Pens for work finally finished

**dai sensei** · 25th November 2007, 02:15 PM

Well here they are at last. 50 Scribbly Gum (Eucalyptus racemosa) burl pens for my work. It has taken quite a few weekends, as I get very sick of making so many pens and the CA finish gives me migraines sometimes. I know now why I don’t make pens for a living, or take orders. 1 to 5 pens are fine but 50 or more I find monotonous and boring.

I got the engraved slimline pens kits from timbercon, the larger centre bands and MM sandpaper (1500 to 12000) from Carrols and normal sandpapers (150 to 1200), CA glue (thin, medium and thick – 2 no 2oz bottles of each) and pen holders from GPW.

The pens are made from this burl and were drying as 20mm x 20mm of varying lengths for 3 months before I started. I had to stabilise a lot of it as it had holes, cracks, dead bits, sap veins etc, so CA finish was the way to go unfortunately. I turned then sanded to 1200 before placing 2-4 thin layers of CA then 6-8 layers of thick CA, sanding between every couple with 0000 steel wool. I then sanded with 0000 steel wool again prior to wet sanding with MM to 12000.

I don’t make pens specifically for profit, so I am in no hurry and very fussy when it comes to the finish. I made them in batches of 16 at a time (the capacity of my nail holder rack). I did track the time and costs though to see how I went, although the times do not include the heaps of breaks I took along the way or time gazing at this beautiful timber, only actual work time.

Time:

3hrs cutting down and effectively slabbing the burl
4hrs cut blanks
7.5hrs drill, glue and trim blanks
8.5hrs turning
12.5hrs sand & CA coat
8.5hrs finish sand
10 hrs assemble & fix stuff-ups

Total 54hrs (average1hr 5min per pen)

Costs:

Engraved Pen kits $275
Larger pen centres $25
CA glue $100
Normal sandpapers $20
MM Sandpapers $25
Holders $15
Cards & Chord $20

Total Costs $480

I am giving away 14 pens as Xmas gifts to members of the Alliance I work with on a daily basis, 1 for me, and the remaining 35 pens I will sell (my generosity has limits) to the Alliance @ $35 each to be given away as rewards for outstanding performance. Each pen comes in a velvet pocket and gift card describing the pen (printed on business cards run through a photocopier). I would have loved to have made enough for everyone, but there are 120 in the office and another 400 in the field at the moment

So at the end of the day I will make $745 for my time, which equates to a lousy $13.80 an hour. Considering all the breaks I took, it is probably more like my normal woodworking rate of $1-2 per hour

. Either way I won’t give up my day job.

The photos I have attached are the whole set, a typical gift set shot, a close up of the engraving, and a close up of a few of the pens to show the variation in colours these pens have. I also did around 20 slightly thinner than others for the females

.

Cheers

**Brown Dog** · 25th November 2007, 03:07 PM

you have been busy
Top Job Neil

....I especially like that you took the time and effort to record all your costs and time spent to figure out what you'd finish up with as an hourly rate.....even though ya only ended up with $13.80/hr

.

...still, I spose its better than a poke in the eye with a blunt stick

cheers
BD

P.S. the pens look awsome BTW

**schaf** · 25th November 2007, 03:31 PM

Great job Neil,
They look very nice and you deserve a profit.
A interesting concept,to use a larger centre band. That would make the slimline
look like a "Berea" streamline.
I did not know that you could purchase larger centre bands as a separate item.
Thanks for the tip.

Anyway a great piece of work.
Thanks for posting

Terry

**artme** · 25th November 2007, 03:45 PM

Very impressive indeed. You have done the wood proud.

**PenTurner** · 25th November 2007, 07:08 PM

Hello Neil, very beautiful indeed,

I tried reaching in to take one little spoke out of that wheel but it didn't work!

. Thanks for costing the work, of course, to the receiver they should be priceless. Excellent, Amos

**Jim Carroll** · 25th November 2007, 07:59 PM

Excellent work Neil .
They have come up a treat.

**DJ’s Timber** · 25th November 2007, 08:08 PM

But are they all the same

Nuh seriously, great job and well done for sticking it out to the end

, I would have stopped after 5 I reckon

**Penpal** · 25th November 2007, 08:27 PM

What a refreshing breath of fresh air the way you set out in detail the proceedures and methods,cutting list,presentation,clip engraving,larger centre bands and so on.I appreciate more than I have said the unselfish honesty I have come to expect and receive from your posts.Wow what a blast to see the finished pens all together. I do know so well the ups and downs of burls,how tough yet fragile they can be and the real hard work needed to bring out the best in them,have added Scribbly Gum to my list of striking burl I like.

My thanks for helping me to continue posting by your unselfish detail of just those things I experience day to day,money used to grow from trees but true craftsmanship,priceless.

Congratulations Neil from me Peter

**ss_11000** · 25th November 2007, 10:15 PM

top job Neil

are you complaining bout $13 an hour???i dont even get that on a public holiday

lol

**Rippa** · 25th November 2007, 10:30 PM

Well done Neil, Hope the receivers appreciate the effort and craftmanship put into each and every pen. Like DJ I would have stopped around 5.
Rippa

**Tornatus** · 26th November 2007, 10:37 PM

G'day Neil

Tremendous effort - top marks for consistency of form amongst that many pens, as well as great figure (in the pens, that is!).

Just one small niggle (can't help it - I'm a serial pedant): the attractive and informative card you made to accompany the pens is spoilt just a tad by the misspelling of the name of the finish - it's cyanoacrylate resin. Probably doesn't matter - most of them wouldn't know it's really Superglue anyhow!

**dai sensei** · 27th November 2007, 09:10 PM

Thanks for all the comments

Originally Posted by ss_11000

..are you complaining bout $13 an hour???i dont even get that on a public holiday

lol

Ah but you are young and just starting, I am old (compared to yourself anyway) and at the other end of the scale. At your age I worked for free, for the experience, and the boss through the hammer when I got it wrong

Originally Posted by Tornatus

..the misspelling of the name of the finish - it's cyanoacrylate resin...

Oh crap

How did I get that wrong

Hmm it was correct, I must have accidently deleted some letters, probably when I was playing with fonts to make it fit

.

Too late now, pens and cards are at work for handover tomorrow

Thanks anyway for the pick-up, I'll make sure its right next time I make cards.

**ss_11000** · 28th November 2007, 12:03 AM

Originally Posted by dai sensei

Thanks for all the comments your welcome

Ah but you are young and just starting, I am old (compared to yourself anyway) and at the other end of the scale. At your age I worked for free, for the experience, and the boss through the hammer when I got it wrong

you worked for free, and now your complaining about 13 bucks an hour

Oh crap

How did I get that wrong

Hmm it was correct, I must have accidently deleted some letters, probably when I was playing with fonts to make it fit

.

Too late now, pens and cards are at work for handover tomorrow

Thanks anyway for the pick-up, I'll make sure its right next time I make cards.i dont think anyone would pick up on it.

.

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Pens for work finally finished

All those pens

Neil

Pentastic

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