Nice Order for 50 Wine Stoppers - Wife Loves doing them

[Busy Beaver Lumber]

One of our bigger customers for our custom wood working products stopped by about 2 weeks ago and asked if we would consider turning wood wine stoppers for him on our two lathes.

Never did it before, but we told him we would give it try. So ordered a few needed lathe chuck accessories and glued up some eastern red cedar, walnut, cherry, poplar, and a few other varieties into turning blanks and off to the races we went. He liked them so much he gave us an immediate order for 50 with a follow on quantity of 200 deliverable in September, which is when he starts selling at craft shows for the Christmas* rush.

I am doing the stopper blank glue ups which i do at about 24 inch lengths at a time, then cut into pieces 2.5 inches long. Then I drill and tap them and put them on my lathe and round them to save Kristina time. She then does the turning and shaping adding her creative talents to the mix and does the final sanding and polishing with friction polish.

Here are pics of two finished ones and about 35 other ones the wife turned. We offer them in several styles of bases in various styles and price ranges, so he can just choose the stopper base the customer wants and screw the wood turned part on to them to suit the customers need.



  

  

  

  

  

  

 

[MrPete]

Very Nice!  Looks like a lot of fun.

[Busy Beaver Lumber]

Mr Pete

It is a blast and the nice part is you really cant do much wrong. No plans to follow, pretty much just let your imagination guide you. The kits themselves are fairly cheap to. The ones shown in the first images are penn state stopper kits which can be had for about $3.50. I am actually a Penn State Dealer and get them for less than that, then sell them to our customer with the turned wood pieces and he decides which style stopper ( there are about 10 to select from ) to screw to whichever wood top his customer wants.

And i love to do the glue ups. Don't ask me why, but i like cutting and gluing wood pieces back together to form patterns and to make one of a kind creations out of. Anyone can turn a solid blank and many do, but one of our signature trade marks is layered and segmented turning stock. Some of our dealers we sell to have actually said to them, that looks like something Fred glued up. What a compliment, when people actually recognize and associate your work with you.

[woodmills1]

busy I just sent a picture of your stoppers to a customer of mine, he may be a good asset for you

here is a link to his company
he started very small but has blown up
he also makes wine stoppers and can probably give you a guide to the market side

PM me your address and phone and when he contacts me I will put you two together

http://www.sea-stones.com/

[Busy Beaver Lumber]

Customer came today and picked up his stoppers. Kristina has a very high desire to please and was extremely happy when she heard all the nice things he said about the stoppers she turned. She had a smile from ear to ear. Love it when she gets to hear the positive feedback like that face to face, because most times I am the one working with the customers at their site and she seldom get to meet them.

He sure must have been happy because the ink on his check was not even dry and he turned around and gave us an huge order for wood pens, ice cream scoops, coffee scoops, key chains, and pizza cutters. Even brought some awesome pieces of wood with him for use to use on his projects. This should keep her busy for a few weeks, plus she want to make more stoppers to have some in inventory and ready to go.

He even asked us if he could hire us to do demos for two days at a apple and craft festival he is selling at in October of this year in exchange for allowing us to sell some of our products that he does not yet carry like the routed woods signs, turned bowls, and bear style furniture. Sounds like a good deal to me so we signed on for the two day tour of duty 8)

[Magicman]

Very creative as well as profitable.  The fun and enjoyment is a bonus.   

[SPIKER]

Those all look like 1st class top of the line stoppers for sure.   Tell her she has some admirers for the fine craftsmanship er crafts-(WOMAN)-ship items she made there. 8) 8) 8)

Mark

[Busy Beaver Lumber]

Will make sure she sees all the nice comments you folks made about her work. That will make her very happy and just might be enough to get her out here on the forum. I think she is tempted to do so but she is very shy.

[clww]

Those all look fantastic and show the pride in craftsmanship! 8)