newbie kits
I am learning too. I am trying lots of new kits, and have found the following.
1. The Smitty Le Roi Elegant Royale bundle gets you 6 nice single tube kits and bushings-all for $30.
2. The PSI Executive is a nice single tube pen, which is available in several platings, and very reasonably priced.
I had terrible luck on 7mm drilled tubes- lots of tubes pulling out, getting stuck, tubes blowing out, etc. Since switching to larger tube sizes, I have greatly improved my results. Plus, the blanks are so thin and wimpy when finished.
Also, I rationalize that after spending an hour turning a $5 blank, the satisfaction of using a 5-$10 kit, far exceeds the satisfaction of a $3 kit.