Berea Hardwoods disappoint

[Mortalis]

Upon reading a few threads about which suppliers rate the highest among users here and reading how some feel that Woodturningz (PSI kits) do not have the fit quality the responders were expecting and William Wood-Write is based in Canada and costs much more for USA shipments I placed two orders with Berea Hardwoods for pen kits.

My first order was short 3 slimline kits I ordered. The total for this order was $103.13. I contacted them through the email confirmation I received when I ordered the kits and they promptly sent the missing kits.

I give them props for the quick response.

I placed a second order for 4 of their Corinthian Flat Top kits for a total of $43.00. When the kits arrived I was excited to get started. The contents were all there, I was psyched. I started one of the Flat Tops and when it came time to begin assembly I found that I had to file the inside of the upper tube to get the twist assembly to work correctly. This was stated as a possibility in a note on the assembly page but still, I was a little disappointed that I would need to perform this and lucky I had a set of decent jeweler files. I was able to get the twist assembly to work properly and then when I went to install the Corinthian Bands, I found they do not fit the kit. The kit came with 7mm tubes and the standard Center Band press fits onto an exposed end of the upper tube. The Corinthian Center Bands are much larger in I.D. with a very short press fit section that would slide right over the 7mm tube O.D. sloppily. The Corinthian Center Bands also had a threaded section that made no sense for the kit.

The instructions, which by the way are poor copies of the original, did not even address the Corinthian Center Bands. I assume they are supposed to assemble onto the kit in the same manner as the standard Center Bands.

I have ordered from CUSA and Woodturningz, both I have been very satisfied with both the fit and quality of their kits and quite frankly doubt I will reorder from Berea any time soon.

Just thought I'd opine for others reference.

 

[longbeard]

Check these suppliers out and in no specific order
Vendor catalog, top center of the page.
All have great service, quality pen supplies and shipping.
Good place to start

 

[Karl_99]

It is your decision regarding who you choose to do business with.
Berea has provided excellent customer service when I needed help.

As Harry pointed out, there are several excellent companies to work with.

 

[joek30296]

Check these folks out: Exotic Blanks

They started on the IAP and Ed and Dawn do a great job. Their customer service is, without question, the best there is!

 

[Mortalis]

I looked at the vendors catalog section. Do any of them sell pen kits? It looked like mostly blanks and one said they sell Berea.

 

[ed4copies]

Yes, we sell Berea, PSI and CSUSA---not all pens from each source, but the ones we like.

 

[Old Lar]

I have bought many Berea kits from Ed at Exotics and Ernie at Beartoothwoods. I have always appreciated the quality of the kits and spectacular service from both. They have not disappointed me.

 

[nava1uni]

I think that I would call and speak to someone at Berea. I have dealt with them for years and their kits have always been very high quality. I am sure that they would want to know of any problems so they can correct them and so they do not lose business.

 

[ed4copies]

In a way, you are comparing a 1940 Chevy to a 2013!

That pen kit is one of the originals---by many names. In "those days", the manufacturers told pen makers that they were expected to be "craftsmen" who could handle small problems and do "fine tuning".

Yes, the instructions you are reading are far more complicated than the kits that have been designed in the past few years. Just think of the fun you would have had when the kits did not HAVE those dimensions. You made one as a prototype to figure out what would make it work best.

I will admit that Exotics does not handle this component set. Why? Because it was never one of my favorites. And, nearly every penmaker who did shows, showed that style--so I did NOT.

One of the advantages of the web page designs today is to give you access to the instructions before making a decision whether you wish to make it. If you see the instructions have many details, you can make a pretty certain bet that someone encountered a problem there. Decide before buying, if you wish to undertake that challenge.

When properly made, it IS a decent pen. Works fine, writes well.

Personally, I never cared for the look----and they took longer to make than the cigars, which I sold lots of!!!

FWIW,
Ed