Neil
Fellow
Dan, here's the kit that you kindly sent me, a gun metal and chrome sierra. Here you can see it with a burred eucalyptus midriff.
The kit is of a reasonable fit quality and the mechanism works smoothly and easily. I do not like this style of centre band, it is anemic, the depth of the pattern is not significant and there is no colour contrast to highlight the pattern. If anything the pattern makes the pen look poorer for the decoration. The quality of the plating is not brilliant, there is no depth to the finish and it does not radiate quality. The centre band is actually recessed from the body of the pen and there is a prominent edge between the two. The design of these bands is normally of a textured finish to hide the transition of the adjacent surfaces and this seems to contradict the design intent, not good.
From a design perspective, I think that the expanse of Gun Metal is wrong, firstly, although called Gun Metal, its not, its nearly black and the amount of it means that it is the dominant visual factor, and for dramatic effect the choice of woods is severely limited, the wood tends to take a back seat to the volume of the metallic finish.
I bought 100 kits in black a long while back from Woodturningz (see it here Mesa Pen Kit - Chrome - WoodTurningz) when David had a stock crisis with his Sierras and they are easily outsold by the TB kit I will celebrate shortly when the last half dozen finally go!
Dan, sorry not to be more positive about the kit, but I'd rather tell you my honest opinion than take an easy option and tell a misleading tale. I'm afraid I wouldn't buy it. The photograph may be on its side, it may be the right way up, but Photobucket is having a hissy fit at the moment and when I have time I will consign Photobucket to the technological dustbin, but in the meantime it'll have to do.
The kit is of a reasonable fit quality and the mechanism works smoothly and easily. I do not like this style of centre band, it is anemic, the depth of the pattern is not significant and there is no colour contrast to highlight the pattern. If anything the pattern makes the pen look poorer for the decoration. The quality of the plating is not brilliant, there is no depth to the finish and it does not radiate quality. The centre band is actually recessed from the body of the pen and there is a prominent edge between the two. The design of these bands is normally of a textured finish to hide the transition of the adjacent surfaces and this seems to contradict the design intent, not good.
From a design perspective, I think that the expanse of Gun Metal is wrong, firstly, although called Gun Metal, its not, its nearly black and the amount of it means that it is the dominant visual factor, and for dramatic effect the choice of woods is severely limited, the wood tends to take a back seat to the volume of the metallic finish.
I bought 100 kits in black a long while back from Woodturningz (see it here Mesa Pen Kit - Chrome - WoodTurningz) when David had a stock crisis with his Sierras and they are easily outsold by the TB kit I will celebrate shortly when the last half dozen finally go!
Dan, sorry not to be more positive about the kit, but I'd rather tell you my honest opinion than take an easy option and tell a misleading tale. I'm afraid I wouldn't buy it. The photograph may be on its side, it may be the right way up, but Photobucket is having a hissy fit at the moment and when I have time I will consign Photobucket to the technological dustbin, but in the meantime it'll have to do.
