Thread: Bethlehem Olive Wood group buy

Originally Posted by mkypenturner

hi russell
i would be interested in 10 as well thanks troy

im still good for 10 if it costs $ 6 depends on exchange rate at time

i'm still waitin on my order from them but i've found communication from them to be good. I believe i'll have my stock shortly so when i do i'll be sure to post pics. That might help alleviate any concerns people have. Provided the blanks look as good as i hope

in regards to the question regarding if bow is so special just because of where it's from, i'm only getting it because i have a commission for a pair of pens for a clergyman who appreciates the significance of "holy land olive". It's referenced in the bible a fair bit so it'll be something he'll love. I'm not a religious person by any means but he's a paying customer so...

Originally Posted by eisbaer

i'm still waitin on my order from them but i've found communication from them to be good. I believe i'll have my stock shortly so when i do i'll be sure to post pics. That might help alleviate any concerns people have. Provided the blanks look as good as i hope

Thanks mate, will be good to hear from you when it arrives. They do note on their web site that the figuring does vary, although pen blanks are supposed to be from the heartwood.

Russell.

what size blanks russell

troy

Originally Posted by mkypenturner

what size blanks russell

troy

Still the same ones in the original post 5.25' x .75" x .75". Other sizes are available at various prices, but I figured this is the most common size to cover most pen sizes. The largest pens like Emperors may require bigger blanks. If someone is desperate for a larger size, let me know I might be able to slip a couple in. Would have to check how it throws the packaging size out though.

Russell.

robutacion

An answer to your question about why BOW over "regular Olive wood.

We can get non pedigreed Olive from Lee Valley for $3.50 Canadian a blank and between $4.00 to $6.00 Canadian from William Wood-Write (a Canadian supplier of pen goodies). My girlfriend bought 3 from WW-W and I thought she should have just gone for the cheaper ones from LV since I don't think it matters where it comes from if it is looks the same. I'm not a believer, but aren't all trees gifts from God?

So a few days later I am talking to one of the guys at work about fountain pens, seeing if I can get him to buy one, and he said he has an uncle that is a minister. The light goes on and I said that we had some of the BOW and right away he wanted the pen as a gift for his uncle. So one down, two to go!

I went over to one other co-worker that is a Jehovah Witness to ask if a BOW fountain pen would be of interest to church going types like he is. His response was to get a fountain pen for his sons anniversary. That's two in the space of 5 minutes!

Neither balked at the $45 price, and it was only because of where the wood came from.

On the weekend while drilling she got a crack in the third blank, fixed it with CA and kept going. It turned out looking great. She is using it as a "demo". While at work yesterday, a customer (very religious) is talking to her about her pen turning, when showed the BOW he wanted it right away. She wouldn't sell it to him because of the crack but told him one like it would be about $45. He said "Is that all?"

The girl friend has a table in her first art and craft sale in May, and has ordered 10 more blanks in hopes the religious people will want them. Being a nice looking wood won't hurt either. So if the Holy Land sourced wood inspires them to impulse buy your pen, you are going to get it for them. Right?

Now if we could just find some offcuts from the planks in Noah's shipyard.......

Originally Posted by QC Inspector

Now if we could just find some offcuts from the planks in Noah's shipyard.......

I've got some of those!

I'll even give you a certificate of authenticity, and the phone number for Noah Browns boating company on the beach so you can check it

Russell.

Russell:
You might want to send Monty (on the other forum) an email. I know he is paring down
a lot of his stock, and he usually orders a lot of BOW from this place. He says they
take forever to fill orders and there is no communication during that time, but seems
satisfied with most of the wood. (and he's picky)

He's selling off most or all of his blank at pretty good prices, perhaps he can either help
you out or he can give you some pointers?

ps ... didn't you know that olive trees only grow in Bethlehem?

Originally Posted by QC Inspector

robutacion

An answer to your question about why BOW over "regular Olive wood.

We can get non pedigreed Olive from Lee Valley for $3.50 Canadian a blank and between $4.00 to $6.00 Canadian from William Wood-Write (a Canadian supplier of pen goodies). My girlfriend bought 3 from WW-W and I thought she should have just gone for the cheaper ones from LV since I don't think it matters where it comes from if it is looks the same. I'm not a believer, but aren't all trees gifts from God?

So a few days later I am talking to one of the guys at work about fountain pens, seeing if I can get him to buy one, and he said he has an uncle that is a minister. The light goes on and I said that we had some of the BOW and right away he wanted the pen as a gift for his uncle. So one down, two to go!

I went over to one other co-worker that is a Jehovah Witness to ask if a BOW fountain pen would be of interest to church going types like he is. His response was to get a fountain pen for his sons anniversary. That's two in the space of 5 minutes!

Neither balked at the $45 price, and it was only because of where the wood came from.

On the weekend while drilling she got a crack in the third blank, fixed it with CA and kept going. It turned out looking great. She is using it as a "demo". While at work yesterday, a customer (very religious) is talking to her about her pen turning, when showed the BOW he wanted it right away. She wouldn't sell it to him because of the crack but told him one like it would be about $45. He said "Is that all?"

The girl friend has a table in her first art and craft sale in May, and has ordered 10 more blanks in hopes the religious people will want them. Being a nice looking wood won't hurt either. So if the Holy Land sourced wood inspires them to impulse buy your pen, you are going to get it for them. Right?

Now if we could just find some offcuts from the planks in Noah's shipyard.......

