So many turning companies to buy from...

[Greg Deemer]

When googling pen turning you will get over 29 ba-gillion, yes thats with a "b", hits on folks selling turning parts, supplies or equipment. I really enjoy looking at all the pretty colors on the computer screen but I would really like to order what I need at a fair price and get back into my shop and make ugly old hunks of wood into beautiful works of art (or at least what I consider beautiful works of art). Does anyone have any recommendations on good web sites that sell turning equipment, supplies or finishes. Any info will be greatly appriciated... :confused::confused::confused::confused:

[Mike Vickery]

The break down is their are three main companies that sell pen kits.
Craft Supplies USA (CSU)
Berea
and Penn State Industries (PSI).
Beara and PSI kits are available from many resellers while CSU canceled their reseller program several years ago but quite recetly the company that actually makes the kits for them has been making these kits available to other companies.

Personally I avoid PSI kits because I do not believe they are as good a quality, but I have not used them in years so that might have changed. The majority of the resellers I see are PSI kits.

http://www.woodturnerscatalog.com/store/Pen_Making?Args= This is a link to CSU's kits
http://www.arizonasilhouette.com/ this is a reputable reseller of Berea kits, thought their are many others

[Skip Spaulding]

I've got some great deals through PSI, been happy with most purchases. Like any supplier you probably get what you pay for.

[Greg Cuetara]

I just placed an order through woodturningz.com. They were very prompt and I thought had the best prices around. I belive they are a reseller of PSI kits. I am not reselling pens just yet so I just wanted something cheap (around $2 / kit) for kits to give away and practice on.
Good luck and let us know where you find the good deals.

[Rich Souchek]

Pen making forum that covers it all is pentruners.org.
That said, having ordered pens form many places, now try to go thru Arizona Silohette (sp?) because of godd service from them.
Rich S.

[Ben Gastfriend]

CSUSA happens to be my favorite place. They have everything and their customer service is phenomenal.

PSI happens to be right down the street, so I often get pen kits from them. I've never had a problem with them, and often, their inventory is much cheaper than elsewhere. I just bought a 1/2" HSS bowl gouge from them for 19.95 and re-ground it. Works just as well as a Elsworth I tried.

[Bernie Weishapl]

Berea and Bear Tooth Woods are my favorite with good service and excellent at taking care of problems.

[Jon Lanier]

CSUSA and Bear Tooth I think have good quality and good bargains. I'll also shop the local Rockler and Woodcraft if I want something right away but they are much higher priced.

[Brian McInturff]

I've bought from lots of places. Waiting right now on some from Hawaii that the other major players aren't selling, yet anyway. I've been satisfied with them all except Unlimited Woodturngs which was a Shopsmith owned company, and they went out of business several years ago.
First you need to ask yourself some questions. First, which styles do you like. Once you decide on the style then decide how much you want to spend per kit. Once you have decided that then look to see which plating is the best in that price range for that style. Once you've made those decisions then that will narrow your choices down to just a few if you are wanting the higher end ones. The other important thing to do is join Penturners.org. They run lots of group buys with great discounts. Just finished a Woodcraft discount that was unbelievable. Some things were at 50% discount since we bought in volume.

Be forewarned about penturning though. It becomes very addictive. You see all the beautiful exotic woods that you know you will never turn as a bowl. But as a pen you can afford it. I have hundreds of blanks and pen kits because of this. It doesn't bother me though because pens don't require a lot of time and they come in handy for gifts to any and all.

[robert hainstock]

Woodturninz.com Is a great place to start. YThe whole PSI line at a discount, great survice. :)
Bob

[Bobby Perry]

When I am just making pens to give away I use these kits.
http://www.pennstateind.com/store/funline-slimline.html

I do make a lot of them and haven't had but a few problems. I will make up several and carry them with me and give them to waiters and waitress's. You would think you gave them a $100 tip the way they go on about them.

Woodturningz won't sell these for the same price. They tell me these are the same pens they sell for $2 each.

[Jim Becker]

Packard Woodworks is my favorite turning-oriented Internet retailer. Super folks. Good selection. And they know turning.

[Shane Whitlock]

I won a pen turning contest over on IAP and the grand prize was a 100 bucks with Beartoothwoods. It a one-man operation and Ernie was fantastic to work with. The pen kits were wonderful and the customer service was the best... I highly recommend him.

Happy Turning,
Shane Whitlock

[Wilbur Pan]

I've bought the vast majority of my woodturning paraphernalia from Packard Woodworks. They're great. Fast shipping, too.

[Chris Stolicky]

I have ordered pen kits and blanks from the following:

Arizona Silhouette
Wood Turningz
Wooden Whimsies
PSI
Have not ordered pen stuff from CSUSA yet, but other turning stuff.

I have become a fan of the Baron's and Sedona's that AS sells. Bill B. provides quality products and what appear to be reasonable prices. I have also learned that you really get what you pay for...

Wooden Whimsies kind of reminds me of Wood Turningz, quick service and fair shipping; but the less pricey pen kits. A lot of PSI-type products.

I have had two pen kits out of probably 20 or so from Wood Turningz that were missing a part that prevented me from completing a pen (& pencil). The customer service was nice and I received the missing parts in the mail a few days later. I haven't ordered anything since then, but plan on doing so soon.

PSI - well they are the one of the big boys in the business that sell mass quantity average kits; although I see that they are starting to offer some higher quality (at least pricier) kits.

[Dale Gregory]

I second http://woodnwhimsies.com/Pen_Kits.htm. Great prices on bulk, and fast shipment.

Dale

[Paul Douglass]

I'm just starting ou but I have had great service and fine products from Arizona Silhouette the three times I have ordered from them.

[Joe Pack]

I use +/- 600 various kits a year. I buy 80% of my kits from Berea Hardwoods. Because I live only about 45 minutes from them, I stop in quite often and have gotten to know the folks there pretty well. I have learned that they supply a large percentage, if not all, of the kits sold by Woodcraft (and Rockler??) and some of the resellers already mentioned in this thread. Some of the kits made for others have slight (VERY slight) design differences, but most are exactly the same.

Berea also offers some kits in a larger "B" size mandrel/bushing, making for a slightly stronger, less "whippy" mandrel, particularly when you fudge a little and fit 2 or 3 keychain blanks on at one time...particularly useful for production work.

Depending on the quantity you need, Berea has a "part-time crafter" rate that allows you to mix/match most items to get the 100 rate. I think they also have a 50 rate, but you would need to check their web page or call to verify this.

One thing Berea does that I like is that they have a $4 flat rate on shipping. Buy one or one hundred, the shipping rate is $4.

I also buy from Ryan's Woodturningz...great service and nice to deal with. I buy almost all of my slimline pens from them. They have the best price I have found for titanium and chrome, and they have the "fancy" design clip and center ring instead of the "plain Jane" flat hardware. I like, but don't use, their other platings because I am afraid of the plating wearing quickly and having a dissatisfied customer calling me a month after buying a pen.

The generic chrome plated bottle stoppers are all the same...Penn State, Arizona, Ryan's...buy on price - somebody always has a deal going.

Hope this helps you spend your money! Good luck.