Quality Pen Kits...

[Wally Dickerman]

Okay, so where do you pen turners go to get your quality pen kits?

Wally

[David Walser]

Wally,

Quality is a relative term. I get my kits from Craft Supplies USA and from Berea Hardwoods. The titanium and platinum plated kits are "high quality" in the sense that the plating should last the user's lifetime. CSUSA has a wide variety of kits -- including some "limited edition" kits that run more than $80. Of the Berea kits, my favorite is the Sierra Elegant Beauty in either black titanium/gold titanium or black titanium/platinum. It's a classy kit that women seem to love.

Here are some links:

http://www.woodturnerscatalog.com/store/Pen_Making___Rollerball___Fountain_Pen_Kits___Limi ted_Edition_Emperor_Pen_Kit___ltd_emporer_pen?Args =

http://bereahardwoods.com/pen/sets/Sierra_Elegant_Beauty.html

[Dan Forman]

Arizona Silhouette Arizona (http://www.arizonasilhouette.com/) is a Berea reseller with good prices and great service.

Also, IAP (penturners.org) members often do group buys with AS or CSUSA, some very good prices are available that way. I've participated in a number of them, and never been disappointed.

Dan

[Robert Parrish]

I get most of mine from Penn State industries and Craft Supply. If you buy from a lot of different supplier you will have to buy their bushing and this can get expensive and hard to control.

[michael gallagher]

Wally-


In addition to CSUSA mentioned above, I also get a lot of my kits from Ernie at Bear Tooth Woods - good kits and outstanding customer service with immediate shipment (and no gouging on the shipping costs).

Every supplier has several variations of their kits - if you go the cheaper route on, for example, a Sierra vs. spending a few dollars more, you will get what you paid for. As a previous poster said, you want the plating to last a lifetime - the last thing you want is to sell or give away a product and have people remember you a few years later as the guy who makes cheap looking pens! That being said, I wish I could confiscate the ones I made 4-5 years ago.....

[Bernie Weishapl]

Ditto what Michael said about Ernie at Beartooth Woods. Excellent.

[David Walser]

Arizona Silhouette Arizona (http://www.arizonasilhouette.com/) is a Berea reseller with good prices and great service. ...

I agree with the recommendation of Arizona Silhouette. Bill Baumbeck is great to work with and I've never had a problem with any of my orders with him. He used to turn a lot of pens and can give you good advice. Having said that, I don't believe Bill carries the full Berea product line. I cannot find my favorite Berea kit on Bill's website (Sierra Elegant Beauty Black Titanium and Titanium Gold or Black Titanium and Platinum Ballpoint Pens). I've emailed and spoken to him about it and he says he'll add the kit, but, so far, I've not seen it on his website. The closest I can come up with is the Sierra Black Titanium & Gold Titanium Ballpoint Pens. These have the plating I want, but they lack the "engraved" center band of the "Elegant Beauty" style Sierra kits.

Here's a link to the kits from Arizona Silhouette:

http://www.arizonasilhouetteinc.com/cart/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=65&products_id=1726

Here's a link to the kits I prefer (available only directly from Berea, as far as I know):

http://bereahardwoods.com/pen/sets/Sierra_Elegant_Beauty.html

[jason lambert]

I like craft supply, pen state or www.woodturningz.com (http://www.woodturningz.com) I have been using more recent better price point, I got a couple of bad things from Arizona Silhouette in the past. I have also gotten bad kits from other places but they all made good on them. Rockler and woodcraft also have kits but just run of the mill stuff and usally get a little more for them. Also check out perturners.org that is the big penturning site. There are also some higher end kits out there from speciality suppliers that start about $80 I can't remember the site off hand though if you are looking for $100 pen kits I will try to dig it up for you.

[Wally Dickerman]

I like craft supply, pen state or www.woodturningz.com (http://www.woodturningz.com) I have been using more recent better price point, I got a couple of bad things from Arizona Silhouette in the past. I have also gotten bad kits from other places but they all made good on them. Rockler and woodcraft also have kits but just run of the mill stuff and usally get a little more for them. Also check out perturners.org that is the big penturning site. There are also some higher end kits out there from speciality suppliers that start about $80 I can't remember the site off hand though if you are looking for $100 pen kits I will try to dig it up for you.

Jason, I've only made a few pens so far and have given most of them away. I've also sold a few. I don't how far I'm going with pens but I can see that better quality pens is what I want. I'm a looong way from $100 kits though.

