Thanks for the kind words everyone . The kits come from Axeminster tools in the UK .
Yes Lupe I really do love these blanks , they have such a beautiful look , they turn well and have a vintage look to them .
Thanks Max , sorry to say that I was just having a bad photo day , couldn't get a good focus , the depth of field was way off but it looked great on the cameras screen . I didn't see how bad they were until I went to process them and by then I had already put away the photo stuff and didn't feel like taking it all back out and setting it up again .
Thanks for the offer Skip . Shipping wasn't bad and I bought several of them so it worked out to be only pennys per kit . I must say they are great people to work with but shipping did take awhile but that was most likely the postal services fault . I've seen you using these kits and really liked the design so I figured I'd get some so I could have something different then everyone else around here has and they would be great for parts for some other works as well , never thought about using the cap as a tube , thanks for the ideas .
As for why kits ? I needed to rebuild my stock back up . Since I'm among the growing ranks of unemployed around here I need to get out and sell some pens to help supplement my dwindling savings until the economy picks up and I get another job .