# What was your largest pen order?????



## bmac (Aug 6, 2013)

As some of may know I retired in February of this year and was excited that now I can spend some time in the shop. Well, right before after I retired I was contacted by a company that I had done some pens for last year, 100 pens, and they wanted to know if I could make some more pens for them. I said sure, when did they need them and how many were they talking about. They told me they would get back with me in a couple of days. Well a couple of days later I get an e-mail with the details, they wanted another 100 pens with their name engraved on them. About five minutes later I get another e-mail telling me they made a mistake in the previous e-mail, that they wanted 1000 pens and they wanted them for November. Needless to say, I was dumbfounded, I could not believe my luck. This was a "THE" pen order of a lifetime in my opinion. Well, when it was all said and done, the order grew to 1500 pens with their name engraved on them. I just completed the last of the pens last week and got them all assembled, put in velvet pen sleeves and boxed up to be delivered to the company. I want to give a big "THANKS" to Ernie at Bear Tooth Woods for his help and support in this project, I don't think I could have got it done without him. He went way above what he need to do to make this order possible.

I have included what 1500 pens look like, sorry for the quality of the pictures, it's hard to photograph that many pens.

As a side note, I got a call from the company about the possibility of another pen order!!!!

Bobby
Louisiana


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## D.Oliver (Aug 6, 2013)

Holy .....................................that's a lot of pens.

I think my largest order has been 5 so you win, but just by a hair.


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## crabcreekind (Aug 6, 2013)

WOWZER! What kind of wood did you use? Also, some people say that when you do the same pen over and over again that the quality begins to change. Did you run into any of that. The pens all look great though! Just wondering.


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## Simplex (Aug 6, 2013)

I think mine was eight or nine.  You probably have everyone beat on this order.


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## longbeard (Aug 6, 2013)

I thought 14 waz alot :biggrin:
Congrats on the order, they look good.


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## ashaw (Aug 6, 2013)

Largest was 1800.  Work on two jobs one for 3600 and the other 10,000+.  It is taking over 6 months to close one of the deals.  I have another customer that I am just start working on I am waiting for their final total.  I average a little over 800 pens a year for my dealers.  When you get these large orders it can be trying at times.  Great job on landing a good customer.


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## greggas (Aug 6, 2013)

Congrats on the order...I don't think I could make another Sierra after I did 1500 !


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## Turned Around (Aug 6, 2013)

Damn. Most I had was 25. And that's the only actual order I've ever gotten. All the others were for individual pens I already had on hand.

How do you guys land these big orders?


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## JohnGreco (Aug 6, 2013)

My biggest so far has only been about 20 but they are coming regularly with little down time. I've had a 100 pen order and 200 pen order in the works for a few months now, still trying to close those. Grats on the order, and very smart to do single tubes!


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## ttpenman (Aug 6, 2013)

Back in the day when I did a lot of pens I did 100 pens a couple times.  And, I have done orders of 50 a few times.  All I can say is that it's a pain -- the first 20 is great, the next 20 a bit worse and by the time I got to 100 I never wanted to see another pen for awhile!!  Best big order I ever had was about 50 but the customer didn't care about all the pens looking alike.  I could use a variety of woods but all the same kits.  At least there was some variety and you didn't have to worry about all of them matching.

Jeff in northern Wisconsin


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## Jjartwood (Aug 6, 2013)

I can only say WOW!!!!! 
I have never even thought of how I would start such a task.
I turn down any order over 25 because after that it's real work and I keep it a hobby that's only kinda out of control.
I am curious though, how many times did you recount hoping there were more than there
actually was ?
Nice Work 
Mark


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## John Pratt (Aug 6, 2013)

THAT is a lot of pens for one order. Now I understand why there was a shortage of Sierra pens for a time.


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## bjbear76 (Aug 6, 2013)

How many quarts of CA do you go through?


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## Joe S. (Aug 6, 2013)

My biggest was 30, but it was more like 60 because they were slimlines. I would love getting an order for about 100, but I would seriously need to think over if it was any more. Nice job, production turning like that can be fun if you have the right mindset!


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## marksman (Aug 6, 2013)

Mine was 30 and it whooped me! Like Mark said above...too much like work. I'll bet you are ready to retire again, huh?


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## Sataro (Aug 6, 2013)

That was a huge order any way you look at it. My biggest order was 20 & I thought that was a large order.


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## turncrazy43 (Aug 6, 2013)

Biggest corporate order was 30 pens. But now its orders in groups of ten to replenish their supply. They initially wanted 450 of another type but I could not do that many in a period of 30 days. The rest are smaller orders.
____________________________________________
Everyday I'm vertical is a great day


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## Haynie (Aug 6, 2013)

Should we tell him the 8th pen in row 12 is out of round?


