Pen Kit manufactures

[mdwilliams999]

I have been turning pens on the side for the last 3 years and have used kits from WoodturningZ, PennState and Craft USA. I have an appreciation for for the pen kits that are made in Taiwan vs China. Most of the kits from Taiwan tend to have better fitting components and less irregularities seen in China kits. I have also found that the few kits from Craft USA seem really good as well.

I have some possible opportunities to take the side pen business to another level but want to make sure I am offering high quality pens. I expect that the new pens I offer will start in the low 100s. I am confident with my skills and tired of selling $30 pens.

Does anyone have experience with some of the other pen suppliers? I am trying to educate myself on quality differences and this seems harder than it should be. Berrea seems to have nice pens but the prices are obviously higher than say Penn State, and wondering if this is because of their name only, or because their products are really better made with higher quality finishes, better components, turn mechanisms etc. For example, Berrea has a "stylus" pen that sells for about 50% higher than Penn State.

Bottom-line: Has anyone had experience with multiple pen kit suppliers and can offer their experience regarding quality for the money.

Thanks,
Mike

 

[pinelumber]

pen kits

Look at Timberbits in Australia. Excellent prices Tiawan Pens Quick turnaround. I ordered on Friday from Michigan and delivered Monday at noon 9400 miles 4 days!! They get my money.


Dennis
Pinelumber:bananen_smilies104::RockOn:

 

[Dan Masshardt]

Many of us have tried many kits from many manufactures

The short answer is that it's not really based on the supplying company Most suppliers have cheap kits and higher quality kits And price isn't always the determining factor.

If you want to know about the quality of a particular kit or finish, you will probably get more specific advice

Overall I have found that for imported kits, berea and the CSUSA artisan line are fairly consistent high quality

Pennstate has some good kits as well as some cheaper and novelty offerings Woodturningz resells pennstate kits as well as some of their own - Chinese is my guess.

 

[plantman]

Mike; That is a hard question to answer. To me, to make high quality pens, there are 4 factors involved. 4th being the quantity of pens you want to make. 3ed Quality of pens you want to make. 2ed Amount of profit you expect to gain from sales. And last, your skills as the craftsman making these pens. If you make a lot of pens fast, your Quality is going to suffer. If you look at the lower price of materials, your final product will not be top notch. If you want to get top dollar, you need top of the line supplies. Finaly, you must have enough skill to take one of your competitions products and set it along side yours and show the buyer why yours is better. My answer is this. If you feel that you have all of the above qualitys and skills, you need to be able to put out pens that can not be found in the next booth. You need to buy exotic woods with fantastic grains, cast your own blanks, produce segmented blanks, go kitless, or have some twist or skill that the average pen turner doesn't possess. As far as kits go, they all have good, better, and best. I find CSUSA's higher priced kits to be of a better quality than most, but not all. Same with PSI or anyone on this site selling kits. It is one thing to buy mass produced kits from China, and another to have pens made by Chinese Craftsman in China. There is no one in the Free World that can compete with there skill and craftsmanship for the price. Jim S

 

[Quality Pen]

Like said above... the same people can offer better or worse pens.

I've been happy with CSUSA although there are a few other companies that stand behind their products. That says a lot too. Even the best pens and parts have manufacturing issues. How they handle it is what makes a difference for me.