Hey everyone I need some input. I am here on behalf of my youngest daughter Rachel.
Since I got my wood lathe going I have had a hard time keeping her off of it. She has made several pens and played with spindles, Christmas tree ornaments etc.
I have her turning some graver handles for me. She has the idea to turn a bunch of these and try to sell them. That's is where we need your input.
The one below is one for me out of walnut but our concept is for her to make them out of fancier woods like curly koa, curly maple, burls, exotic hardwoods, etc. Heck I have bunch of Mediterranean burl I may have her make me a few out of.
The brass ferrules she is making from scratch on the metal lathe and I am having her make them with about 1/32 wall thickness so people can engrave the ferrules if they like. She can ship them with the ferrules loose so they can be engraved and then glued on.
We would like input from her potential customer base on a few things.
price point:
How much will people be willing to pay for these? I am thinking $15-$35 each depending on how fancy the turning is and what kind of woods used. Some of the fancier exotic woods will cost her $8-$10 just for the wood so she would obviously need to adjust the price for more costly materials. The one pictured would be a basic one. Does that sound like a reasonable price point for hand made graver handles?
Sizes to make:
Right now this is fun for her and I want to keep it that way. I do not want to let this turn into something stressful for her. Therefore, I WILL NOT allow her to take "custom" orders. So we are looking for about three standard sizes. Overall length x overall diameter of the mushroom head.
This one below is made for me. I have short stubby hands and prefer smaller handles This one is 2 1/8" long by 1 1/8" diameter. That will be the small size. What should we design for a medium and a large?
Any input is welcome and appreciated.
Since I got my wood lathe going I have had a hard time keeping her off of it. She has made several pens and played with spindles, Christmas tree ornaments etc.
I have her turning some graver handles for me. She has the idea to turn a bunch of these and try to sell them. That's is where we need your input.
The one below is one for me out of walnut but our concept is for her to make them out of fancier woods like curly koa, curly maple, burls, exotic hardwoods, etc. Heck I have bunch of Mediterranean burl I may have her make me a few out of.
The brass ferrules she is making from scratch on the metal lathe and I am having her make them with about 1/32 wall thickness so people can engrave the ferrules if they like. She can ship them with the ferrules loose so they can be engraved and then glued on.
We would like input from her potential customer base on a few things.
price point:
How much will people be willing to pay for these? I am thinking $15-$35 each depending on how fancy the turning is and what kind of woods used. Some of the fancier exotic woods will cost her $8-$10 just for the wood so she would obviously need to adjust the price for more costly materials. The one pictured would be a basic one. Does that sound like a reasonable price point for hand made graver handles?
Sizes to make:
Right now this is fun for her and I want to keep it that way. I do not want to let this turn into something stressful for her. Therefore, I WILL NOT allow her to take "custom" orders. So we are looking for about three standard sizes. Overall length x overall diameter of the mushroom head.
This one below is made for me. I have short stubby hands and prefer smaller handles This one is 2 1/8" long by 1 1/8" diameter. That will be the small size. What should we design for a medium and a large?
Any input is welcome and appreciated.