# Where can I find more Crushed Velvet like this pen?



## redfishsc (Sep 2, 2008)

This pen was made from a blank that I got when I bought a used lathe a few years ago, and rediscovered the blank the other day. Made this pen with it and it's a hit. 

I'm 100% sure it came from Woodcraft b/c the local store has it, but ONLY in 5 packs of various colors for nearly $20. 


I have a customer that might want to buy a decent number of pens in this exact color and I'm not about to buy 20 packs just to get that one blank from each pack. 


I don't know what color they call it (the pic is very accurate, at least on my monitor) and I don't know where to find it individual. CSA used to have something similar but it's not on their website anymore. 

Any help is appreciated!


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## Texatdurango (Sep 2, 2008)

It looks a lot like the acrylic "Ice" slabs Elliot Landes sells.  He is a member here (xylostyle) but have a look at his website...http://penmakers.com/used.html where you can scroll down and see a shot of the slab.

I have some of this and think it's absolutely gorgeous stuff.

On Edit: 
After going out to my site and having a closer look, the material seems to be different, sorry for the false alarm.  But you never know, it might be close enough to make the customer happy.  This has been one of my favorite acrylics since finding it.  Here is one of mine.... http://georges-penworks.com/images/dynamic/sierra333.jpg


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## Nick (Sep 2, 2008)

Bear Tooth has some good photos of their acrylic blanks, Possibly you can match one there.


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## redfishsc (Sep 2, 2008)

Texatdurango said:


> It looks a lot like the acrylic "Ice" slabs Elliot Landes sells.  He is a member here (xylostyle) but have a look at his website...http://penmakers.com/used.html where you can scroll down and see a shot of the slab.
> 
> I have some of this and think it's absolutely gorgeous stuff.
> 
> ...





Actually, George, I like the stuff in that pic of yours a LOT more than the stuff in my pic! So that's the Ice Slab from xylostyle? That's awesome, thanks for the post.


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## hewunch (Sep 2, 2008)

here is another shot of some of the stuff from Elliot just so you can get another view. I will tell you that it does not like to get hot and smells like burning rubber when you cut or drill it. But it is beautiful IMO.


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## its_virgil (Sep 2, 2008)

Maybe here: http://www.woodwriteltd.com/crushed.htm

Do a good turn daily!
Don



redfishsc said:


> Any help is appreciated!


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## fiferb (Sep 2, 2008)

http://www.woodturnerscatalog.com/s...___Flecked_Celluloid_Pen_Blank___flecked?Args=

Here are the crushed velvet at CSUSA.


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## Randy_ (Sep 3, 2008)

redfishsc said:


> .....I have a customer that might want to buy a decent number of pens in this exact color and I'm not about to buy 20 packs just to get that one blank from each pack.....


 
Matt: Most of the folks at the local Woodcraft stores don't know squat. Seems to me that one of the things you want to do is call or email Woodcraft customer service at the main office and talk to them about your problem.

As to the suggestion about contacting Elliot Landes, he posted quite some time ago that he was selling out and going out of business so he may no longer be a viable source of materials.


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## Randy_ (Sep 3, 2008)

One more thought.  Woodcraft gets their pen kits from Berea.  Maybe they get their blanks there as well.  Why don't you look on the Berea web site and see if they have the same blank or something similar?


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## Dan_F (Sep 3, 2008)

From what I can tell, Crushed Velvet is not the same as the crushed ice/chip sort of blanks. CSUSA has just the gold and bronze colors, not a dark one such as you posted. It looks like they are probably being phased out by the manufacturer, as availability seems to be spotty, and CSUSA is discontinuing the gold and bronze. http://www.woodturnerscatalog.com/s...en_Blanks___Crushed_Velvet_Pen_Blank___velvet

A word of caution on crushed ice variety. The stuff that is available from Elliot Landes is very nice. It looks consistent from all angles. Invisiview is another crush sort of material that is opaque (no need to paint tubes), and is also consistent from all angles. It can be found at Woodcraft, and I think Beartooth has it too. The Invisiview look much better once polished than they do straight from the bag. 

Most of the rest are what I call polarized, that is they have two "good" (reflect light)) sides, and two bad sides (absorb light). Check out this thread for pictures which show what I mean. http://www.penturners.org/forum/showthread.php?t=36673   They look great from two perspectives, pretty blah from the other two. 

Good luck in finding a substitute for the blue, it looks like a very nice material. 

Dan


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## Russianwolf (Sep 3, 2008)

its_virgil said:


> Maybe here: http://www.woodwriteltd.com/crushed.htm
> 
> Do a good turn daily!
> Don
> ...


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## ed4copies (Sep 3, 2008)

The woodwrite stuff IS the original (looking at the picture).


It also says "no longer available."


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## JHFerrell (Sep 3, 2008)

I think that is the crushed velvet that PSI used to carry. It is a beautiful blank... we also carry that 5 pack in the Woodcraft store I work for. You're right it is about $20.00. 

Randy... I can't help but be offended at your remark about Woodcraft employees. How many stores have you shopped at? How many employees have you actually spoken to? On what do you base your opinion (which you are certainly entitled to) that Woodcraft employees "don't know squat"? In the store I work in (I'm the Assistant manager) we work very hard to make sure our employees are knowledgeable and provide the best service possible. Remember that each Woodcraft store is individually owned and not all are the same. You might just want to think about that the next time you make a blanket statement like the one you made in this post.


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## ed4copies (Sep 3, 2008)

This was manufactured in Europe years ago, as a slab.  The depth was just over 5/8".  Many vendors handled it, but only one place made it.

