Replacement Pen Tube

[Matthew Poeller]

I buggered up a pen tube for an El Grande pen that I bought from Woodcraft. I e-mailed tech support this morning and being impatient I called them at lunch when they did not e-mail me back. The guy on the phone told me that they did not sell them but he would gladly ship some out to me. WONDERFUL, A+ for tech support at Woodcraft.


Interesting Part:
Got back from lunch and received the mail back from Woodcraft. This person told me that they did not sell them and to check with the importer http://www.bereahardwoods.com/. Went to their website only to find better explanations, the same pens, CHEAPER PRICES (~$.50 a pen) and cheaper shipping.

This is just an observation and I do not have an affiliation with either of the companies. I am not saying that one company is better than another either. Just food for thought for those of you that order a lot of pen kits.

[Jeff Sudmeier]

Glad to hear that you got good service from woodcraft, it is one of the advantages of going with them over a cheaper source. However, like you said, Woodcraft is more expensive on almost everything I have price checked.

[John Hart]

Wow...this is great. Berea Hardwoods is in my vicinity. I can stop by there after work next week

Thanks!

[Blake McCully]

I've dealt with Barea for about a year and a half. Good folks to work with. And they will work with you. They have great kits, but most of the instructions suck. Even they will admit that. They have a fella who is a technical writer re-writing some of their instructions. Be careful of the kits you get. Many of them are not for the real newbies. Many of their kits have very close tolerances. When I buy new kits from them, I always buy 2 or 3 more than I want cause almost invariably I screw the first one or two up. Of course that could just be me :confused:

If you ever have any technical problems, just give Larry or Jim a call and they will do whatever they can to help you out.

Great people.

[John Hart]

Thanks Blake...A newbie I am...at least with pens and turning in general. I'll approach this cautiously....I am a very cautious fellow.....except when I'm rash and irresponsible.:)

[Blake McCully]

John,
Don't hesitate to give the folks at Berea a call. One word of caution. If you don't have a lot of time to talk on the phone, ask for Larry. Get Jim on the line and you'd better have a cup of coffee and a sandwich. He is just so exuberant about what they do. He can give you all the technical history of their place.

My MIL has a sister in Cleveland and LOML and I have been threatening to take her out some weekend for a visit. We want to stop in at Berea. If we do, maybe we can hook up. We're out here in Indiana, PA just a hop, skip, and a jump from Cleveland.

Gonna do lot's of chips today. We got about 5-6 inches of the good ol' wet heavy snow from the south.

Tough luck :D

[Tom Mullane]

Matt, I have to agree... the only kits I use are Berea and CSU.. I find the plating superior to any one else's kits and the mechanisms better...
The only better customer service I have ever gotten is from Bill B at www.ArizonaSilhouette.com , who I buy probably 80% of my kits from (He resells both of the above).. so I can buy both company's kits and have cheaper and quicker shipping from AZ.
And Blake is right about Jim... I called to ask a simple question about one of their new kits and ended up on a 20 minute discussion on squaring blanks and how there is a need for a better system, LOL.. he does love the business and is enthusiastic.. Yup I also got the business history... complete with the failures.. they don't try to hide them...

[John Hart]

Sure Blake...let me know when you're coming. Maybe we can meet there. I sure could stand some instruction and a long-winded expert just might be the ticket. I like the idea of doing pens and always peek at the kits at Rockler and Woodcraft but never took the plunge.

Thanks

[Joe Judge]

Ryan and the team @ Woodturningz
= Very nice prices for PSI pen supplies/parts/kits, and all good people on the phone.

Bill Baumbeck @ ArizonaSilhouette
= I second this one. Bill has good supplies, good prices, and he was VERY quick and responsive about righting a problem for me

Shiela Crosby @ PensofColor
= Seem like the same type of business and person. I've had good experience ordering from them

-- joe

p.s. careful: pens can be instant gratification while making something beautiful and functional. So, addiction is probable

[Matthew Poeller]

Addiction is the case here. Very fast and wonderful for stress relief unless you screw up a pen tube.

I plan to use Berea and PSI still but I will check into the ones that everyone has mentioned.

Good luck and be careful using CA glue 'cause it dries sooooo fast.