PrivatePens
Member
My 2 cents -- and with the value of the dollar - that should be worth about .0001 ---
Johnny has the CNC machine. He can make parts for all of us!!!
Johnny has the CNC machine. He can make parts for all of us!!!
Who Really Makes Our Pen Kits???
- Thread starter Randy_
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Randy_
Member
Some of you folks give me way too much credit and other not nearly enough.
The primary point of my starting this thread was money. But curiosity was a factor as well as the hope that some of the confusion and misinformation floating around in the pencrafting community might be resolved.
The main impetus for starting this thread was the simple question on my part of whether the Gatsby pen kit at $9.00 from PSI was a better choice that the similarly plated Sierra from AS for $16.00. if both kits were made by the same company, chances are the cheaper kit would be the better deal. If the kits were made by different companies, the possibility of that quality differences existed that might justify the price differential. And that is exactly what was pointed out in Rudy's post below.
From my original post:
Prophetic.......there certainly has been a lot of interesting and useful information posted and the details of who manufactures what has certainly been clarified. Thanks.
The primary point of my starting this thread was money. But curiosity was a factor as well as the hope that some of the confusion and misinformation floating around in the pencrafting community might be resolved.
The main impetus for starting this thread was the simple question on my part of whether the Gatsby pen kit at $9.00 from PSI was a better choice that the similarly plated Sierra from AS for $16.00. if both kits were made by the same company, chances are the cheaper kit would be the better deal. If the kits were made by different companies, the possibility of that quality differences existed that might justify the price differential. And that is exactly what was pointed out in Rudy's post below.
From my original post:
Prophetic.......there certainly has been a lot of interesting and useful information posted and the details of who manufactures what has certainly been clarified. Thanks.
Rojo22
Local Chapter Leader
I have learned a bunch from this thread. I now know that the Keebler elves, originally from Pittsburgh have moved to either Taiwan, or China and are manufacturing pen kits in small cottages...Its a small world after all.....
TellicoTurning
Member
In my previous life, I did regular exports to various Chinese companies.. fortunately, I was dealing with my local customer, a Chinese national who had become an American citizen, but still traveled to China regularly to handle his business... even he had trouble sometimes knowing exactly who he was dealing with... one of his favorite express was " F------ Chinese, it's like a Chinese fire drill over there."
So much of the export and import business is under government sactions and entities, we probably will never know who actually sits at a machine and manufactures a particular part. Business names often tended to be two lines long.
So much of the export and import business is under government sactions and entities, we probably will never know who actually sits at a machine and manufactures a particular part. Business names often tended to be two lines long.
DocStram
Member
William, my friend, some of our best threads are the ones with no point.
DocStram
Member
Originally posted by Mudder
Originally posted by DocStram
<center>How about them Pirates!!!
As of this morning Al, the Pirates are in bad shape. 12 wins, 19 losses, 8 games behind. [
Mudder .... it's the usual sad state of affairs for the Bucs. [V]
Randy_
Member
Hey "Cav", you are one of the masters of pointless posts here at IAP. Hardly seems like you should need any help from Al in understanding the concept
wdcav1952
Activities Manager Emeritus
LOL,
Actually, Randy, I consider you far out of my league when it comes to pointless posts!
Actually, Randy, I consider you far out of my league when it comes to pointless posts!
GaryMGg
Member
Y'all are wayyyyy off point; the real question should be "Who's making the polybags?!?!?" That's the guy making all the real money [)][][]
[)][][]
jcollazo
Member
Originally posted by GaryMGg
Y'all are wayyyyy off point; the real question should be "Who's making the polybags?!?!?" That's the guy making all the real money
Probably the same guy who makes all those oil barrels the Arabs sell
M
Mudder
Guest
Originally posted by Randy_
Hey "Cav", you are one of the masters of pointless posts here at IAP. Hardly seems like you should need any help from Al in understanding the concept
Originally posted by wdcav1952
LOL,
Actually, Randy, I consider you far out of my league when it comes to pointless posts!
Is there a point to all of this or are we just padding our post counts? [:0]
alamocdc
Member
They're trying to catch me.[}
]Turning Around
Member
I'm late to this thread but very interested in the topic so please bear with me.
As a UK member I do my best to avoid buying anything made in China. Quality is poor and politically their human rights record is appalling . We pen turning enthusiasts should do our best to encourage manufacture to a high standard in the USA and Europe. If we make a big enough noise someone will eventually take note.
penicillin
Member
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Since this thread was resurrected, I want to add a comment. I buy pen kits at the local Rockler to save on shipping. It is my belief that the pen kits sold by Rockler come from multiple sources.
Here is one example:
Rockler sells various "Manhattan" and "Gatsby" pen kits. They look nearly identical in appearance, but their twist mechanisms are different, and Rockler sells spare pen tubes for each pen kit as separate items:
https://www.rockler.com/manhattan-pen-tubes-5-pack
https://www.rockler.com/replacement-tubes-for-gatsby-pen-kits-2-pack
At the time, the Manhattan tubes were far less expensive than their current price and the individual tube price was lower, so I bought the five-pack of Manhattan tubes expecting to use them on both Manhattan and Gatsby kits in case of a blow-up or other pre-assembly failure.
The pen tubes for the two kits appear to be identical, and I didn't worry about mixing them up. In actual fact, they are extremely close, but not quite the same, which I discovered on pen assembly. When I assembled a Gatsby pen with a Manhattan tube, everything was fine, except that the pen kit parts were loose enough that I could press them in with my hands. A couple drops of CA fixed that pen, but I learned a valuable lesson. It is my belief that the Manhattan and Gatsby pen kits sold by Rockler come from two different factories.
Here is one example:
Rockler sells various "Manhattan" and "Gatsby" pen kits. They look nearly identical in appearance, but their twist mechanisms are different, and Rockler sells spare pen tubes for each pen kit as separate items:
https://www.rockler.com/manhattan-pen-tubes-5-pack
https://www.rockler.com/replacement-tubes-for-gatsby-pen-kits-2-pack
At the time, the Manhattan tubes were far less expensive than their current price and the individual tube price was lower, so I bought the five-pack of Manhattan tubes expecting to use them on both Manhattan and Gatsby kits in case of a blow-up or other pre-assembly failure.
The pen tubes for the two kits appear to be identical, and I didn't worry about mixing them up. In actual fact, they are extremely close, but not quite the same, which I discovered on pen assembly. When I assembled a Gatsby pen with a Manhattan tube, everything was fine, except that the pen kit parts were loose enough that I could press them in with my hands. A couple drops of CA fixed that pen, but I learned a valuable lesson. It is my belief that the Manhattan and Gatsby pen kits sold by Rockler come from two different factories.
jttheclockman
Member
I should say resurrected. 13 years ago. So much has changed. Would be better to start a new thread if interested. There also have been threads on this topic since this one. Many new players as vendors but where they get them may be hard to find.
Wow, blast from the past - lots of names I haven't seen in a long time! That being said, given that it's been a decade-and-a-half since the last post, I'm going to lock this thread. Please feel free to start a new one!
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