Hello from Brussels, Belgium

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chrisk

Member
Joined
Nov 4, 2009
Messages
822
Location
Brussels, Belgium
Hello,
A few days ago I registered to your forum and have meanwhile learned a lot of things by reading all those interesting posts about penmaking.
I'm a Greek man living in Brussels, Belgium. Pen making and wood turning are some of my hobbies. I have to say that for a few years I abandoned my lathe. But now I'd like to resume especially with pen making. One of the reasons I stopped making pens (other activities apart) is the poor quality (especially the mechanisms) of the pen kits I found in Belgium. The Belgian vendor was furnished by Craft Supplies UK. The same vendor now sells some of the pen kits one can found in the US but at a price... :mad:
But by reading your forum I discover new horizons. Thanks in advance for your advice.
Christos.

PS: apologies for my poor English...
 
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bitshird

Member
Joined
Aug 27, 2007
Messages
10,236
Location
Adamsville, TN, USA.
Welcome aboard Christos, I hope you have luck finding decent pen kits, you might check with some of the vendors listed on the front page, I think there are a few that will ship internationally.
 

chrisk

Member
Joined
Nov 4, 2009
Messages
822
Location
Brussels, Belgium
Thanks to all of you for the welcome messages.

@bitshird
Yes Ken, a lot of the vendors are shipping internationally but above all I'm concerned about the quality and reliability of the mechanisms. As for the platings I presume that the likes of Titanium, Rhodium or Platinum must be quite acceptable.
Before reading your forum I was so conditioned by my past experience that I was only interested by the slimline pen-pencil kits. But I've really been impressed by the achievements of all of you, witness of a great professionalism.
Having seen some of your pens, aside the slimline pens/pencils I'm now thinking about the Comfort and Sierra likes.
Could you please give me some indications about the aforementioned products; are their mechanisms trouble free? Thanks in advance to all of you.
 

bitshird

Member
Joined
Aug 27, 2007
Messages
10,236
Location
Adamsville, TN, USA.
Christos, the Sierra is a good reliable kit, the only problem being that some times the customer will unscrew the transmission, a good substitute is the Dayacom Elegant beauty, it's much the same kit, but the transmission is in the top so it won't come loose, they are available from Aaron Lau at https://www.laulauwood.net/ Aaron is in Hawaii, Anthomy at www.thegoldennib.com also carries them.
Ed4copies and his much better half Dawn www.exoticblanks.com carries quite a few quality kits as well, The Sierra style pen is a good selling pen, you just have to explain to buyers not to keep turning once the refill is retracted. I'm not sure if they ship internationally but www.woodnwhimsies.com have some styles that are inexpensive and they are great people to deal with.
 

CSue

Local Chapter Leader
Joined
Jan 16, 2007
Messages
2,368
Location
Laveen, AZ, USA.
Welcome Christos!
Below are links to two threads/articles that have lots of information on pen turning. The first one is a very basic overview of the many aspects of getting into turning pens.
http://www.penturners.org/forum/showthread.php?t=42446

The second link has postings by different pen turners and what they wish they had known earlier:
http://www.penturners.org/forum/showthread.php?t=46654


Here is another link - a PDF on the acronyms used here. You may know many, but this will help with those you don't.

http://content.penturners.org/articl...9/Acronyms.pdf
 

Daniel

Member
Joined
Jan 1, 2004
Messages
5,921
Location
Reno, NV, USA.
Welcome Christos, This is a great place to find anything you need to make some very fine quality pens. and if you can't buy it they will probably show you how to make it.
There is a lot of international trading that goes on as well. You might want to take advantage of others taste for waffles.
 

leehljp

Member Liaison
Joined
Feb 6, 2005
Messages
9,314
Location
Tunica, Mississippi,
Welcome Christos! With your previous experience you should be able to jump right in. I know that you mentioned kits but I have a feeling that you can make your own without kits. There are several folks here that make kitless and simi-kitless pens. In many cases, those pens sell for more than the straight kit pens. Lots of room for experimenting and artistic expression.

Don't worry about your English. I was born in the US, and American (Southern) English is my native language and it is still hard for me to communicate at times! :rolleyes: :biggrin: We have lots of Internationals here and that is part of IAP's name.
 

chrisk

Member
Joined
Nov 4, 2009
Messages
822
Location
Brussels, Belgium
I'd like to thank you all for your help, either direct or indirect. I've posted some pics of my work with pen kits (Members photo albums) I just bought from Aaron Lau, following "bitshird" 's advice. Those are really top kits, especially the "Elegant Beauty" and the "Stretch". The slimline kits are low range ones I bought from Belgium except one Black Titanium from CSUSA.
 
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