turn a 12" bowl if you want and can change the belt without tearing the lathe apart. The woodcraft I bought from said he sold 70 and had one return of which he was given a new one and is now happy. I don't know what their problem is but I am extremely happy with mine. As far as selling pens I definately would not sell at garage sales. Those are for bargins and that is all they are looking for. I sell pens at work, craft fairs, office supply stores and craft stores.

[John Miliunas]

Hey Burt, glad to see you posting! :)

On the pens...First off, I think Terry gave you some great suggestions there! First off, seriously, do NOT go the garage sale route! People are looking to get something for nothing. Trust me on this one, I know; My wife is the Garage Sale Queen 'round these parts! :rolleyes: Once you have the lathe and chisels, the main accessories for making pens won't cost you an arm and a leg and, the kits are relatively cheap. You can get quite a few made to hand out as samples or gifts to friends with little investment. From there, it's much like Jon said...They really do tend to sell themselves!:)

On to the lathe of choice. First, let me preface this by telling you that I work part time at a Woodcraft store. While we have probably sold more Jet mini's than Rikons at this time, I've received very positive feedback on the Rikon units we have sold and there have been many. I don't know where the person said that he had one "a few years back..", as they haven't even been around that long! Now, while most WC stores are independently owned, they still have a direct affiliation with Woodcraft Corporate and Corporate distributes Rikon. I can think of no reason they couldn't order in a Rikon Mini for you! For instance, our store does not typically stock the Delta or Oneway lathes but, we can certainly order them in for our customers! If you haven't done so, I would talk to the store manager about doing something like that for you. If he refuses, drop Corporate an email and see if they may not have something to "say" about it! :) :cool:

[Burt Alcantara]

Thanks to all.

As to the self promotion idea, I have a medical team who helped me through a recent bout with cancer.

I've wanted to give them a gift to show my appreciation but couldn't find one that was "one size fits all." The pens would be perfect as they are neither gender or hierarchy specific.


BTW, do any of you have dust collection at your mini? I saw an idea in a magazine that used a 6-6-6 Wye cut down the middle. The length of the Wye is about "15.5." With a good robust DC one should be able to capture at least 60%, if not more, of shavings.

Many thanks to all for these great ideas!
Burt

[Ken Fitzgerald]

Burt...........I just started turning pens a couple of weeks ago. My wife was so impressed I got pressed into making Christmas presents for family members this year. Yup pens and bottlestoppers.

A lot of members here have a Rikon and are quite pleased with it. I have a Jet VS Mini. It's a good lathe. I think either would make a good lathe for small projects.

Pens are a quick project and are easy to turn. Once you get past the cost of the mandrel, a pen mill/trim kit and a few other basic supplies they are not expensive to make. I buy my pen kits in bags of 10 or more for bulk discount. Pen blanks can be bought and are relatively cheap or they can be made form dimensional lumber.

Last week I gave my wife a two private lessons and she turned her first pens. She did a good job and enjoyed it!

Good luck and BTW......that medical team will appreciate your thoughtfulness!

[Burt Alcantara]

Ken,
Can you recommend vendors where to get pen supplies?

[terry miller]

Burt here is a link to several supplier links this is easier than posting all of the different links here. I have used CSUSA, Arizona Silohouette, Beartooth Woods and WoodCraft for pen supplies. I have been happy with the service with all of them. It depends on which style of pen you are looking for as to which one I would recommend.

http://www.thepenshop.net/supplier_links.htm

[Nancy Laird]

Burt here is a link to several supplier links this is easier than posting all of the different links here. I have used CSUSA, Arizona Silohouette, Beartooth Woods and WoodCraft for pen supplies. I have been happy with the service with all of them. It depends on which style of pen you are looking for as to which one I would recommend.

http://http://www.thepenshop.net/supplier_links.htm

Terry, this link doesn't work. Any suggestions?

Nancy

[Corey Hallagan]

This is the proper Link:

http://www.thepenshop.net/supplier_links.htm

corey

[Ken Fitzgerald]

Ken,
Can you recommend vendors where to get pen supplies?

Burt I buy most of mine from either Woodcraft in Spokane....there's one in Boise.......or order them from Craft Supplies USA in Ogden UT.

I've had excellent service from both places.

[Stephen Hibbs]

If you are looking to thank a group of doctors, there are specialty medical clips that you can buy for your pens from penn state. item #pkmx5, they go with the designer twist pens.

[Burt Alcantara]

Went to the local WC today to order the Rikon. They said they decided not to carry it because there was too much breakage and overall a major pain because of the maintenance and returns issues. Sort of gave me cold feet.

I wonder if they get a better deal from Jet and nothing from Rikon so that's the reason for the above perception. I had this same problem when I tried to buy a General table saw. All kinds of excuses why no one carried them, except the real reason: General requires a $5000 minimum order. Eventually, the local WC ordered enough so I could order the 50-185, otherwise the shipping killed the deal.

The price of the Rikon is about right and it has more features then the Jet. Of course, I want to make sure that I'm marching down a path and not a slippery slope.

Ideas, suggestions?

Burt

[John Miliunas]

Burt, first of all, these are but my opinions only so, please take them in that light. I own neither the Jet or the Rikon. I've used both for demo's at the store, albeit, a limited time on either, mainly just demonstrating pen making and some simple spindle work. Given that, I also can't attest to how much either are used by the folks we've sold them to. Even a lesser quality machine will last a long time if used minimally. Yes, I've heard of some issues with BOTH units, though I can't say I've had to deal directly with customers of either having the issues. :)

As for a final decision on which one to go with, support for the unit may indeed carry some weight. I'd talk to the guys at your local WC once more and find out how far they're willing to go to support you if you have problems with the Jet. We already know they're not too eager to do anything w/the Rikon! However, many vendors are now limiting much of their "after sale" warranty support, due to the fact that, most of the time, the end user (customer) gets as much or MORE support from the OEM than the vendor does! And, in those cases where it's equal, the customer is still better off dealing directly with the OEM because, there's one less "middle" person to go through. I know that in our store, if it's an item we normally stock and, indeed have in stock, we still try to take care of our customers "in house" and deal with the OEM's afterward. Having said that, the "policy", per se, is that warranty issues are the customer's responsibility to take up with the OEM. Again, a talk with your local guys may give you a better idea of where they're at. If you're a real regular customer with them, there's a good chance you'll get better/more support at the local level and, most probably, on the Jet. :)

As far as the machines themselves go, I still think the Rikon is more bang for the buck. It's a heavy little machine with slightly more capacity, though if you're just doing spindle work (pens, etc...), that should not be a concern. Speed changes via the belt/pulley switchover are easily done on both and most appropriate accessories will fit and work equally well on either lathe. The Rikon does have a handy accessory storage tray for your machine related tools but, that's not a deal maker/breaker, IMHO. Lastly, country of origin for their manufacturing is also the same so, we're not even looking to support the "Made In USA" tag. :(

Good luck with your quest on getting exactly what you're looking for and be sure to keep us posted! :) :cool:

[Jon Shively]

Might want to look above at Mark Pruitt's post on Quality. PM him and ask specific questions as he seems to be living the piece of equipment you are wondering about. I myself have the 15" Craftsman and have not had a problem and enjoy using it.