This is new to me..please advise.

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workinforwood

workinforwood

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Eaton Rapids, Michigan, USA.
I just got home and there was a letter with a self addressed envelope inside to return to sender. No idea who this person is. I flipped over envelop to open it and notice a prison stamp on it, Louisiana Dept of Corrections. I opened it as I previously mentioned...this is the letter.

Dear Jeff 7/21/09

I just finished reading your article in the Creative Woodworks Magazine and I'm very excited about your penturning techniques. As you probably noted from the envelope, this letter is from a prison in Louisiana. I've been turning pens in our Hobby shop here for the past 7 yrs and I've managed to produce and sell over 3000 pens. I'm always looking for new ideas and kits. I would love to see what blanks you have available.
The unfortunate reality of prison life is that I do not have a telephone or internet access of any type, so I must rely on the old pen and paper method of communication. Any orders I place will be prepaid by mail. I hope that you have some form of written catalogue that you can mail me. I fhte re is any cost for postage or printing that you require, please write to me and let me know and I will promptly send it to you.

Thank you
so and so...
winnfield, La....

I edited some spelling of course and left out his name. So what would you guys do...how would you respond to this?
 
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I would send him a price list with a picture of the blanks if possible.

My only concern would be whether it's legal to sell to an inmate. If you look up the Louisiana Dept of Corrections on the net, I'm sure they have a number to call and ask? Yes?
 
Well... I would want to help him because I can only image being in lock down. On the other hand, I'm sure he deserved it. Maybe just write him back saying he could send you some money and you could fill up a box of equal value (plus some profit) and send it back.

If I was to do this, I would first call the prison and get ok on everything. I don't know how all that works- nor do I want to.
 
My brother is a Corrections Officer here in Texas and he buys crafts from prisoners frequently. Prisoners are allowed to sell what they make so my guess would be that his request is genuine. Whether or not you choose to sell him supplies is your call.
 
Ok...as ya'll advised I called there. He's been there 7ys so far. Don't know what he did, but he is not a trouble maker. As you guys know...my average pen blanks are in the $20-$30 range. They also can't just go on to a cheap slim kit unless you make is one heck of a fat slim. The guard says it's all fine, but he can't imagine how a prisoner could sell a pen that cost him $50 just to make...you know, the pen blank and the kit cost. I am flattered and intrigued. Maybe I'll send him a skull and a cigar kit for free, and a list of prices and explanation. When he see's the prices, he may be happy enough with his freebie and not bother ordering anything. Regardless what someone did in the past...doesn't mean he shouldn't get a pick me up once in awhile..something like that..you guys know what I mean.
 
Good for you Jeff! It would certainly make his day with your work. And hey, if he could sell it, what a rush he'd get then.
 
He may have a very convincing sales line.

"Buy this or stay awake all night, tonight!!"

(I'd probably send him a freebee, if it were me, Jeff).
 
workinforwood said:
Ok...as ya'll advised I called there. He's been there 7ys so far. Don't know what he did, but he is not a trouble maker. As you guys know...my average pen blanks are in the $20-$30 range. They also can't just go on to a cheap slim kit unless you make is one heck of a fat slim. The guard says it's all fine, but he can't imagine how a prisoner could sell a pen that cost him $50 just to make...you know, the pen blank and the kit cost. I am flattered and intrigued. Maybe I'll send him a skull and a cigar kit for free, and a list of prices and explanation. When he see's the prices, he may be happy enough with his freebie and not bother ordering anything. Regardless what someone did in the past...doesn't mean he shouldn't get a pick me up once in awhile..something like that..you guys know what I mean.
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JMHO, I think this is a good idea!
 
I would like to throw in a few things from working in the Texas Prison System for 12yrs. If you send him the blank he will probably not get it because it will be considered contraband. In Texas you have to be an approved vendor to sell anything to an inmate. You should call the prison unit he is in and speak with the warden and ask what procedures you would have to go through to get on the approved list. If you have anymore questions send me a p.m.