Hi QC Inspector,

Absolutely...! what makes people happy, is good enough for me!
Well, I'm not certain of the prices pens sell (types, timber, vinyl, bone, etc.), but from what I gather from your thoughts, if a $30 pen sell for $45 because the blank that is made off cost double or even triple from a normal one (whatever that prices is?), paying $5 or even $6 for the selling "point", is a damn good proposition, after all, only cost you an extra $2 to $4 , to make an extra $15

There is no question in my view, of the natural qualities and beauty of this unique tree species and its significance among some people believes and cultures, but and answering your question, if someone would ask me do so some pens or other pieces out of olive for its religious nature, I would be more than happy to do so, considering that they would accept that I would use "holy" wood, and not "holy grown" wood, there is, would be difficult to convince me to order olive from the "holy" source, when I went to great length, effort and expense to acquire as much as I possible can, of locally grown "holy" trees. This has to do with the fact, as I mentions previously, my "attraction" and "appreciation" for Olive as a "special" timber species, never had anything to do with its origins, but instead, with the tree itself.

Could I just take advantage of the extra value of the olive imported or grown from Bethlehem, and sell it as such? off-course I could, I can provide (hand selected) olive wood that no one, but I mean no one could tell otherwise, unless that timber is the taken to a lab for scientific tests, and for half of the imported prices. So anyone that ever got any items already turned or cleaned timber in raw condition (blanks, slabs, half logs and full logs that had the name of Olive, have done so , being perfectly aware from the area the timber as come from, (grown and cut), even if not asked, they already know from my sharing of every main timber find/collection, in this forum (normally in general wood-turning or Buy , Swap & Sell sections.)

Just let me also say that, even $6 for a proper original heartwood olive blank pen, coming from ancient trees growing in Bethlehem, landed at your front stairs, is a bargain! but there are other issues related to "specifics" of these trees that I will discuss in one next opportunity, that will ring alarm bells of questionable nature, don't worry, I will explain it in detail soon.

It would be interesting also to see, how many people has had or still have a working connection with these trees, there is, picking the olives (either traditional way or mechanical, watering, spraying, looking for signs of trouble, and finally pruning the trees after the fruit is collected. I would like to go further and find out who know, seen or participated in all the stages of olives the oils, again, either by traditional methods (grinding stones, channels, dripper and the "secret" compartment where a set trickle of oil runs into a large underground tank, as the mill owners commission, oh yeah!, the modern crashing techniques are very different, but I spend one week every year, exchanging my labour with olive oil, after I help picking the fruit manually, helping with the oil production and then another week with prunning of the trees, preferentially one month after the fruit is removed for exchange of any usable timber (mainly branches). Take some note of this pruning subject, this is where my next discussion is going to be base upon, you will see why.
Some habits never leave you, and I've been trained by some of the best old timers, when I was only a kid back in my country of birth (Portugal) talking about olive timber, and religious believes among those people, you couldn't possible be more extreme. After all, is there where "Fatima" exists. Please, don't ask me what it is if you don't know, a simple google search will give the answers. I'm not "that" religious...!

Anyway, time to go...

PS: I forgot to add a pic with the card of the fellow that I prune for, each year. Name and ph numbers were suppressed as I didn't ask permission to divulge is personal details, sorry.

Cheers
RBTCO

Ok well I'm checking some references, but due to concerns on postage times, I'm looking at the option of express mail. This should not increase the price above $5, but I won't be able to reduce it lower than that I don't think.

I have to tally up the total ordered so far, but I think we're about mjax order size, so if all my checks come back OK, I'll finalise and order in the next few days.

Russell.

Hi Russell,

I seem to a bit late in jumping in on this. Put me down for 10 blanks.

Thanks for organising it!

cheers,
Dave

Well, after checking with Monty, he can't help us. He recommended Ghasan, but did say normal post was slow. I've calculated Express mail will still take about 4 weeks from ordering to arrival at my place, and will be trackable. So that's the option I'm going with.

I can also confirm that every blank comes with a cert of authority.

We have the max numbers I wanted for the order, so can proceed. I'm just waiting to discuss wholesale pricing with Ghasan and finalising all costs. I'll post an update when I know the final pricing, but it will not exceed $5 per blank.

Russell.

Originally Posted by BoomerangInfo

Well, after checking with Monty, he can't help us. He recommended Ghasan, but did say normal post was slow. I've calculated Express mail will still take about 4 weeks from ordering to arrival at my place, and will be trackable. So that's the option I'm going with.

I can also confirm that every blank comes with a cert of authority.

We have the max numbers I wanted for the order, so can proceed. I'm just waiting to discuss wholesale pricing with Ghasan and finalising all costs. I'll post an update when I know the final pricing, but it will not exceed $5 per blank.

Russell.

Russell,

That sounds a damn good deal you've got there, as I said $5 for the "real thing" I mean "Mother Source", is quite acceptable...!

I may be of no help about the time that will take to get the timber here (Australia), but I would think that Ghasan, is now very aware that there are some demanding and fussy people on this forum that are putting their money on the promise of top quality olive timber, and will be very critical and loud, otherwise!
This should guarantee some extra selection care on the blanks for this order...!, sorry Ghasan.

Cheers
George

where are they sourcing the timber

look here and think about it

If this is the source, it dosent seem very holy to me

http://www1.american.edu/TED/ice/olive-tree.htm

If the timber is coming from palistinian holdings in this way, purchasers thinking they are getting something holy have a right to be informed and then make their decision.