# Pen Turners, Where's the Good Stuff?



## TedW (May 6, 2012)

I've been turning pens for a few months now and really enjoy it. I get most of my kits from Penn State Industries and I find the quality to be okay for their prices, but I'm guessing there is better quality kits and/or components out there. Any suggestions? Thanks.


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## firefighterontheside (Apr 26, 2013)

Ted, have you searched pen kit on Amazon? I just did and turned up a bunch of stuff. The Good Stuff, I don't know, but there's a lot there.


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## DIYaholic (Jan 28, 2011)

Great question….
I'll be following.

Ted,
How dare you post a question & not stop by "The Stumpy Thread" first!!!


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## TedW (May 6, 2012)

I just now looked, Bill. It's pretty much the same kits everyone else sells. I'm hoping to find some German made precision engineered…. not sure where I'm going with that, but you get the idea. The good stuff!


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## TedW (May 6, 2012)

Randy, I did stop by but I was hiding from you. Well…. trying to. You done found me.


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## firefighterontheside (Apr 26, 2013)

Good luck. That's all I got.


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## Sodabowski (Aug 23, 2010)

Ted, did you check out Bear Tooth Woods? Ernie and Robin are nice folks, I got all my kits from them.


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## Woodbum (Jan 3, 2010)

Try the IAP site: International Association of Pen Turners. There are some options and information there.

http://www.penturners.org/


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## TedW (May 6, 2012)

Thomas, thanks for the tip. I knew they sold pen kits but always assumed it was just a little side thing they did, so never thought to take a look. All I can say is Wow! That's quite a selection they have there. I'm checking their inventory now.

What I've been noticing about the quality of the pens I've made, so far, is with the twist mechanism and the ink cartridge. As for the ink cartridge, it appears low quality is the standard - pen kits come with Parker "Style" or Cross "Style" cartridges, meaning they are not genuine Parker or Cross but rather, cheap knock-offs. Of course, the solution to that is to replace them with their genuine counterparts.

So that boils down to the twist mechanism. I notice many of them have a slight "grinding" feel to them, and some seem to be too easy to turn, like they have no glide to them. Does that make sense? Anyway, I figure better quality pens would come with better quality twist mechanisms.


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## Kentuk55 (Sep 21, 2010)

I think they all come from the same place….just my opinion


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## gtbuzz (Sep 19, 2011)

I've only purchased some accessories from this guy in the past:

http://www.woodpenpro.com/

So I can't speak directly to the quality, but the higher end kits do look different than what PSI carries and seem to be pretty nice.

Craft Supplies USA also sells a variety of pens that's different than PSI:

https://www.woodturnerscatalog.com/

I kind of get the feeling that the quality is about on par though. Just a guess, not speaking from experience there.

I think I have to agree with your assessment of PSI kits. Decent for the most part, but the transmission definitely leaves a lot to be desired. The Cross "style" refills are definitely junk. It's a night and day difference when you replace it with actual Cross refills. I've had better luck with their Parker "style" refills, but there's the occasional dud every now and then too. I've taken to the habit of just chucking out the ink that comes with the kits and using genuine refills, especially when they're given as gifts.

If you happen to find out some better sources, please do keep this thread updated… I've often wondered the same thing myself.


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## WoodNSawdust (Mar 7, 2015)

I have always had good luck with Arizona Silhouette and the owner Berry Gross is a professional pen turner. But definitely not the cheapest.


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## ArlinEastman (May 22, 2011)

OK Ted

You asked for them

http://woodpenpro.com/pen_kits/0014_cigar_pen_black_titanium.html

https://www.woodturnerscatalog.com/

http://www.hutproducts.com/

http://woodpenpro.com/pen_kits/0024_pacifica_fisher_2-tone.html

http://www.packardwoodworks.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Store_Code=packard

These are my favorites

http://thegoldennib.com/

http://www.woodnwhimsies.com/

http://woodturningz.com/Pen_Kits.html

I used to go to Arizona Silhouette before they sold it to Berry Gross but his changes and prices I did not like so I stopped buying from them.

Hope you can find use of them


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## moke (Oct 19, 2010)

Has anyone mentioned Berea Hardwoods…...Chefworks.com….exoticblanks.com….bottlestopperkits.com…..
......smittyspenworks.com yet?
All have different and cool stuff
Mike


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## TedW (May 6, 2012)

Thanks for all the great links, everybody. I haven't had time to look through them yet, as I've been working overtime lately at my pays-the-bills job. I'll revisit this topic this weekend and check out all the sites.


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## DGunn (Feb 14, 2008)

One big question is, what type of kits do you usually get?

One of my favorite places to order from is Exotic Blanks. It is run by a guy that posts a lot on Penturners.org. They have some nice quality kits and they also carry the PSI lines.

Refill upgrades are available and not really expensive. And they make a huge difference in the quality/value of the pen.


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## brian55 (Aug 2, 2008)

I have found Berea kits a notch or two above the others available.


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## TedW (May 6, 2012)

The job that's been taking all my time (repairing walls after a basement flood) is finally completed…. whew! So now I can get my focus back to this topic.

dlgWoodWork, I've been getting PSI kits and the ones I've been having the most trouble with are slimline, funline and other "cheap" kits. I know, I know…. it was absurd that I would expect decent quality from these selections. Lesson learned!

I still haven't had a chance to shop and compare, but I see Bear Tooth Woods sells exclusively Berea kits with the one exception of their own Vail kit, and it appears their prices are slightly lower than Berea's own prices.

I've yet to explore the many other links you good folks provided. I have about 20 kits that still need turned and want to get my website up and running. Then I can take some time to shop around and see what else is out there.

Have a fantastic Sunday, everybody. And thanks for all the links.


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## Sodabowski (Aug 23, 2010)

Ted the slimlines from Bear Tooth Woods are very good quality, I almost only get those ones now, I've grown tired of the Designer style.


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## TedW (May 6, 2012)

Thanks for the tip, Thomas. I'll be sure to order a few and try them out.


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