Hello from Thailand

[XanderPen]

I am new to pen turning. I was able to get a bunch of pen kits years ago, but Jet pulled out of Thailand and I could not find a lathe I wanted for a few years. I finally got a cheap variable speed lathe and have been cracking out pens, bowls, cups, bottle openers, bottle stoppers, tops, handles, etc. Its alot of fun.

Unfortunately it is proving extremely difficult to aquire pen kits locally.

 

[Alan Morrison]

Welcome to the forum, Xander.
Most suppliers ship world-wide though postage now is getting really expensive.

 

[Lew]

Welcome from Texas. Have you tried online from India or China?

 

[Woodchipper]

Welcome to the group. Had a college roommate from Thailand; don't ask me to spell his name. Interesting culture and gained some knowledge of Buddhism.

 

[derekdd]

Welcome aboard!

 

[Jim15]

Welcome Xander.

 

[tomtedesco]

Welcome from Colorado.

 

[d_bondi]

Welcome from Utah!

 

[leehljp]

Welcome from Mississippi in the USA. There are many people here that wish they had access to the different kinds of woods available in your area of the world. What area of Thailand do you live? I enjoyed many working trips there between 2000 - 2010.

Pen kits: There are a number of people here who make custom pens that most call "kit-less" pens, meaning - not from a kit. Check this forum out here at IAP: https://www.penturners.org/forums/kitless-custom-advanced-techniques.56/. Many of the kit-less pens are fountain pens, and they usually bring a higher price. There are a few companies that offer tap and die sets to make threads in the custom pens.

IF you have questions just ask on the appropriate forum.

 

[hokie]

There are many people here that wish they had access to the different kinds of woods available in your area of the world.

This is what I was thinking! @XanderPen , I will trade you kits for certain kinds of Thai wood! Haha
Aside from that offer, I have to imagine penkitsmall.com would be a reasonable option for affordable kits in the eastern hemisphere. Just a thought!

 

[sorcerertd]

Welcome from North Carolina, USA!

 

[howsitwork]

welcome Xander

most firms will ship you stuff but the postal delays and charges can be horrific. Makes us realize how lucky we are really

 

[XanderPen]

Welcome from Mississippi in the USA. There are many people here that wish they had access to the different kinds of woods available in your area of the world. What area of Thailand do you live? I enjoyed many working trips there between 2000 - 2010.

Pen kits: There are a number of people here who make custom pens that most call "kit-less" pens, meaning - not from a kit. Check this forum out here at IAP: https://www.penturners.org/forums/kitless-custom-advanced-techniques.56/. Many of the kit-less pens are fountain pens, and they usually bring a higher price. There are a few companies that offer tap and die sets to make threads in the custom pens.

IF you have questions just ask on the appropriate forum.

I am familiar with Mississippi; my work moved me there for about a year to assist with a major automotive assembly plant being built... seems like 25 years ago.

I live in south Bangkok close to Samut Sakorn. Ha, yes, I am wood rich but pen kit poor. I was able to get a bunch of kits from the US amazon few years back, but just recently got time to find a lathe, chucks, etc to turn them. Luckily the 100 slimline kits I got from the US came with bushings the 7mm bit and a mandrel. I am bored with the slimlines, trimlines, and modified slimlines now but not ready for kitless fountain.

I found the kit manufacturer in China but have not decided which kit yet; they only deal in MOQ of 1000s. I am not sure there is a kit I want to make 1000 of! Seems like the pens selling the most are very large pens with "fidget features"

 

[XanderPen]

Welcome from Texas. Have you tried online from India or China?

Yes, I found a manufacturer of most pen kits last night; they are on taobao in china; the problem is they only do MOQ of 1000.

After turning about 50 slimline/trimline/modified SL; I dont know if I want to make 1000 of anything!

The slimlines do not really sell well here. I noticed most of the top selling pens were special; the measuring caliper pen/pencil is a top seller here. Large fidget pens...(l am unable to describe it well; its a large diameter pen with a bearing in the center you can twirl). That is a top seller.

The carpenters mechanical pencils are selling well. Slimlines are difficult to sell.

 

[XanderPen]

welcome Xander

most firms will ship you stuff but the postal delays and charges can be horrific. Makes us realize how lucky we are really

The difficult part is what you do not see; if you ship me something I have to go into a room at the customs house and basically buy it again from a customs officer.

 

[XanderPen]

Welcome to the forum, Xander.
Most suppliers ship world-wide though postage now is getting really expensive.

Lol.. Its not the postage. Its the corruption.

If you can figure out how an american can get a table saw from temu free shipping from china to america let me know; I have been trying to find out for 3 years now!

 

[XanderPen]

I

This is what I was thinking! @XanderPen , I will trade you kits for certain kinds of Thai wood! Haha
Aside from that offer, I have to imagine penkitsmall.com would be a reasonable option for affordable kits in the eastern hemisphere. Just a thought!

I have access to the rejects from a major manufacturer of luxury boxes made for a high dollar european watch company. I got one and it was flawless; I asked why it was rejected; the center of the burl on the bottom was off by 1.2cm.. I started buying pallets of their rejects!

I have a 40" container of exotic wood now

 

[XanderPen]

This is what I was thinking! @XanderPen , I will trade you kits for certain kinds of Thai wood! Haha
Aside from that offer, I have to imagine penkitsmall.com would be a reasonable option for affordable kits in the eastern hemisphere. Just a thought!

Find a cheap way to ship from Thailand to you and I'll ship you pallets of wood for a few boxes of (non-slimline) pen kits. Just let me know what you are looking for. I can get the rejected products from a few manufacturers; truthfully they the QC rejects are the nicest items I have ever seen in my life.... never owned a 500000€ watch

 

[Woodchipper]

Xanderpen, try to get a copy of Don Ward's book on modifying Slimline pens. Opens up a whole new world.
Edit: Would it be necessary to hold the wood in quarantine and be treated? I dealt with Asian sources for hardwood flooring. The containers were fumigated and held for so many days before released to ship. US government is getting uneasy with all the invasive plants and critters we now have.

 

[XanderPen]

Xanderpen, try to get a copy of Don Ward's book on modifying Slimline pens. Opens up a whole new world.
Edit: Would it be necessary to hold the wood in quarantine and be treated? I dealt with Asian sources for hardwood flooring. The containers were fumigated and held for so many days before released to ship. US government is getting uneasy with all the invasive plants and critters we now have.

I know the aliexpress guys get to ship semi finished products to North America without problem; they classify everything as guitar fingerboard and body blanks.

 

[leehljp]

I am familiar with Mississippi; my work moved me there for about a year to assist with a major automotive assembly plant being built... seems like 25 years ago.

25 years ago, that would have been Nissan near Jackson, MS, or could have been Toyota in Blue Springs near Tupelo, MS. I was lived in the Osaka area until 2004 and Toyota City from 2004 through 2010. You have some great pictures of some beautiful wood.

 

[XanderPen]

Xanderpen, try to get a copy of Don Ward's book on modifying Slimline pens. Opens up a whole new world.
Edit: Would it be necessary to hold the wood in quarantine and be treated? I dealt with Asian sources for hardwood flooring. The containers were fumigated and held for so many days before released to ship. US government is getting uneasy with all the invasive plants and critters we now have.

Most likely the wood has to be finshed and there are restrictions. Keep in mind; There not many critters eating the wood from this region; it is really nasty stuff...most is highly poisonous.