Wow, so, 4 months in (roughly). Now let me work this out, if I work on the lathe an average of 20 minutes in the morning 3 days a week, followed by about 40 minutes on the last two days of the week. Add this to the 30 minutes at lunch time a day all week and then about 30 minutes after work on monday and friday. That is 5 hours 50 minutes a week, multiply that by 16. So 5 x 16 is 80 hours plus (5 x 50)/60 which is 4.2 (rounding up). So I have spent about 84 hours making pens, probably more realistic to say about 60 if I am honest about it though, that is to take into account time when I have been working on designs, the website or fixing things. Still that is quite a long time considering it is all around my usual full time work schedule. Anyway that is enough about the maths of it all.

With the time I have been spending doing this I have come to the reaslisation that I need to reavaluate how I work and where I spend my time. I realise that I cannot afford to just churn out pen after pen for myself and my family so I have to start making pens for stock. These are pens that I would make and fit with a dummy nib and section (probably one from a pen I have already made) and offer to sell them at a set cost with an option of nib and section that would fit into the cost. Not rocket science I know but I think it is what I need to do if I want to continue doing this way. How will this interact if I get an order for a custom pen, simple really, the custom pen takes priority. For example, I have just finished the barrel of a [new pen](https://i.imgur.com/jyXIWtN.jpg) and it needs sanding and finishing off, however the materials for a pen that is sue to be sent away and one which has just been paid for so I will put it aside until those jobs are done.

So, what have I been up to this week? Well, it started out terribly, I came down with a fever last Saturday morning and decided to go back to bed, I didn’t wake up until Monday lunch time, tried to go to work Tuesday, got sent home. So I had 2 days to get something done and I managed it. I finished a pen. Woo Hoo, first pen for sale. The invisible pen. 🙂 In the following [picture](https://i.imgur.com/9g6XHTv.jpg) it may seem like nothing is there, I mean the really perceptive of you might see it. Here is [another picture](https://i.imgur.com/NfjvfTq.jpg) this one is with the cap off to prove something is there, you might only be able to see the section and nib though :(. If you are interested in this pen (I assure you it is actually a pen, I am not pulling your chain) then please just contact me for the price, I will be updating the website with the price on there too.

Random question time now. Where would I get a flex nib from? I cannot seem to find any, preferably a bock nib. Also I want to look into different filling techniques so where would I get the materials to make these? So anyway, that is it for another week, as usual if you would like me to make you a pen please just contact me, I have 1.5 definate pens and 1 pen in discussion with someone.