I give hand-turned pens to customers as a small thank-you for a contract. They love them.
However, I have found that the quality of the kits themselves leaves something to be desired. I have tried Rockler and Woodturner’s Catalog kits and found them both to be poor in their mechanics. The bushings are the wrong diameters, the twist mechanisms are shoddy.
Does anyone know of a high-quality source for pen kits? It is embarassing to ask a customer how a pen is performing, only to find out that it is broken.
Thanks!
Dave
I am a great woodworker! I still have 10 fingers. Oops! Nine.
Replies
Hi,
I've made better than a dozen pen and pencil sets of various styles from the Woodcraft kits and found them to be pretty easy to make and the machanical works to be of good to very good quality. They all worked nicely the first time, went together easily, (I use my drill press to press the parts together) and everything fits as it should. The bushings are all the proper size and if you are careful to match your turnings to their diameter the pen or pencil parts match perfectly. Hope this helps.
Ron
Many thanks, Swede. I'll check them out.I am a great woodworker! I still have 10 fingers. Oops! Nine.
I have found the kits from woodturnerscatalog.com to be of better quality than the ones you have mentioned. here's a link
http://www.woodturnerscatalog.com/catalog/pen_kits.html
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