Where it all started...
Updated for our 6 year business anniversary...
As a thirteen year old our son Patrick suggested he would like a wood lathe for Christmas. Being a carpenter and a handy type of guy I quickly agreed that this would be a great idea and we bought him a cheap wood lathe. Over the years he and I turned quite a few pens and other kits, but it was strictly a hobby. Fast forward to summer of 2018 and Carol found a new hobby: Diamond painting. One day I was sitting at the table watching her paint and noticed she was struggling with that silly, atrocious pink plastic tube they give you to place the diamonds. Hmmm.....I ran to her desk and found a slimline pen I had turned and started thinking how I could attach the plastic tip for the diamond pen. Epoxy! Yep, it worked. She was so happy she took a picture of it and posted it to a Facebook group she belonged to. Soon I had people wanting one too and she said I should sell them. Yeah, right...er, not interested...But my mind started turning it over. How can I make these things more efficiently? We looked all over the internet and found only one seller on Etsy selling anything like this. I was thinking in terms of a writing pen kit when it hit me; this is NOT a writing pen. It is a placer tool. I started experimenting and building prototypes and soon Carol had a little mini collection of diamond painting pens. Once again she photographed and posted them and once again found a lot of interest. So I agreed to create and sell them.
I started out turning diamond pens from the small garage of a rental house on a part time basis. Hey, it's beer (or soda) money. Carol organized the sales from our Facebook group page and we started by selling pens I had already created. But man! They would sell out within minutes of posting! So I was always wondering what blank I should use next. Hey, why don't we let the customer choose? Our unique business model was born! We have been through a few iterations since then. That first year I was so busy working alone in that garage that we had to form a waiting list (no longer being used). Customers had to wait up to four months to even place an order! We did not want to take money that far in advance so we worked within two weeks of an order. We saw a lot of other startups during that time and watched as the entire hobby grew. After about six months of business I took the scary step of investing in a better lathe so now I had a nice Jet 1221 to turn on and the cheap Excelsior lathe for polishing. And we grew. It became a full time job for me and my wife was juggling two work-from-home nursing jobs along with keeping up with all the administrative work involved in this business. Then, in August, 2019 we took the step we had been working towards for ten years and bought our retirement lake cottage. The 750 square foot garage sealed the deal. And we continued to grow. Since opening our business, we have sold and shipped thousands of items to customers all over the world.
At the present time Carol and I work at this business full time. She is responsible for all of the administrative and marketing aspects along with management of our social media channels. . Our daughter, Caitlin, has learned to do basic turning; however, she will be starting nursing school full time so her ability to help will be limited. Our son Patrick is a full-time Registered Nurse - he is a co-unit supervisor on the renal unit at a major hospital. He stops by and turns piece-work when he is available. We are up to three Jet lathes, and two mini Pen Pal lathes along with our cheap little Excelsior lathe that started it all. I have been slowly renovating the garage (actually a dedicated workshop) since we moved in and will continue working on that project.
On our Youtube channel we show timelapse clips of turning and polishing pens along with up-close views of blanks, showcases of various projects, and other videos. You can see us at https://youtube.com/@obriencustomturning
You can now find us on instagram, pinterest, tiktok, facebook (both a group and a business page), pattern, and a web page by searching OBrienCustomTurning. This year we will be adding a Shopify storefront
