Business

<< Previous   of   Next >> Michael O'Leary / The Herald  (click to enlarge) Daniel Franklin, 12, of Mill Creek uses a small lathe to turn out his own line of pens. Michael O'Leary / The Herald  (click to enlarge) Daniel Franklin of Mill Creek uses a small lathe to turn out his own line of pens that he sells. Franklin created this pen from laminated wood. (click to enlarge) Daniel Franklin makes pens from laminated wood and acrylic, and also produces handles for corkscrews.   ADVERTISEMENT   Pens By Daniel See Daniel Franklin’s work at his Web site, www.pensbydaniel.com. He takes orders by phone 425-609-8646.   CONTACT THE HERALD Mike Benbow, Business Editor benbow@heraldnet.com   Published: Sunday, April 20, 2008 Turning Out Something Special Twelve-year-old Daniel Franklin of Mill Creek puts his small lathe to use, crafting stylish pens and making a hobby into a business. By Debra Smith Herald Writer Daniel Franklin doesn't love sports like his older brother, and at times he struggles with school. Give the Mill Creek middle school student a block of wood and some tools and watch his gift emerge. The 12-year-old started his own business carving and selling wood and acrylic pens. The business is called Pens By Daniel. He has his own Web site, business cards and a regular work schedule after school. Before he hits the shop, he eats a snack and his parents insist he finishes his homework. "It keeps him out of trouble," said his mother, Debbie Franklin. "We don't want him hanging out on the street." When Daniel was 10, his father Paul Franklin thought he needed a hobby so he bought his son a small lathe, a machine for shaping wood. Daniel, now a sixth grader at Gateway Middle School, picked up the skill immediately. "His eyes lit up," Paul Franklin said. Maybe the gift is ingrained in his genes. His father left the film industry to work as a cabinet and furniture maker. And Daniel's grandfather worked with wood, too. "He's just like my dad," Paul Franklin said. "He has got an aptitude with wood." A single pen takes Daniel about 45 minutes of careful turning on a lathe set up in a corner of his father's garage woodshop. He carves blocks of wood or colorful acrylics into smooth shapes, drills out the center, and inserts metal pen mechanisms that are available as kits. It's work that takes precision, attention and skill. Sometimes his shoulders ache from standing for hours with a protective shield over his face. He works about 10 hours a week, but if he has many orders he may spend all of a Saturday on his feet working the lathe. The idea to sell the pens didn't occur until Debbie Franklin pulled out her handmade pen to write a check. Someone saw her handsome wooden pen and wanted to know where she could get one. Daniel was on his way. Soon he was creating pens for family and his teachers. Daniel's math teacher at Gateway Middle School, Lance Palmer, had no idea the shy, quiet boy in his class worked with wood until he received a pen for Christmas. "I was blown away by the craftsmanship," Palmer said. Palmer bought six more -- so many his wife gets a little angry if he brings up the subject at home. Soon Palmer was showing the pens around the staff lunch room and more teachers wanted to buy Daniel's pens. Palmer's favorite is an acrylic red swirly pen that fits perfectly in his hand. "I love to see it. Kids these days don't have enough initiative and drive," Palmer said. "To see a kid his age, a sixth-grader, getting out there and starting his own business, I was impressed." Daniel charges between $25 and $40 for his pens; the price varies depending on the material, style and quality of the pen mechanisms. He uses all types of wood, including black palm, bamboo, tulip, burr and zebra, and his pens come slim, cigar and fountain sized. His pens are smooth and hefty and serious in a way a cheap mass-produced item can't replicate. His parents encouraged him to sell his pens door-to-door, and at first that was difficult for the soft-spoken boy. Once he explains to people that he made these pens, he usually makes a quick sale. His father recalled only one negative experience: At a craft fair, a woman picked up his pen and threw it on the table after eyeballing the price tag. "Twenty-five dollars for a pen?" she said. Most people understand something of quality and made by hand costs more, Paul Franklin said. In a year, Daniel has made and sold enough pens he recently bought his own $1,400 lathe. He has plans to buy more tools and maybe a computer. He doesn't know if this is a future career or a hobby, but he has plans to expand beyond pens. A neighbor ordered a walking stick and another wants a pepper mill. Daniel is trying his hand at bottlestops, corkscrews, bowls and vases. He and his father are commissioning a metal fabricator to create their own pen kits, which he'll also sell. The worst part of his business is having to stop and do school work, he said. His parents remind him that no matter what he decides to do, he's going to college. "And if he keeps this going," said Paul Franklin. "He can pay for it himself." Reporter Debra Smith: 425-339-3197 or dsmith@heraldnet.com.

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