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  1. #1
    Join Date
    Nov 2004
    Location
    Eastern Suburbs Melbourne
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    2,574

    Default Making a living turning pens

    Judging from the quality of the pens posted here there are some great pen turners in our midst. I'm curious as to how many of you make a living or part of a living from this great hobby. It's tough to sell pens and I've sold very few, usually novelty type pens that stand out eg segmented or Celtic Knot. People don't even look at some of the pens that I've spent hours working on. Always admired anyone who can turn their passion into profit but would imagine making and selling pens is a very difficult objective.

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  3. #2
    Join Date
    Jul 2008
    Location
    gold coast
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    Default

    I Imagine that some pen turners can do very nicely ,but probably couldn't raise a family on the income .Also a lot of craft people are reluctant to share their incomes on open forums for obvious reasons The locations you choose to sell in are probably the most important towards success, if you get the same people all the time in a location ,eventually all those that will buy already have , and sales drop. This can happen in small towns etc. Stick to craft markets, and avoid things like school fates and trash and treasure markets. I do three craft markets a month ,and generally before expenses return about the same as my pension ,so its a worthwhile excersize ,but always in the lap of the gods . It's a bit like fishing ,pick a spot and cast away hehe. Good luck with it all, Cheers ~ John
    G'day all !Enjoy your stay !!!

  4. #3
    Join Date
    May 2011
    Location
    Murray Bridge SA
    Posts
    3,339

    Default

    It's easy to end up with a small fortune wood turning, START with a big one. To sell pens, they must be of top quality, excellent finish, no sanding marks, fit up must also be excellent, Iv'e seen some pens that the owner couldn't give away, because of the poor workmanship.
    Time taken to finish them properly is most important. The style of pen is most important also, some people like slimline, others a fatter slimline, some like the cigar, so therefore you need a variety of pens and styles to suit. As Gawdelpus stated, location is most important, it's no use trying to sell $75 pens at a market, where people look for the $5.00 ones. Good luck
    Kryn

  5. #4
    Join Date
    Nov 2004
    Location
    Eastern Suburbs Melbourne
    Posts
    2,574

    Default

    Thanks John and Kryn, pretty much as I suspected. I'm happy if I can cover expenses, if there's a little left over it usually goes into more tools.

  6. #5
    Join Date
    May 2012
    Location
    Canberra
    Posts
    1,820

    Default

    There was a guy in an article I read in a magazine recently (an old mag) and it talked of a chap who did make a good living out of pen turning. He was also a hobby pilot if I remember rightly. The article mentioned he passed on. An Aussie.

    The article mentioned he would drive around with 1000 pens in the boot of his car...

    Maybe someone knows what the name was?

  7. #6
    Join Date
    Nov 2007
    Location
    Albury Well Just Outside
    Posts
    13,315

    Default

    I enjoy making pens in batches of about 6 or 9 so I end up with a few in storage. I don't think I could do it as a production run it just gets tedious. I have put some up for sale and have sold a couple after about 4 months. I don't see this as a reliable source of income.

    I hope that one day I will be able to make more than I am spending but it is after all just a hobby for me. That might be the reason why I will not make a living out of selling pens.


  8. #7
    Join Date
    Nov 2003
    Location
    Sydney
    Age
    53
    Posts
    8,879

    Default

    It is easy Christos. All you have to do it is sell 3 pens a day. $75 per pen minus say $25 cost then you have $50.

    $50 X 3 X 5 X 52 = $39,000. Sell 6 a day you get $78,000.


    Visit my website at www.myFineWoodWork.com

  9. #8
    Join Date
    Feb 2011
    Location
    Gold Country
    Posts
    223

    Default

    I wood (lol) love to be able to make a living from woodwork in general, but it is not possible for me to do so currently. It might be possible eventually.

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