Craft Supply Apprentice vs Artisan

[Modeler John]

I'm new to pen turning and I was wondering if anybody had an opinion on the Apprentice or Artisan lines from Craft Supply. Is there much difference in quality between the two? Or are there better kits out there? Any opinion or advice would
be great.
Thanks.

 

[ldb2000]

The Apprentice line is their cheap hobby line , the Artisan line is their better line . The main difference is the quality of the platings . The quality of any of the cheaper kit platings are not very good when it comes to a durable , lasting finish . The higher end kits use platings like Ti Gold and Rhodium which will hold up much better under normal use . Some of the hobby kits also use cheaper components and the fit and finish is hit and miss .
If you are making pens as a hobby and are not planning on selling them , any of the kits will work , But if you care about your craftsmanship and want to give a pen that will last or you are planning on selling them I would advise you to use the higher quality kits . Remember a pen that the plating wears off of quickly will reflect poorly on your craftsmanship , even though you made the best pens you could .

 

[Splinter]

I have some of the Artisan kits (pens and fountain pens) that I will gladly sell you cheap. PM me if interested.

 

[Smitty37]

kits

I personally think the plating wear is pretty much a non-issue. I've been carrying my low priced silver (one of the softer platings) for two years and none of the hardware is showing the first sign of wear. I carry it in a shirt pocket when I have one but I wear a lot of sleeveless T-shirts so often it goes in my pants pocket which it shares with my pocket knife car keys and change purse. My best guess is that the plating is going to outlast me.

For beginners, I recommend the lowest cost kits of the style you like and the cheapest blanks....I bought a box of half-blanks and got 50 - 60 slimline pens worth for about 30 cents each...if I ruined a few ... so what. I had to match the blanks myself and the grains usually didn't match up but the pens still looked good after I got enough experience to turn them fairly well. I suspect I turned 200 pens before I got to where I'm pretty confident that I'll do it right and can risk expensive blanks worth a rhodium kit.

Experienced turners can use any kits and blanks they like since they are not making the little mistakes that cost the novice a blank.

Just my opinion