not so new newbie

[martin.pearson]

Hi, I didn't realise I had actually joined this forum so appologies for not introducing myself back then, looking at the joined date it must have been when I was looking into making & selling pens to make some money lol, that was before I had done a lot of research & realised that there were people making fantastic looking pens & then almost giving them away from what I could see looking at selling prices.
Research showed me that it wasn't a very viable option for me so the idea got shelved.

So my name is Martin, I live in Fife, Scotland but not originally from Scotland. I started woodworking sort of by accident, I was working as a signmaker doing mainly vinyl & printed graphics but with health problems I was looking to spend less time doing that sort of thing, some equipment I had was capable of doing a lot more than I aquired it to do which led to me doing more & more with wood, it was then I realised that woodwork had been one of my favourite subjects at school & something I was reasonably good at. It sort of went from there with me building a drum sander, buying a couple of shopsmith machines, thicknesser etc etc lol

I do enjoy making pens so make a few, it was while I was looking to find out more about finishing that I found the forum (again)

 

[wm460]

G'Day Martin,

Welcome to the Forum from the warm centre of Aust.

 

[Morse]

Morning Martin and welcome.
Hope your health is stable so you can enjoy wood turning
This forum is not all about pen turning,
there’s a lot of expert turners and carvers plus model makers too.
You’ve started by joining in on here, please continue to contibute.

Dave

 

[Cumbrian Craig]

Welcome and best of luck with your future projects

Regards

Craig

 

[sammy]

Welcome to the forum Martin, looking forward to seeing some of your pens.
George

 

[yorkshireman]

Nice to have you on board Martin mate

 

[Phil Dart]

Welcome back Martin. You might want to bookmark the Forum in case you go wandering off again

There are plenty of people who do make their living from selling pens, though its true that for most its maybe either a contribution to their living or a hobby (or both). It's definitely is possible to make some money from it however, although perhaps not early retirement.

 

[Vic Perrin]

Hi Martin glad you came back to us. Looking forward to seeing some pics of what you get up to ( woodwise that is).

 

[fortress]

Hello and welcome to the house of fun Martin, let's take a look at your goods.

 

[martin.pearson]

Thanks for the welcome people.

Phil, the time it takes me to make a pen from start to finish means I am working for about 10p an hour. OK slight exageration & yes with experience you get quicker but I can't ever see me being quick enough to even meet minimum wage lol

 

[Penpal]

Hi Martin welcome back,show us your pens .

Peter.

 

[Vic Perrin]

Thanks for the welcome people.

Phil, the time it takes me to make a pen from start to finish means I am working for about 10p an hour. OK slight exageration & yes with experience you get quicker but I can't ever see me being quick enough to even meet minimum wage lol

Martin I found the most time consuming part of pen making was getting a good finish on my wooden pens. Phil Dart put a tutorial up on using Melamine as a finish. Well worth a look it's in the Tutorial Section of the Forum it made my life a lot easier when it came to getting a durable good looking finish

 

[martin.pearson]

Thanks Vic, yes I have read that, funny enough that was how I found out I was a member of the forum. Did a google search for something to do with pen finishing & it came up on the list, when I followed the link to the forum it asked me if I wanted to sign in lol

I actually gave it a try yesterday & you are right it is quick & gives a good finish.

Peter, my pens aren't worth sharing, maybe one day time will tell

 

[Terry Q]

Hello Martin. Welcome to the forum.