Nice pen and pencil kits suggestions

[Chris Barnett]

Have been looking for pen kits to assemble for Christmas gifts and homed in on the 8 mm Round Top Euro pen and pencil kits from Bear Tooth Woods. Would like to see the kit or pen first, but second to seeing them would be to get information from anyone who has already used this kit. Since these will be gifts to some special people, want to find at least some middle level kits and these seem to qualify, plus they look nice. Tried to see pen and pencil kits locally but stock is very low and I don't have time to wait for these few.
If not familiar with the type noted, can someone recommend a kit that you would use to give a pen/pencil combo to folks who are very special to you?

[Steve Busey]

...can someone recommend a kit that you would use to give a pen/pencil combo to folks who are very special to you?

Well, I don't have a recommendation per se, but I can say I've had very bad luck with the CSUSA pen/pencil combo kit. I ordered a couple so my son could make himself a combo, as he's always been a fan of mechanical pencils. The first internal mechanism failed to twist at all - it just seized up. So I used the mechanism from the spare kit, and it failed within a day by having no limit on the internal twist mechanism - just keeps spinning and won't lock in place. Contacted CSUSA and they graciously sent two free replacement kits. We're now on the third mechanism, and my son reports that the pencil portion will not always lock in the down position - he'll be writing along and the mechanism will just retract into the pen. If I were to do it over, I'd probably have him do a separate pen and pencil instead of the combo.

[Rich Stewart]

I have been using the slim line pro kits from Penn State Ind. Also the Power pro kits. Both are click type mechanisms. The slim line pencils have the thin type lead and the Power Pro have a thick lead. Never any problems with either.

[Daniel Heine]

Chris,

I have made 2 pen and pencils sets using PSI's power pen/pencil kits. Once turned down to the bushings, sanded and finished, the kits fit very nicely and seem to be very goosd qaulity. That said, over on the IAP web site, beartoothwoods.com announce a new Sierra click pencil kit. So, a Sierra click pen and click pencil kit would also be a very good combination.

I have tried a few of the other kits, and found them to be garbage.

Good Luck,
Dan

[Chris Barnett]

Thanks for the help. Time is getting rather short to buy kits, assemble then find out later that there are problems. If problems, would need to try something else, and go through the motions again. In two particular cases I need to make sure the stuff is prone not to breakage, understanding though that anything can fail. Have made only two pens so far, and they turned out just fine. Store had only pen kits so am still looking for matching pen and pencil kits; separate kits are fine, as long as they seem to match, look nice, and pen or pencil does not have an inherent quality or design issue. So far I have figured out the head stock is on the left and tailstock on the right. I'm on a roll.

[Bernie Weishapl]

I have used the Sierra Click kits from beartoothwood.com. I love them. Ernie is good to deal with.

[Jerry Gerard]

I have been using the slim line pro kits from Penn State Ind. Also the Power pro kits. Both are click type mechanisms. The slim line pencils have the thin type lead and the Power Pro have a thick lead. Never any problems with either.

I like that kit as well , Rich I don't know if you ever get up to the PSI store but this month they have the slimline Pro's on sale for the 100 count price . Sorry to say the sale is only available in the store .

[Chris Barnett]

Thanks, will look more at BTW and PSI for the slimlines; had looked there for twist type but did not know how easy/difficult the turnings might be for the fatter ones I selected. Looking back more at the slimlines; the four slimlines made so far were easy, so guess I need to look now at durability. Starting to have challenges on applying a finish when I switched from cocobolo to black walnut. Seemed I might need to apply a grain filler on the walnut, but since I do not stain, not sure if a filler is what I need. Will want to remove the wax I applied to the walnut so filler can be applied. Wonder acetone, my go-to solvent, will remove the Johnson floor wax.