Robby
 
I am a corrections officer in Ohio and our inmates get craft type stuff in all the time. But they have no access to woodworking equipment and make most of their stuff from popsicle sticks. You would be surprised at the stuff they can create with those sticks, white glue, sandpaper, and fingernail clippers as the only tools. Staff are allowed to buy anything that we want and the inmates can either mail their items or send them home with visitors to be sold on Ebay. The greatest things I saw were the American bald eagles, the steam engine trains, or the Harley Davidson with all moving parts. Some of this stuff would put our artwork to shame. I have seen the American bald eagle sell for over $1500 cash. An interesting note is that there is a large Asian market for inmate art. If I were allowed to make business arrangments I could retire with the items I could resell from these guys.

To answer your question, I would send just the list to him until he can get approval to buy from you otherwise it might get sent back.
 
I guess you never really know the boundaries you reach out too until something like this shows up. I know the state level has more to offer than the county, but Ive seen county inmates make unbelievable things where I work. (out of cracker boxes, socks and coolaid) I guess when you have nothing but time you can do that. If it works out for him... good for him. He would probably never turn a nicer blank.
 
Rjones said:
I would like to throw in a few things from working in the Texas Prison System for 12yrs. If you send him the blank he will probably not get it because it will be considered contraband. In Texas you have to be an approved vendor to sell anything to an inmate. You should call the prison unit he is in and speak with the warden and ask what procedures you would have to go through to get on the approved list. If you have anymore questions send me a p.m.

Robby
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Thanks Rob. The guard did say something about approved vendors. I'm listening and taking notes to what you guys are telling me. I wouldn't want to send something free and have it confiscated. Perhaps I should return a letter and a list and call the warden. Besides, I have no idea how this person is making pens. I assume it's with a lathe and mandrel set up, but know to never assume anything. If he is, I don't know what kits he has access to, and bushings for, and my scroll blanks don't all fit on just any pen.
 
Jeff,
I think this is a great opportunity for both of you and am curious what his work looks like using his limited resources. Why dont you trade him the blank(s) for one of his pens? This way he gets no freebee (he's probably is not looking for a hand out, anyway) and you get a pen. Maybe you could post it here for us to see, too.
 
Kind of a wacky side thought.....

How many people here would like the idea of being in a place where you had all kinds of time and could just make pens all day. Sure it would have its trade offs, but sometimes it would be nice with all of life's other distractions.

Of course, it would probably get old, but sometimes the idea of it would be a great.


Hey Jeff, good luck with this opportunity. You may have discovered a niche market!
 
Jeff, sending him the freebies is a nice jesture on your part, but I'd make sure they will let him have them first.

rjwolfe3 said:
If I were allowed to make business arrangments I could retire with the items I could resell from these guys.
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Rob, CO's in Texas aren't allowed to "sell" things for inmates, but they can buy items from them. Once bought they are yours to do with as you please... keep, resell, give away, etc. Don't know about Ohio though.
 
I've been in touch with several people. I took a couple pictures. I will get them developed tomorrow, mail him the pictures and information about what is in the pictures. This is the only thing I can do right now. I can not just mail him anything, as it will be rejected. He can look at the pictures, decide if it's something he is interested in. If so, then he must submit what he wants along with the pictures to the warden for approval. If approved, and most likely it would be, because this person is on their good person list thank god, then he can send me money. If I get money from him, that means the warden did approve, and I can toss in a few extra's no problem. The items will be inspected and then given to him to use. It's a slow process, but I have time, and he probably has lots too. I have a theory. Not all people will change their evil ways, but all people have the ability to do so. This is an opportunity for me to maybe make that difference happen, even if only for one person. I at least give the guy credit for using his time wisely, being productive. Apparently pens, is only one thing he does. He is heavily involved in many crafts, and helps others to learn how to manipulate wood. So, this tells me, it's not all about money, maybe the guys actually trying to put his life on the right path.

I won't send pen knives and letter openers. You funny guys. I don't deal with pen kits. He must have sources already anyhow. I just deal mostly with scrolling pen blanks.
 
Rob, CO's in Texas aren't allowed to "sell" things for inmates, but they can buy items from them. Once bought they are yours to do with as you please... keep, resell, give away, etc. Don't know about Ohio though.
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Yep we can buy here from them as well, but if I buy more then one item a month then the prison starts investigating. And I don't really want that. There are another supposedly dirty staff that I don't want my name associated with them.
 
