Pen Production Order- Ouch!

[Ben Gastfriend]

This is the biggest project that I think I've ever taken on. My neighbor's brother owns an accounting firm, and wanted pens for all his employees. Alot of employees=24 pens. And the deadline was today, and I got the order on Friday. But he paid me well, so I accepted and... you can guess what I did this weekend! Every couple hours my dad would come downstairs and make sure I was still alive. So here they are...

Walnut. Gold Fancy Slimlines. Sanded to 600, EEE, friction shellac.
83935

[Mike Berndt]

Ben,
It looks like you accomplished that mission. The pens look very nice. I am doing pen turning with my 7th and 8th grade students and they love it!!! Keep up the good work!!!

Mikeb:)

[Steve Schlumpf]

Outstanding work Ben! Not many folks actually get orders for their turnings! Congrats and may you have many more - orders that is!

[Joe Chritz]

Good job, I hope you charged accordingly.

Fast, cheap or good. You can pick any two under normal circumstances.

They look very nice indeed. I am just ordering some pen turning stuff so my maiden voyage is still a little off. I bet they won't come that fast or nice.

Joe

[Greg Cuetara]

Ben,
Great job. Learn now how to meet the impossible deadlines and you will do great in the future.
Greg

[Paul Downes]

Ben, congratulations! Preety soon you'll have to work on productionizing. One of my first orders was for 100 platinum fancy slimlines. It took about 40 hours to get that order out.

[Brian McInturff]

Your father should be very proud! I know we here at the creek are. I think we sometimes forget your age Ben. I should go ahead and get a pen from you now before you get famous and then I can't afford it.

Seriously, I'm very impressed. That was a daunting task and you fulfilled it. The pens look great and you took the time to put them in individual bags. You are well on your way to bigger and better things!!

[Philip Duffy]

Ben, I hope I don't hear you complaining over all that beautiful challenge!!!!! Money talks and talent produces. That's the bottom line. GRRRRRRRRRinn Philip

[Tim Malyszko]

Nice work getting all those pens cranked out.

[Thomas Bennett]

Ben, Congratulations on "turning" pro!

[steven carter]

Ben, you the man boy! Some people work better under pressure, this will come in handy should you ever get married:):):):). Seriously, great job. Did you buy pen blanks or cut them up yourself?

[Paul Douglass]

Great job! Nice looking pens. You will probably get more orders from some of those that received pens.

[Bill Bolen]

Great job Ben. Deadlines can be murdr to deal with! Soooo, when will we see a new gloat of your purchase from the pen "factory" proceeds ?..Bill..

[Ben Gastfriend]

Ben, Congratulations on "turning" pro!

Ok, that's a baaaaaaaaaaad joke!


Ben, you the man boy! Some people work better under pressure, this will come in handy should you ever get married:):):):). Seriously, great job. Did you buy pen blanks or cut them up yourself?

I cut them up out of some leftover f**twork walnut. The stuff does come in handy (please don't kill me...!)

[David Sallee]

Nice pens Ben and congrats on the order!

After watching a video someone posted here on SMC on making pens, I'm so interested in starting!

Where would be a good place to get the pen supplies from?

Thanks
Dave

[George Guadiane]

Congratulations Ben,
I think you are making more money at this than most of us!
I like to see other people do good work, especially if they can repeat the success.
Good Job!

[Bob Hallowell]

Congrads Ben, you did a great job. Now look at all that money you can invest back into the vortex.:D

Bob

[Brent Pauba]

Great work man, I am sure after you deliver those, there will be more orders in the future!

[David Walser]

David,

There are a number of places to get pen turning supplies. Craft Supplies USA is the oldest in the game and may have the broadest range of kits. Penn State Industries (PSI) specializes in low-end kits, but they just started offering higher end kits, too. The PSI kits are available from a number of resellers, such as woodturningz.com.

Here are some links to get you started:

http://www.woodturnerscatalog.com/store/Pen_Making?Args=
http://www.pennstateind.com/store/getting-started.html
http://www.arizonasilhouette.com/

The first link is to Craft Supplies USA's pen page. The second is to PSI's getting started page. The last is to Arizona Silhouette. Bill Baumbeck, the owner of Arizona Silhouette, is a great guy to work with. He knows pen turning and can give you lots of good advice (as can the guys at Craft Supplies). As nice as Bill can be to work with, his website can be a tad difficult to navigate.

Good luck!

[Don Orr]

Beautiful pens, met your deadline, had (some) fun, got paid. Doesn't get much better than that!

[Bernie Weishapl]

Congrats Ben on a job well done.

[Paul Engle]

Nice work Ben, I have some KOA from Hawaii , and need a pen from it ... intrested? PM me. I do not have any pen making stuff, and I am spending my extra $ on building a Rose Engine Lathe

[Steve Campbell]

Great pens Ben. Glad to see you can stay busey. Did you get many orders for the "Pink" pens you showed us a while back?

Steve

[Steve Busey]

Glad to see you can stay busey.

No, he stays Gastfriend - **I** stay Busey!! ;)

[Dennis Peacock]

Congrats on the large order there Ben!!!! Now since you have that behind you? How well do you like production woodturning? :rolleyes: :D

[Ben Gastfriend]

Where would be a good place to get the pen supplies from?

Thanks
Dave

I get mine from PSI because it's right down the street, and I don't have to pay shipping! But alot of people like the apprentice line at CSUSA, and Berea makes kits too. They're all pretty similar.

[Barry Stratton]

Atta-boy Ben!!!!!:D Well done!!


Well done and I hope you get many orders. A few hundred more and you can convert to Mustard.

[Ben Gastfriend]

Well, yes, Barry.... sort of... A few hundred more dollars would take care of the monetary aspect, but I'd also need a few hundred more square feet of shop space, and a few hundred high powered persuasive attorneys to persuade my parents.