# What size blanks...



## Old Griz (Mar 8, 2005)

What size blanks do you prefer to buy... 
Martin at Woodbin is concerned that if he stocks 3/4x3/4 instead of 5/8x5/8 he is going to be stuck with them


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## Fred in NC (Mar 8, 2005)

I voted for 3/4" which is the most useful size.

Of course, 5/8" is ok for some pens, and some will need 7/8".

Plastic blanks get more expensive as the size increases.  That is one consideration.


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## DCBluesman (Mar 8, 2005)

5/8" sq X 6 = 2.34375 cubic inches; 3/4" sq X 6 = 3.375 cubic inches; 7/8" square X 6 = 4.59375 cubic inches; 1" sq X 6 inches = 6 cubic inches.  

Many dealers in exotics and resins will use these numbers in pricing their blanks.  With that logic, expect a 3/4" sq blank to cost ~44% more than a 5/8", a 7/8" sq blank to cost ~ 96% more than a 5/8"; and a 1" sq blank to cost ~ 156% more than a 5/8" sq blank...all other things being equal.


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## Gary (Mar 8, 2005)

I always buy 3/4 or 7/8. I can't remember the last time I bought a 5/8 blank. But then I seldom ever make slimlines.


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## Jake Byrd (Mar 8, 2005)

I voted 1" because I know the ligeros and other pens like it take a huge tube!  I also like to have the extra room to turn down and have enough wood to do beads and things like that.

Jake


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## JimGo (Mar 8, 2005)

I prefer thicker blanks, where possible.  Obviously, cost becomes a factor, but I would rather have a big blank that I know will fit any of my various whims, rather than a smaller one that is more limited in its uses.


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## Tom Stephens (Mar 8, 2005)

I like 1" x 1" x 6".
They give me a lot of options.
I can make two pens from one blank ( certain styles).
Tom
Branchport, NY


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## Darley (Mar 8, 2005)

I use 3/4"x3/4" by 6" I do 2 Atlas pen with 1 blank but I will soon try the ligero and FP so 7/8 will be on my list, I don't use much off 5/8 as you're limited to slimeline, or laminated them .

Serge


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## KKingery (Mar 8, 2005)

I always buy 3/4" unless I just can't find the wood in any other size. I only buy the 5/8" if there is no other size available.


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## Daniel (Mar 8, 2005)

I voted for 1 inch, it's a lot of wood to turn away for many pens. but I don't want to be limited in my choices because of blank size either. 7/8 is about as small I as I ever want to go any more with so man options in the really big pens. Frustrating when almost all blanks supplied by those very vendors won't even make there pen kits. get a line of 7/8 inch acrylics going.


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## bassman00 (Mar 9, 2005)

I prefer 3/4" except for the larger kits with big tubes.  I will buy smaller blanks if the wood is exceptional as I make a lot of Slimlines and Comforts.


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## jdavis (Mar 9, 2005)

When I buy, I buy 3/4 but cut blanks 5/8 + for the students to turn. Some students require 7/8 blanks. we turn mostly slimlines. Thanks for this survey as I have wondered myself about what blanks most turners turn.


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## adirondyke (Mar 9, 2005)

3/4" blanks are my favorite size to buy, and almost always the size that I cut when making my own blanks.  Of course, there are certainly times when I buy, make and use other sizes as well.

Marilyn
Ocean Park, WA[]


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## Gregory Huey (Mar 9, 2005)

3/4" is my blank of choice but once in a while will use the 1" size for the big boys. I almost never buy 5/8" or smaller. When I cut my own blanks they are 3/4".


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## Rifleman1776 (Mar 11, 2005)

Anything smaller than 3/4" can be real tricky to drill true. As for being more expensive than 5/8", I don't understand that. Many of the dealers will charge the same price for a 2"X2"X6" deer call blank, of the same wood, as for a pen blank. When I buy blanks, which is rare, I prefer to cut or trade, I'll buy larger turning squares and resaw.


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## mik (Mar 21, 2005)

I just cut my own! Oh and a few for others to!!

Cheers


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## ed4copies (May 4, 2005)

I agree with others.  3/4" is probably the best overall.

A couple of observations.  5/8" pen blanks represent 2% of a board foot.  So, if we were paying for wood, we are paying $50 a board foot at $1.00 per blank.  (Your $4.95 blank-3/4 by 6 inches is $158 -edit, $213 on refiguring-a board foot)  We are paying for labor-the cost of cutting and the resulting waste. So, the suppliers SHOULD be willing to try to accomodate our needs.

In addition, many of the wood suppliers also supply kits.  As the kits require larger blanks, and the price of the kits becomes astronomical-they should realize they are pricing us out of the mass market and into a very "specialty" market.  This means, from the suppliers' point of view, the higher our cost, the higher their profit BUT the lower their volume.

Since several of the suppliers are savvy marketers, I think you will see the trend continue to higher profit.  Hopefully, however, we will also continue to have lower cost, smaller kits (read 7mm).  These make 5/8" blanks useful, since it is less labor for us to reduce to smaller diameter.