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## lorbay (Aug 6, 2013)

Mine was 200 cartrage pens. and I still get orders for 50 every 6 months.

Lin.


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## thewishman (Aug 6, 2013)

Congrats on a very nice order! Sounds like it came at the right time for you.


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## Jim Smith (Aug 6, 2013)

No thanks!  I'm afraid if I had to turn even a couple hundred of the same pen/blank in a row, it would become like a monotonous job and as such would not be enjoyable.  Congratulations on getting the order completed, but I'm afraid that's not for me.  

Jim Smith


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## SteveJ (Aug 6, 2013)

Great job.  My largest order was 100, but they were all different.  The question is, did you price them such that you were happy to make them or just happy to be done?  I was just happy to be done. :-(


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## bmac (Aug 6, 2013)

Thanks for the comments, they are appreciated. The company that ordered the pens is a lumber company so they provided the wood, which is pine. Not an idea wood for a pen but they owned the state champion LobLolly pine tree which they had to cut down after it died and they wanted pens made from some the wood. The thing that presented the biggest problem with the pens was the engraving. Pine is such a soft wood that you have to get to get the settings just right so you don't burn all the way through the wood yet high enough to burn into the growth rings. As to quality dropping with so many pens, I could see where that could happen real easy but I am sometimes over picky with how my work looks and I made sure that if it did'nt meet my standards it got redone.
Again, thanks for the comments.

Bobby
Louisiana


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## firewhatfire (Aug 6, 2013)

How mad would you be at the engraver if he messed up 5% of them.

25 is my largest order by the way.


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## Dale Lynch (Aug 6, 2013)

D.Oliver said:


> Holy .....................................that's a lot of pens.
> 
> I think my largest order has been 5 so you win, but just by a hair.




What he said.


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## Ligget (Aug 7, 2013)

WOW, I don`t make a lot of pens but recently got an order for 30 and I turned the order down, penturning is my therapy, it`s fun with no stress involved.

Good job on finishing such a large order Bobby!


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## turbowagon (Aug 7, 2013)

36 was my largest order.  Prompty took the proceeds and bought this :biggrin::


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## Ligget (Aug 7, 2013)

turbowagon said:


> 36 was my largest order.  Prompty took the proceeds and bought this :biggrin::



Now that IS a bike!


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## crabcreekind (Aug 7, 2013)

bmac said:


> Thanks for the comments, they are appreciated. The company that ordered the pens is a lumber company so they provided the wood, which is pine. Not an idea wood for a pen but they owned the state champion LobLolly pine tree which they had to cut down after it died and they wanted pens made from some the wood. The thing that presented the biggest problem with the pens was the engraving. Pine is such a soft wood that you have to get to get the settings just right so you don't burn all the way through the wood yet high enough to burn into the growth rings. As to quality dropping with so many pens, I could see where that could happen real easy but I am sometimes over picky with how my work looks and I made sure that if it did'nt meet my standards it got redone.
> Again, thanks for the comments.
> 
> Bobby
> Louisiana




I thought that is was pine. I did a bunch of pens out of cedar. What a pain! You may want to stabilize the wood next time. It is soooo much easier to turn and work with. Especially if you are doing 1000 pens at a time


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## SamThePenMan (Aug 9, 2013)

I think I did 8-10 pens one year during the holidays. It's hard for me to imagine much more than 20 or MAYBE 50...but 1500? Wow


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## Miles42 (Aug 9, 2013)

Mine was Nine. I lose LOL


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## maxwell_smart007 (Aug 9, 2013)

Two is the record for me! :biggrin:


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## lyonsacc (Aug 9, 2013)

currently working on my largest order - 3


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## flyitfast (Aug 9, 2013)

I did 15 for a reunion.  I didn't want to see an Aero for a long time.  Glad it was a single tube!!!
Did bottle stoppers and cosmetic brushes for the next reunion.
gordon


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## 76winger (Aug 9, 2013)

Half a dozen styluses was my biggest order so far. I can't imagine doing 1500! Good job on completing the order and congrats!


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## Mason Kuettel (Aug 9, 2013)

36 for me.  Luckily they were in 4 groups of 6 and one group of 12, so not too monotonous.


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## preacherman (Aug 9, 2013)

75 for me, all slim lines for the mother-in-law to pass out at work last year. Worst part was she told me at thanksgiving and she wanted them by the 15th of Dec! I was very tired of staying up till midnight or later turning the exact same thing for two weeks. Took a break after the new year for about a month. Now I vow not to turn that many of the same thing in such a short time.


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