First Paying Pen

[BigguyZ]

Here's a picture of the first pen that will actually be sold for a profit. It's for a coworker who wanted a yellow pen, and in a similar style grip to a pen I did before (it's in the first 11 pens thread).

I hope he likes it, but here's a preview for you guys.

Edit: The one in the middle is the customer's pen. It's made from Yellowheart. The top is boacote, and the bottom is something I wanted to try- a mix of the Yellowheart and Boacote.

[leehljp]

Congratulations on the sale! Good looking pens. It comes down to what the customer wants when making sales. I personally don't like bulb end (my description) design myself but have a friend and a couple of family members who do. So I make a few of those occasionally. I bought two such pens made in pecan - back home with me for other famiy members. The wood came from a tree in my mom & dad's home.

[Ken Massingale]

Congrats on your first sale.

[ejs1097]

They look great, don't see how he wouldn't like it, good job. I really like the way you glued up the 2 species on an angle.

[lrogers]

I really like your "experiment". The contrasting woods are sharp.

[bthere]

All three look nice, but the mixed wood one is particularly striking.

[DonHo]

Very nice. I too like the mixed woods. I haven't tried that yet but maybe I should, it makes a striking pen.

DonHo

[mater]

Hopefully that will be the first of many you sell. They are very nice looking pens.

[BigguyZ]

I was felling a little bad about charging him $20 at first... I thought hey- for $20 I bought 3 kits and enough scrap Boacote and Yellowheart to make a total of 5 or 6 pens.... But when I handed him the pen he asked, "How much is the pen again?" I had initially said $15-$20, but I responded "I'm not sure, how did I say it would be for?" His response was "I thought we agreed on $30-$35..." At that point, I just made a face and was like "No way, I'm not charging you $35!"

It's odd, the value is all in the beholder. He would have been happy paying $35, and I would have been happy getting $15. But I got $20 and we both win! It's just odd making a profit off of something I enjoy so much...

Edit-
One thing I was trying to do with the third pen was to have two highly contrasting woods in one pen. But I didn't want it to be a simply square job if butting one cube to another. I drilled the blank, then cut the 45 in the blank with the miter on the TS. I then inserted the tub, and used the CA glue to hold the blank together, while clamping the ends together and the middle as flush as possible. The boundary came out well, I think. The biggest problem I have with the pen was with the dark dust from sanding get stuck in the larger pores of the Yellowheart... It made the pen take on a muddy yelloe type of feel. Glad I used all new rags with making the all-Yellowheart pen!

[jackellis]

It's odd, the value is all in the beholder. He would have been happy paying $35, and I would have been happy getting $15. But I got $20 and we both win! It's just odd making a profit off of something I enjoy so much...

If you're really doing this for fun, then so long as you're recovering your costs it probably doesn't matter. However there's no reason to be ashamed of charging what the market will bear, especially for something customers want rather than something they "need". If he really likes the pen and word gets around, you could find yourself quite busy, in which case your time becomes extraordinarily valuable.

[Pappy]

Almost an echo of everyone else. Not my favored style of pen to use but some nice work. The dual wood pen really stands out.

[GPA61]

Very nice.

[big tim]

Beautiful!
And a bargain at $20.

Tim

[bigstick509]

Very Nice

[Ed62]

If you're really doing this for fun, then so long as you're recovering your costs it probably doesn't matter. However there's no reason to be ashamed of charging what the market will bear, especially for something customers want rather than something they "need". If he really likes the pen and word gets around, you could find yourself quite busy, in which case your time becomes extraordinarily valuable.

I'm a little late on this thread, but I fully agree with that. If you want to start a business, don't sell too low. If you take into account every penny it costs to make them, you'll probably find out it costs more than you thought. Someone has to pay for tools, etc.

BTW, I really like the contrast in that one pen. Nice!!

Ed