Dink Says, "Say hello to my big sister Zeebot, she takes care of all my light work and keeps me warm when I come back from my day at the spa with my short hair cut."
Tracey and I spent a couple of days last month attending a laser engraving seminar in Arlington, Texas. Not only did we learn a few things but we also made a few new contacts, met a couple of our customers and made some new friends. We have had a few customers that were a little disappointed when we stopped doing custom pen engraving a while back. I have a new contact for our customers who are still interested in getting quality work done on your hand turned pens. You can contact Steve Wallace in Chandler, Arizona. His contact information is listed below:
Steve Wallace-"Lasting Laser Impressions" Business Phone: 480-895-5923 Cell Phone: 480-332-7755 Email: swallax@cox.net Website: www.llimpressions.com
Contact Steve directly for more information on pricing and turnaround time. Tracey and I would like to thank Randy Harrill for his hospitality. Dinner was most excellent. Randy and his wife run AcuGraphics in Irving, Texas. He and his wife do custom embroidery. They do signs, banners, team uniforms, corporate apparel, promotional products and much more. They can set you up with custom company logo stuff any way you please. Randy is also an avid woodturner. You can contact randy at:
Tracey's two cents worth: I will be heading to Atlanta, Georgia on the 9th with my mom to visit my oldest son and daughter-in-law. We'll be gone for a week. We're both very excited about the visit! The guys will be holding down the shop. Ryan will be working the inlays. There are some, however, that are pretty tricky so there may be a slight delay in getting your inlays out if they are ones that I have not pre-made enough of. I apologize in advance if you incur a delay but I'll get right on them as soon as I get back. Thanks for your understanding. Any inlay orders that come in through the 8th will be done before I hit the road!
TECH TALK
This month I have added two new videos which I hope
"Gel Click" Pen Assembly
will clear up some confusion about the assembly of a couple of our pen kits.
I get several calls per month about the instructions which are provided with and for the "Gel Click" pen kit. If you have messed a couple of these up in the process of learning the assembly procedure then you are not alone. In the video I show you how to prepare the blanks and give you some tips on making a successful project. I also go into detail on how to assemble the kit in a way that is very easy to understand. Click on the picture above and you will be on your way to a successful assembly the very first time.
Monet Pen Kit Dilemmas Solved
The next project pen kit that a lot of folks have trouble with is the Monet. Also known as the Gatsby, Sierra, Wall Street, Mesa and several other names. They all assemble the same way as the kits I assemble for you in the video on the left. There are two styles and I will cover them both.
WHAT'S NEW
We have the deer antler back in stock in both the pre-drilled blanks and the one pound packs. We have had to raise the price just a bit to offset the higher cost on our end. The pieces we are getting now are straighter and should yield a better success rate after drilling. Tracey has a new inlay blank hot off the laser. This adorable little bumble bee (Love Bug) is sure to turn some heads at your next craft show or when showing it off at your next get together with friends or family. It has an introductory price of $17.50 and is the featured inlay blank for this month. Get several while the price is low. The kinks have been worked out of the US Navy Submarine Warfare breast insignia inlay blank. We have them back in stock in both silver and gold for both officer and enlisted. We have also added the Surface Warfare Officer (SWO) breast insignia. I am still working on getting the kinks out of the Enlisted Surface Warfare Specialist (ESWS) breast insignia. Those Cutlass swords are giving me some trouble on Corel Draw but I will get them worked out, just watch. Curtis has made a great new Poly Pearl color this month and just in time for Valentines Day. It is called Sweetheart. It has swirls of purple and red imbedded in a pearl white matrix. It is our featured Poly Pearl of the month and is sure to be a big hit. Also check out our Natural Wood Pen Blanks. we have added some Birds Eye Maple that is absolutely loaded with eyes. We have a limited supply so don't wait until it is sold out to ask for it. We have a great new supply of Honduras Rosewood. Every blank is just gorgeous. We have it in 9/16 inch pen blanks and also in over sized blanks that measure 7/8" X 1.5" X 5" in length. These can be used to make two pen blanks or you can cut them on an angle to get a great angle cut blank. They can also be re-sawn on the wide edge to create a set of matched knife scales.
Thanks for reading and I'll write to you again next month.
Tim Nicholas Wood-N-Whimsies
This is the fine print text where you might tell your customers how the item will be shipped and, for example, if they are overseas that there will be additional shipping charges and must contact you.
Tracey has a new inlay blank hot off the laser. This adorable little bumble bee (Love Bug) is sure to turn some heads at your next craft show or when showing it off at your next get together with friends or family. It has an introductory price of $17.50 and is the featured inlay blank for this month. Get several while the price is low. 
The kinks have been worked out of the US Navy Submarine Warfare breast insignia inlay blank. We have them back in stock in both silver and gold for both officer and enlisted. We have also added the Surface Warfare Officer (SWO) breast insignia. I am still working on getting the kinks out of the Enlisted Surface Warfare Specialist (ESWS) breast insignia. Those Cutlass swords are giving me some trouble on Corel Draw but I will get them worked out, just watch. 
Curtis has made a great new Poly Pearl color this month and just in time for Valentines Day. It is called Sweetheart. It has swirls of purple and red imbedded in a pearl white matrix. It is our featured Poly Pearl of the month and is sure to be a big hit.