Newbie Question

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hazmat74

Member
Joined
Jun 20, 2013
Messages
99
Location
Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, USA
What are some good pen kits to start with? The majority of my first pens(assuming I can complete them without massive failures!) will be give-aways to friends and stuff I'll use at my job, so I'm not concerned with top-of-the-line right now(and maybe that's not good thinking?). I'm mostly concerned with getting comfortable with turning wood and fitting/finishing the pens properly. Any suggestions? I have a mess of free wood, so at least that outlay is covered.
 
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Start with Sierra/Gatsby/Wall Street II or Slimline kits. They are good kits to hone your skills on. The former is a single tube kit, while the latter will help you synchronize the sizing of two tubes.

Good luck and welcome to the party.
 
Excellent! Thank you. The Gatsby and Wall Streets are attractive pens. I've been reading a bit of bad publicity on the Slimline kits. Is this typical or something most pen makers start feeling as the move along in the craft?
 
I started with slimlines because of low cost. I keep about 15-20 of these made up of reclaimed wood for give away pens and freebies. Not counting my time I have about $1.75 into them and lots of practice and learning.

Just my $.02
 
Thanks. I was planning on starting with Slimline and a single barrel model, so between the two comments, I'm feeling more comfortable about the plunge I'll soon be taking. I have all I need to start turning, but need to get some finishing products. I suppose I could use my pipe finishing products, but as pens are meant to be used in the hand, I don't believe carnauba wax will hold up very long.
 
I like slim lines and keep some on hand. Great and cheap for learning. They can also be made fancy and beautiful as you progress. The hardware is also good it you ever want to make a few cartridge pens.
 
I say start with slimline pens (or Trimlines from PSI). What you need right now is experience. You can pickup slimline kits for dirt cheap to practice on. In my case, after a few slimlines, I was bored with those kits and my experience level was such that I was ready to move up to a better kit anyways. Good luck and post up pics when you get going.
 
If you want some good looking kits without having to fall into the slimline vortex have a look at the Youth Contest that is running right now, these kids are turning out some awesome pens and several different styles.
 
I'm going to be getting a few kits, so I'll toss a cigar in there when I'm picking out what I want.

@Serenity... how do I find the Youth Contest? I've looked about the forum but am not finding it.
 
hazmat74 said:
I'm going to be getting a few kits, so I'll toss a cigar in there when I'm picking out what I want.

@Serenity... how do I find the Youth Contest? I've looked about the forum but am not finding it.
Click to expand...

Go to "casual conversation" in the forums and scroll down a bit.
 
Kits

The easiest kits to turn are the single barrel Sierra/Gatsby/Le Roi/WallStreet/Aero/Mesa etc. They also allow you to get two pens from one 5 inch blank. Slimlines are a little harder to turn but give you a lot of versitility in turning different shapes on the barrels. Cigars are not bad but they are a little touchy as far as the tube length is concerned. For the finish I'd start with Chrome -often the lowest price, it's in the top 3 or 4 finishes for durability and makes a good looking pen.
 
Although I agree with most of the suggestions, I think a slimline is a little harder than some of the others. The reason is the size. I find it easier to work with a jr gent I than a slimline. Yes, it's twice the cost, but it's a little more forgiving. You don't have to worry about how far to press in a transmission. And I think it's easier to press the larger pieces with less chance of cracking due to things being misaligned.

Don't get me wrong, I really like slimlines, and they are fine for starting out. I was just giving another option.
 
I'd also vote for the single tube like the Sierra style. People like them, they are easy to make and getting 2 pens out of one blank is a real plus, especially when you get a little better and want to get nicer blanks. You can justify spending more on a real nice blank when you know you can make 2 pens from it.

Jeff in northern Wisconsin
 
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