I have a limited amount I would sell, because I don't enjoy turning it. 

PM if interested, I will inventory.


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## MobilMan (Sep 3, 2008)

John.  I agree with you 100%.  The one Woodcraft store I go in all the employees have been into woodworking of some sort for years.  I've always been happy with both stores in Arizona.  Yes, sometime you can get a new employee that still is learning, but overall they are very good.  My favorite store.


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## ed4copies (Sep 3, 2008)

Re: Woodcraft, I have related this story before, but in short,

Milwaukee has a GREAT staff.  The store "overachieves" on the national scale.  The owner, Chris, is there regularly and his wife and daughter are also frequently "manning" the registers.

A store in Illinois is owned by another locations' owner (he owns 3 in total).  I have been to 2 of his stores and could not be LESS impressed.  His managers are VERY vocal about their pay and bonus structure, while there are customers in the store.  They openly discuss selling tools and what it will do for their income.  They seem to think customers will not hear, while they loudly communicate with each other across long distances.

So, yes, the store is as good as it's owner and HIS people.  If they were ALL like Milwaukee, Chris would be "average".  Instead he is at the top of the Woodcrafts.  This tells me that SOME of the rest are NOT following his example.

Every industry has their leaders and their horsepoopies!!!  Find the leaders!


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## Modelmaker (Sep 3, 2008)

ed, I think that the one in Illinois that you are talking about is right around the corner from my house.

I always have hard time finding anything I'm looking for in there pen related and the employees are usually less than helpful. there's one guy there that acts like he owns the place (but I know he doesn't)I usually find myself going to Rockler in Schaumburg to fill any immediate needs as opposed to going to the WC by my house.


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## ed4copies (Sep 3, 2008)

Kris,
You are correct.

It's a shame, too.  The AAW that MEETS in that facility has some of the finest woodturners IN THE WORLD!!!!  You would THINK the owner would be able to find exceptional staff, if he would look in his basement when the AAW meets there!!!


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## Rudy Vey (Sep 4, 2008)

If this was the darkgrey/black crushed velvet from Woodcraft, it was discontinued some years back by the maker in Ital, and I bought all the stock up in my WC store. I believe I have some of these left as well as a slab (I think). Right now I am out of the country, but will check when I get home - how many do you need??


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## cnirenberg (Sep 4, 2008)

It does look like the Crushed Velevet blank.  I've got some (I believe I have the Gray, Green and Red variety) and your welcome to it. send me an email offline if you want.
Cris.


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## redfishsc (Sep 4, 2008)

Thanks for all the help guys! This is what makes this site great. I found the product I was looking for, AND found another cool blank (the ice blanks above). 




JHFerrell said:


> Randy... I can't help but be offended at your remark about Woodcraft employees. How many stores have you shopped at? How many employees have you actually spoken to? On what do you base your opinion (which you are certainly entitled to) that Woodcraft employees "don't know squat"? In the store I work in (I'm the Assistant manager) we work very hard to make sure our employees are knowledgeable and provide the best service possible. Remember that each Woodcraft store is individually owned and not all are the same. You might just want to think about that the next time you make a blanket statement like the one you made in this post.




Randy, I gotta say I agree with JHFerrell. While I HAVE met some Woodcraft employees that seemed to "pretend" more than "know"--- and I have also met one in particular in the town I_ used_ to live in that was one of the most arrogant people I've ever met in woodworking..... But by and large Woodcraft does seem to me to be a good place to do business. I know for a FACT the one here in Raleigh NC is a VERY well run business and the general manager is a FANTASTIC, knowledgeable person.

Not to mention that they always have some great advice when I have a woodworking question.


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## JohnU (Sep 4, 2008)

redfishsc said:


> Actually, George, I like the stuff in that pic of yours a LOT more than the stuff in my pic! So that's the Ice Slab from xylostyle? That's awesome, thanks for the post.



I just bought some from him a few weeks ago and made a couple.  The finished blanks are really nice and you wont be disappointed.  They are a little different to work, more like plastic and less like resin or acrylic, but finish very nice.


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## laspringer (Sep 4, 2008)

Try this place, it's at the bottom of the page.
http://www.simcom.on.ca/woodbin/Leatherpencases.htm

Alan


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## gothycdesigns (Sep 6, 2008)

Sounds like someone should try their hand at casting their own crushed velvet slab just for fun. Ya never know if it'll be a unique item to you and your new customers. But it depends on how adventurous you want to get with this, just a suggestion. I plan on playing around with making my own blanks again. Nice work though. Looks great.

Hope you find waht you're looking for. Keep us posted.


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## Texatdurango (Sep 6, 2008)

I also failed to see where making disparaging remarks about Woodcraft employees added anything to the discussion at hand.

I also found out that the “Block member” feature of the new software can’t be used if that member is a moderator!  

One would think a moderator would read his posts twice before hitting the send button.



redfishsc said:


> Thanks for all the help guys! This is what makes this site great. I found the product I was looking for, AND found another cool blank (the ice blanks above).
> 
> Randy, I gotta say I agree with JHFerrell. While I HAVE met some Woodcraft employees that seemed to "pretend" more than "know"--- and I have also met one in particular in the town I_ used_ to live in that was one of the most arrogant people I've ever met in woodworking..... But by and large Woodcraft does seem to me to be a good place to do business. I know for a FACT the one here in Raleigh NC is a VERY well run business and the general manager is a FANTASTIC, knowledgeable person.
> 
> Not to mention that they always have some great advice when I have a woodworking question.


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