So, while I enjoy turning the beautiful woods into large, collector pens, I know I will still sell 7mm at least 50% of the time.  This means a market for both.  And, if we continue to see new turners entering the market, they certainly should NOT be encouraged to start with a $35.00 kit and a $5.00 blank.

So, like many things in life, the wood blank providers will not be able to live in Utopia.  It is a pain to stock more than one size of pen blank, but, if you want to play the game you gotta have short spikes as well as long ones.  In the words of that legendary newsman, "That's the way it is..."


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## rtjw (May 4, 2005)

Ed, now I have a headache! I just prefer what anyone sends me. I will make some kind of pen out of it![]


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## Fleabit (May 4, 2005)

I prefer the 3/4 X 3/4.  This allows me to oops on the drill and still be able to save that nice blank.


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## Gary (May 4, 2005)

Ditto the 3/4 x 3/4.


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## wayneis (May 4, 2005)

You can do just about any kit with a 3/4" blank if you have a good drilling jig and square blanks.  I only buy 3/4" and above.


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## simplepens (May 5, 2005)

Does anyone buy board stock and make there own??? I find that it is cheaper and I can cut them how I want (end grain, angle cuts, etc...). If I buy a blank, it is the 3/4....seems to be the most popular.


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## Fleabit (May 5, 2005)

Sometimes I will buy board stock if I see some with nice grain or patterns.  I actually have good luck with woodcrafts assortment bags too.


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## ed4copies (May 6, 2005)

Yes, I do buy boards to make pens.  Then, when I am supposed to cut them to size, I look at the board and think, "Gee, I could get several nice desk magnifiers out of that," or "If I make a Kaleidoscope, will I be able to recover my cost?"

In short, they sit on the shelves (I keep buying MORE shelves) until the absolutely perfect project comes along (still waiting in most cases).  Meanwhile, I buy pen blanks and turn them[][][]


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## alamocdc (May 6, 2005)

When I buy, I prefer at least 3/4. Mostly I just make my own.


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## mapletree (May 9, 2005)

I cut my own from my own gathered wood mostly.  It hurts to have some exceptional wood in chips under the lathe when if it were cut closer to size could get another pen or two out of it. Of course getting to close can at times mean throwing it all away.


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## MDWine (May 9, 2005)

Mebbe I ain't so brite... I don't usually pay too much attention to the size, except for length.  I've only done slimlines to this point, so it didn't make too much difference.  Hopefuly, this week I'll get my Arizona order, and I'll have three new pens to work with...


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## Rifleman1776 (May 9, 2005)

> _Originally posted by ed4copies_
> <br />Yes, I do buy boards to make pens.  Then, when I am supposed to cut them to size, I look at the board and think, "Gee, I could get several nice desk magnifiers out of that," or "If I make a Kaleidoscope, will I be able to recover my cost?"
> 
> In short, they sit on the shelves (I keep buying MORE shelves) until the absolutely perfect project comes along (still waiting in most cases).  Meanwhile, I buy pen blanks and turn them[][][]



Buy? [?] Plastic? [?] Have I accidentially ened up in the dark zone? [}] 
My shop is overflowing with blanks, 90% of which were acquired in trades or that I cut. A woodworking friend gave me a hunk of blackjack oak off his firewood pile last week and commented that it had an interesting grain. I took that (free) hunk, bandsawed into pen blanks and made two pen for him. It does have an interesting grain. Good use for a nusiance tree. We don't have no plastic trees growing around here. In Texas, maybe. []  By the way, I'm a 3/4"X3/4" guy.


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## Dario (Aug 4, 2005)

I mill my own too...and most of the time I end up with 7/8" x 7/8" x 5-1/2".  Very seldom that I mill smaller than 3/4"...only if I have too like when I have a 2-3/8" stick...I'll make 3 x 3/4" out of it.  With 2-1/4", I'll end up with 3 11/16"

With Amboyna burl...I tend to mill them thinner just because of the price...still, I usually get 3/4" or bigger .


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## Geo in Winnipeg (Aug 4, 2005)

3/4 -- once in a blue moon 5/8 but never smaller.


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## Bill Collier (Aug 6, 2005)

I like a 3/4" blank. With that size I can turn almost any pen.


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## TheHeretic (Aug 7, 2005)

I think most of the blanks I get are usualy in between the 3/4" and the 7/8" inch sizes.   I do tend to do most of my blanks anymore so that is where almost all my blanks are at.   

Now i do have those that I have bought that are anywhere from 5/8" to 1 1/8".   So I like how one person pointed out that he likes to have things availible for what ever comes up.


Dean
columbus OH


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## Termite1964 (Nov 27, 2005)

I use 3/4 by 3/4 by 5 1/2 to 6 usually.


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## TomServo (Nov 28, 2005)

Is anyone accounting for the kerf when calculating the pen blank volume?  and I like 'em whatever size is cheap!  I don't make anything bigger than an ameroclassic or euro style..


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## DaveC (Dec 15, 2005)

MOst of what I buy is 3/4 square. But I keep turning the bigger pens and really like the extra meat on the blanks, so I buy more and more 7/8" when I can.


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