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Thread: Pen / Pencil Blank advise

  1. #1
    Join Date
    Jun 2004
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    Pen / Pencil Blank advise

    I've been carrying around exotic hardwood pieces for about 30 yrs now. I think that are probably 100 blanks there and I am willing to machine them to 3/4 sq by 5. There is lacewood, purpleheart, yellowheart, linga vita, paduca, hond rosewood, bubinga, wenge and others. Trouble is I posted a bunch of pencil kit on classifieds and there has been no interest and I don't want to spend the time on these blanks if they have limited value. (Retirement time still has some valve.) Has the popularity of pen turning died out?

    Thanks.

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Oct 2008
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    Carterville, Illinois
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    Have you tried posting them on the pen turner's site ( https://www.penturners.org/ )? They also have a classified section for members to post items for sale.

    Tom
    The hurrier I goes, the behinder I gets.

  3. #3
    I searched for and found your ad, Perry. It isn't really at all compelling for me. Here's why.

    First, you're selling slimline pencil kits. I wouldn't expect that many people have a need or desire for 36 slimline pencil kits, especially when you don't list whose kits they are. There are a lot of cheap, low-quality slimline kits available and not anywhere near as many good quality slimline kits available. Second, the way the kits are packaged makes me lose interest. The parts are all jumbled together in a big pile, not individually bagged as is the case in every kit I've bought. I would expect to find scratches and other blemishes on some of the parts packaged this way. Your price is good at $2.50 per kit, but not knowing whose kits they are means that may not even be the case.

    Regarding the blanks, you might have an advantage by selling a bigger lot of blanks from several different wood species. Marketing them in quantities you can fit in a USPS small or medium flat rate box with shipping included might work out well. The woods you mentioned are mostly run of the mill, however. There is a place here in Wisconsin that sells pen blanks in most of the species you mentioned for $0.50 each so there isn't a ton of money in what you've got.

    You might have better luck selling locally via Craigslist or Facebook Marketplace. I bought someone's collection of blanks when they were getting out of pen turning via a local Craigslist ad. If I remember correctly, I paid something like $50 for a large plastic tub full of blanks. I'm pretty confident there were more than 100 blanks in that tub, though.

  4. #4
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    Thank you for taking your time to answer. Helps a lot.

    Perry

  5. #5
    Join Date
    Oct 2013
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    Northwest Indiana
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    Perry--I don't need any of the hardware you'd listed, but would have an interest in the wood if you decide to post it. Wouldn't even need it trimmed up--i usually start by rounding between centers so i can put the blank in a collet chuck to drill. If this c-virus ever settles down again, i'm itching to go to Advance, NC to see our grandkids--you might be a partial excuse!!
    earl

  6. #6
    Join Date
    Oct 2008
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    Kapolei Hawaii
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    I have a semi related question about slimlines. Why do so many turners have an aversion to them. Personally, I prefer USING a slimline. I feel that they are way more comfortable to actually use all day, vice a large cigar or other jumbo style pen. Which I would agree carries more clout and are way nicer to show off. And it's not that I have small hands, I have rather large hands.
    So, my $0.02 would be perhaps turn them and see what you can get. I also know that turning a single blank pen, whatever the size or style it is way easier than turning 2 blanks for a slimline. I still rather USE a slimline. IMO slimlines should cost twice as much, due to the work, but you won't get that.

  7. #7
    Join Date
    Dec 2006
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    Mesa, Arizona
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    1,798
    Kyle -- Cross made its money from slimline pens. Many liked its sleek look. It wasn't nearly as bulky in the pocket. My parents gave me a gold-filled Cross pen and pencil set when I graduated from high school. (I did graduate! Honest! Rumors to the contrary are just malicious gossip.) Anyway, ... where was I? Oh, yes, most of the other high end pen makers (we're discussing the kind of pens that were sold in jewelry stores, such a Parker and Mont Blanc), kept their pens on the larger side. In college, I remember drooling over a Parker fountain pen. It's barrel and cap were solid sterling silver (less expensive version), white gold (mid-range), or platinum (top-of-the-line). When such materials were used, perhaps the larger size conveyed a feeling of decadent luxury? Whatever the reason, Cross slimline pens were popular, but so were the larger styles made by others. I suspect the same is true, today, when it comes to turned pens.
    David Walser
    Mesa, Arizona

  8. #8
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    Jan 2006
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    Schenectady, NY
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    Hi Perry, I saw your add and I think you are making a fair offer for your hardware. I don't do a lot of pens/pencils but I just found 2 pencil kits in the bottom of one of my turning drawers and turned and finished them. They're quite a nice kit and very easy to do. These kits came in a starter kit that came with the Jet Mini lathe my wife got me for Christmas in 1999 and were just like yours but branded as Jet. It was a complete set-up so one could dive in and start making pens right away. These 2 kits have been sitting in the bottom of that drawer for a reason I think. People just don't use pencils as much anymore in my opinion. A friend tried to give me several pencil kits that he got when he was trying to sell pens & pencils and the pencils just didn't sell. It's too bad because they are quite a nice pencil. They have .5 mm leads I believe, even an eraser and the mechanism works nicely. I hope someone takes you up on your offer.
    Happy and Safe Turning, Don


    Woodturners make the world go ROUND!

  9. #9
    Join Date
    Oct 2013
    Location
    Northwest Indiana
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    I turn a pretty fair number of pens--and the slimline is a tough pen to get right. Not much meat at the ends of the tubes, and though they're "slim", they reflect turning that isn't quite right. Folks that can turn a top-notch slimline can turn any kit pen. Now regarding pencils...i just have never been able to get one to work right. My sons always use them--but i stick with stick pencils and a sharpener. Wish i could get the hang of one!!
    earl

  10. #10
    Join Date
    Feb 2008
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    Quote Originally Posted by Perry Holbrook View Post
    I've been carrying around exotic hardwood pieces for about 30 yrs now. I think that are probably 100 blanks there and I am willing to machine them to 3/4 sq by 5. There is lacewood, purpleheart, yellowheart, linga vita, paduca, hond rosewood, bubinga, wenge and others. Trouble is I posted a bunch of pencil kit on classifieds and there has been no interest and I don't want to spend the time on these blanks if they have limited value. (Retirement time still has some valve.) Has the popularity of pen turning died out?

    Thanks.
    Perry,

    I've never tried to sell pen blanks but I know there is a big interest from some people. Several times I've put together packages of a dozen or so of a variety of exceptional pieces of wood and donated them to our turning club for auction. I'm always surprised at how much they go for. Not everyone turns pens, but like everything else, some are die-hard fanatics! People who sell high-end pens for good money seem to always be on the lookout for exceptional blanks. I think one thing that makes pen blanks more attractive is tight (small scale) figure that will still look good when turned small. I don't turn many pens but when I do I like cocobolo, kingwood, tulipwood, leopardwood spalted dogwood, pink ivory, etc. I personally wouldn't consider purpleheart, paduk, yellowheart, black ebony, or wenge. Never heard of linga vita - do you mean Lignum vitae? The argentine lignum vitae can have some spectaular small-scale figure.

    JKJ

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