135 replies to this topic

[ECRECIGS]

whokrz, on 06 February 2012 - 09:37 PM, said:

It is looking like I am going to get laid off for the rest of the week and possibly part of the next. This should allow us to finish up my mom's rental house where I have been working every weekend. If everything goes as planned I should be able to start making wood tubes and cones in small batches within 2-3 months instead of 6 months.

Currently I turn at my fathers house which is an hour away. I will be setting up my lathe and other tools in my garage so that in 2-3 months I will be able to turn more frequently. In 2-3 months this should allow me to make 4-16 a month compared to 1-4 a month.

I do plan on selling these, but the prices will vary with the material used, the finish and how long they take to make.
Price = material + $20 per hour.
Out of the $20 per hour comes the cost of a felt sleeve, sandpaper, glue, activator, paper towels, dust masks, broken blanks, electricity, time spent shipping packages, time taking pictures, time posting to store and PayPal takes 3%. By the time everything is said and done I should be around $14 per hour. This will generally be used to buy more supplies and tools.

I will be using wood with a CA finish like the picture and acrylic. The CA looks nice but is vulnerable to rough use. The acrylic should hold up better to rough use. I will also try experimenting with friction polish and other finishes that will retain the wood look but will not be stained by e-liquid. These should be about the same price as the acrylic taking 1 hour to make.

Wood battery tube with a CA finish
Labor 2 hours = $40
Battery parts = $9
Wood $5-$15
Total = $54-$64

Acrylic battery tube
Labor 1 hour = $20
Battery parts = $9
Wood $10-$16
Total = $39-$45

Wood battery cone with a CA finish
Labor 2 hours = $40
Battery parts = $4
Wood $3-$8
Total = $47-$52

Acrylic battery cone
Labor 1 hour = $20
Battery parts = $4
Wood $5-$8
Total = $29-$32

These prices are not fixed in stone but I think they should be very close.

I made a website about a year ago that would be activated when I have more time to turn. If there is an interest in these I will be selling them at http://www.gentrywoodturning.com. Currently the site functions, but the paypal is not active and almost all of the pens have been sold.

I have ordered 5 tubes and cones from hoosier to play around with. I will post pictures when I get one finished.


If you stuck around to read all that what are your thoughts?

Hey there i do not have there catalog on hand any more but you can order all the epower and pretty much all e cig parts directly from the manufacture smoktech tubes if i remember right are like 40 cents a piece but you have to have them shipped out of china but you can make it worth your while if you pick up some batteries and other parts while you do it and smoktech will work with paypal . they will hook you up it is all done over email and there website chat program. just thought you might wanna know if your going to try and sell these and turn a profit ya know

[whokrz]

I am currently working with discountvapers for the parts. He sends me any parts I request at no cost. I then put wood on them and mail them back to him. He then puts them for sale on his site.
This works out really nice for customers because he takes care of any bad switches and other problems with the e-cig unit. He also has fast shipping, great customer service and customers can purchase other stuff they need at the same time and save on shipping. This is all stuff that I do not have time to offer.
The prices that you quoted are not actually accurate any longer. I really should have corrected them but never gave it much thought. Each piece of wood takes me 1.5 - 2 hours to make it depending on how the wood turns and finishes. It doesn't matter if it is a drip tip or a battery tube. I am charge $20 per piece 25%-50% less than quoted before. Discountvapers charges $10 per unit. This covers his shipping parts back and forth, posting to his site, taking orders and shipping to you,
Here is the formula for pricing
(($20 * pieces) + wood + $10 for DV + ecig parts)) * 4% credit processing
For a XL3(including switch) with a wood tube/cone and a $20 piece of box elder it would look like
(($20 * 2) + $20 + $10 + $31.48) * 1.04 = $105.54
I see $40 for 3-4 hours of work out of that I still have to buy all the disposables. When I get done I make about $9 per hour. I don't create these to make money. I just do it because it is fun.

[blucavvy]

i could not find the tanks or drip tips on their site that you wrap in wood? could you shoot me a link?

i'm not interested in a mod, but depending on the cost the drip tip and tank may be items i'd look in to.

[whokrz]

currently I just make drip tips for the units. I would be happy to take a custom order for a drip tip if you would like one.
There is currently only one tank for sale it can be found under wood mods on discountvapers. I will be making more tanks in the future, hopefully in a week or two. There is also a custom order for the tanks as well if you do not like that wood.

[blucavvy]

so it's roughly $30 -$40 for a tank? what about a drip tip? could you shoot me a ballpark if you don't want to post it up?

[whokrz]

a drip tip is about $30
It is hard to give a exact price because the wood varies in price depending on what you choose.
Labor and parts for the tank is $41.59. Then you would add the cost of the wood. The cocobolo on the above tank cost me $3.00. The burls run about $10 for the wood.
A tank in standard wood is about $44. A tank in burl is about $51.

[whokrz]

More




Spousal unit of Big Screen D's E-power 14650 in Box Elder Burl (Blue)
Thanks again for the idea of putting a stainless tube inside the drip tip




14650 in Black Ash Burl




XL3 in Cocobolo

Edited by whokrz, 30 April 2012 - 07:47 PM.

[jeffb]

Luv the blue ones.

[whokrz]

Thank you





XL3 in Black Ash Burl




XL3 Mini in Black Ash Burl

[Viper Ron]

Great craftmanship

[whokrz]

Thank you

[whokrz]

I got the contest mod back from Lordavon after his duability test.
The first picture will be a close up shot the following picture will be zoomed really close of the same picture.



I am guessing this is from being dropped on the concrete. The damage is all of the way threw the CA finish and put a ding into the wood. There is also slight fogging of the finish around the damage



Threw finish and slightly into the wood.



A very small area that fogged over instead of breaking off.



Ding slightly into wood



Ding threw finish and into wood

Edited by whokrz, 16 May 2012 - 08:30 PM.

[whokrz]

Ding in finish



Ding in finish



Another concrete drop I assume. The CA has been chipped off and the wood has a few good dings in it.



Ding in finish

Edited by whokrz, 16 May 2012 - 08:34 PM.

[whokrz]

Now that you have seen the close up damage, here is what it looks like at arms length.

[whokrz]

Txtumbleweeds new drip tip


The winner of the contest wanted a cone but I didn't have any more big leaf maple. This XL3 box elder burl (black/green) is now going to them.


The original contest mod has been refinished and already has a new owner that doesn't know it is coming yet


Custom order box elder burl (black/red) I am not sure if I would classify it as red though.


Custom order DCT in Box Elder Burl (black/green)


GoGo in Black Ash Burl


GoGo in Box Elder Burl (red) <-- Actually rather pinkish the camera didn't want to catch the pink hues

[whokrz]

BigScreenD's  drip tip


Then new 1/16 inch parting tool works great.
70A 3/16" ID, 5/16" OD, 1/16" width o-ring seems to work perfect.