Read the label. Most are made in Taiwan--its a small island, how many manufacturers do you think are located there? We know Dayacom is.
I do not buy alot of pen kits from Penn State so I do not know where ALL pen kits are made. I have no idea where this company gets them made but from Amazon point of origin is China. Now if you are telling us China makes quality kits then say so. I never heard of the company the OP referenced nor the other one I linked to. He is asking if anyone has dealt with them and what were the results. Does price mean better quality? I think we all were brought up with that notion. I have plenty of Berra kits that the plating wore off too.
I'm guilty of associating price with quality but I'm also aware that's not always the case. The OP asked a legitimate question, if anyone had bought these. I stand guilty of not answering the question. So to correct that I will say I have never bought them and I have never heard of the company.
Ken my answer was directed at Ed. he probably knows more about origin of kits than most of us and if knows China brand kits that are good quality then tell us. Maybe he does not sell them but that is OK. Penn State to me is a gizmo and gadget supplier. look at their kits they sell they are more themed and this started about 8 to 10 years ago if I recall. We had a member here that claimed he was on the design team for them. Lot of them were designed the bolt action style. You read here many times clips breaking because of the stuff they weld to them and other things. Now they are not cheap so does this make them better quality. I never heard of either of the 2 companys mentioned and I am sure there are others. Then you probably have other vendors that have pens made for their selling and they come from some of the same factories. My point is we DO NOT know for sure where the kits come from. Ed's answer is read the labels. Well that is all we basically can go by but to our advantage as pen turners we have a forum such as this that we share info and thoughts. Hopefully this continues.
Turn the blanks and assemble them. Then report back after examining each component, compared to others.
I've purchased an order of the "Slimline" style pens from Colarr. They are almost exactly the same as from PSI. The only difference I can imagine is that PSI offers a warranty on their finishes and Colarr does not, so you'd have to wonder how good the plating is.
I did. Cheap is cheap. My son told me so. They are sufficient though. Like I said, probably where most businesses get their stock and up the price.
I am not familiar with this kit or slimlines of any kind but was wondering maybe either you cut the blanks a little too short when you trued the edges or pushed the tranny in too far or maybe this is a characteristic of this kit but the refill extends too far. Or should I say much farther than normal pen kits. maybe some one could verify this for you. But after that the plating becomes the main concern. If they use cheaper materials than the plating will wear off or become tarnished from the oils in our hands. Other than that probably a good kit to learn the basics of pen turning. Have fun.
Yes, I see what you mean. He used a rubber mallet to tap in the tranny and definitely bumped it out a little far.