I used to teach inmates how to work with leather many years ago, had the pleasure of visiting several of the northern California's finest facilities. These guys have the time to learn their craft and excel in it. What was interesting for me over the years is I came to recognize prison leather work from the color....different than anyone else did on the outside. When I got out of leathercraft I gathered up all of my tools and donated them to a couple of facilities that I knew were a little short.

This experience served me well in later years when I had a speaker enclosure shop. We were unable to find any young folks willing to work much past first break and I contacted the prisons in Oregon that had wood shops for the inmates to work in. It became known quite soon that if you worked in the wood shop for any length of time, when you got out, I would hire you. Some of my best employees came from the prison system. Knowing that they were all on some level of probation, the first thing I did was take them up to the local police building and introduce them to the chief of police and any officers present. It was well understood that there would be no messing around and that I would not hesitate to co-operate with the police. It was surprisingly never necessary.

So, to wrap this up....sounds great that you are able to present this inmate with an opportunity to get some really nice blanks and that you are going to add to it. If I was in a better place myself I would be adding to your first box of goodies! Kudos to you!
 
workinforwood said:
Not all people will change their evil ways, but all people have the ability to do so. This is an opportunity for me to maybe make that difference happen, even if only for one person. I at least give the guy credit for using his time wisely, being productive. Apparently pens, is only one thing he does. He is heavily involved in many crafts, and helps others to learn how to manipulate wood. So, this tells me, it's not all about money, maybe the guys actually trying to put his life on the right path.
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Your a good person to take the time:good:. I think allot of people would just toss the letter in the trash.
 
We had inmates that had access to a craft shop. Their woodworking equipment was their own personal stuff. As long as they stayed on the super good behavior list they could asked for permission to order the equipment and have an assigned area in the craft shop. We had one inmate that made gold and silver jewelry with diamonds(he was very special).One unit that I worked on the warden put a display case in the main building for the inmates to display the things they had for sell. The money they made went into their trust fund so they could buy more things to make and use the money in the prison grocery store. So yes he could have access to a lathe.
 
stolicky said:
Kind of a wacky side thought.....

How many people here would like the idea of being in a place where you had all kinds of time and could just make pens all day. Sure it would have its trade offs, but sometimes it would be nice with all of life's other distractions.

Of course, it would probably get old, but sometimes the idea of it would be a great.


Hey Jeff, good luck with this opportunity. You may have discovered a niche market!
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If you really want a feel for what this man is dealing with, all you have to do is walk up to any police officer, ask him if you can sleep with his wife or dog and then give him a big wet kiss. I'm pretty sure he will be happy to help you out with your curiosity. By the way, the pain will go away after a couple of days even if you don't think so at the time. Have fun.
 
wolftat said:
If you really want a feel for what this man is dealing with, all you have to do is walk up to any police officer, ask him if you can sleep with his wife or dog and then give him a big wet kiss. I'm pretty sure he will be happy to help you out with your curiosity. By the way, the pain will go away after a couple of days even if you don't think so at the time. Have fun.
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Neil,
I hope this wasn't from past experience. I have to admit that when I first saw this I was filled with many thoughts that I wanted to share. Jeff can you make a blank with rasps and files of all kinds.....or is that too much?
 
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alamocdc said:
Jeff, sending him the freebies is a nice jesture on your part, but I'd make sure they will let him have them first.



Rob, CO's in Texas aren't allowed to "sell" things for inmates, but they can buy items from them. Once bought they are yours to do with as you please... keep, resell, give away, etc. Don't know about Ohio though.
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There was a prisoner in the pen in Huston named R. Hackett, he started engraving stuff, he wound up making Texas Ranger Buckles that we used to get from a corrections Officer for 75.00 I wish I still had one, last I'd heard he had been released and his work is now worth a small fortune, The buckles were beautiful, he made them for the Governor and many of the state officials, but the best ones were the Texas Ranger sets, last one I had sold for 350.00 so it might be worth while doing business with this fellow, and from what I've heard it's not real hard to get tossed into prison in Louisiana. sure wish they would make it easier here.
 
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