Wally

[Wally Dickerman]

I agree with the recommendation of Arizona Silhouette. Bill Baumbeck is great to work with and I've never had a problem with any of my orders with him. He used to turn a lot of pens and can give you good advice. Having said that, I don't believe Bill carries the full Berea product line. I cannot find my favorite Berea kit on Bill's website (Sierra Elegant Beauty Black Titanium and Titanium Gold or Black Titanium and Platinum Ballpoint Pens). I've emailed and spoken to him about it and he says he'll add the kit, but, so far, I've not seen it on his website. The closest I can come up with is the Sierra Black Titanium & Gold Titanium Ballpoint Pens. These have the plating I want, but they lack the "engraved" center band of the "Elegant Beauty" style Sierra kits.

Here's a link to the kits from Arizona Silhouette:

http://www.arizonasilhouetteinc.com/cart/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=65&products_id=1726

Here's a link to the kits I prefer (available only directly from Berea, as far as I know):

http://bereahardwoods.com/pen/sets/Sierra_Elegant_Beauty.html

Thanks David. I like your selection. I think that I'll give Bearea Hardwoods a try and get a few kits...I'm a long way from the real pricey kits yet. If ever) Friends have asked me why I'm turning pens. Well, so far it's fun....

Wally

[Mauricio Ulloa]

Hey!

I use kits from www.woodturningz.com for the lower end of my pen line. www.pennstateind.com has a high end line now on sale. I've also used pens from www.woodturnerscatalog.com and from Berea.

Take care,

M

[Wally Dickerman]

Interesting that the same suppliers names were listed by just about everybody.

At my club meeting last Saturday everyone was quite surprised when I brought pens to show instead of my latest HF.

Wally

[David Walser]

Wally,

I think you'll like the Sierra Elegant Beauty. For $10 per kit (w/ titanium and/or platinum plating), I think it's an outstanding value. As I said, women seem to really like the size and feel of the pen.

For a "man's pen", my personal favorite is the Jr. Gentlemen's II rollerball w/ Postable Cap in titanium plating. If you buy 10 kits, the cost is $11.25 per kit.

In my large hands, the pen has a nice feel and balance (with the cap screwed onto the pen's end). The Jr. Genglemen's II is not as large as a "desk pen", so it's comfortable to carry in your shirt pocket. The picture, below, is of my "every day" pen. (It's in my shirt pocket now.)

One of the nice things about the Jr. Gentlemen's II is it uses the same bushings as the Jr. Statesman II. So, you can easily step up a notch or two in class (and expense) for an extra special gift. (Mechanically the two pens are the same. The Jr. Statesman II simply has fancier end caps, clip, and center band.) Here are links to the two kits:

http://www.woodturnerscatalog.com/store/Pen_Making___Rollerball___Fountain_Pen_Kits___Jr_G entlemen_s_II_Pen_Kit__Postable_Cap___jr_gent_2_th readed?Args=

http://www.woodturnerscatalog.com/store/Pen_Making___Rollerball___Fountain_Pen_Kits___Jr_S tatesman_II_Pen_Kit__Postable_Cap___jr_statesman_t hreaded?Args=

[Mark Hix]

I have bought mostly from Ariz Sil. and a few from Beartoothwoods. The info on the plating is very important. I bought a kit w/ the cheaper gold plating, used it every day for 4 months and you can really see the wear.

[Chris Stolicky]

Okay, so where do you pen turners go to get your quality pen kits?

Wally

Most advice given above will get you started in the right path. Since you asked for quality pen kits, there is a broad range of ideas of what "quality" means. Here is my input.

Most basic slimlines actually come with decent cross-type refills that write well. I tend to order most slimlines from woodnwhimsies or woodturningz. I have had mixed experience with PSI. So far, the best slimline I have seen and made was the Black Titanium kit that AS sells. However, its roughly 3x the price of others. That leads me to finish...

I avoid, at all possible costs, gold-type platings. They just don't seem to hold up. I tend to lean towards the chrome, rhodium (nicer kits), gun metal, and black titanium. I will only use gold if it is the only option or it is specifically requested.

Once you get above the inexpensive slimines, the world of pen styles and options really opens up. There are the cigars, then the sierras/elegant beauties, euros, click pens, etc....

From there, you tend to move towards capped pens that use rollerballs. "Most" of these pens are between ~$10-$30. There are definitely nicer one's that cost more, but you start to get into some expensive kits. From there, for roughly $5-$10 more per kit style, you get into fountain pens with standard nibs.

A couple of other resellers of quality kits are:
Tony, at Penworks and Aaron at LauLau - just google them.

Most of what I said above is fairly general, but the more you dive into pen making the more you will see the vast options and styles available to you.

Kits are just the beginning - there is another world of pens blanks and materials. You can even get into mixing and casting your own resins out of polyester resin or aluminite. You can even go 'kitless' if you want.

If you have any questions, feel free to ask, and I recommend checking out penturners.org for some research.

Good luck.