Kit Suppliers

[Moondoggy]

Other than our Dan, who in the UK supplies the best quality kits?
I love Dan's kits, but I would like to try some other styles and was wondering if there is much variation in quality between the various suppliers?

 

[daveygee]

Hi Paul

If it is any help I run a shop on ebay.

User name:- Pitbull01uk or Penkitz & Bitz.

If you care to check it out and want anything, please pm me.
Let me know product and quantity and I will give you a price inc P&P.

Cheers
Daveygee

 

[Grump]

Not so much the suppliers Paul, they are all good.
Trouble is they are all restricted to buy from the same manufacturers and that is where the difference comes in.
Our Dan has done an excellent job of investigating the various manufacturers to seek out the best deals with quality at good prices.
I haven't bought a kit for god knows how long but the last ones I didbuy were from Dan and that is where my next kit purchase will be.
I am fed up with trying the others and being let down, as I say not by the supplier but the poor quality kits they supply.

 

[Neil]

The quality minefield! For the sake of brevity, heres a precis. They all come from China or Taiwan, and one very expensive one from Germany. The ones that come from China and Taiwan then all come via the UK or the USA. If they come via the USA, they are expensive because the American Revenue grab a bit of tax and then our Revenue do the same. Peoples take on quality is subjective and depends on the purpose fro which they are making pens, practice, personal use, boobytrapping for the mother in law or selling commerically. Frankly, experiment and have fun. UK importers of the USA stuff, Pencrafts.co.uk or theturnersworkshop.co.uk or the archive of poor quality and outdated kits, which is currently residing at Turners Retreat. Stiles and bates havent really got a clue about pens and isnt worth bothering about but they have some great wood. There are ebay suppliers, they tend to use one of the largest Chinese suppliers and although they come from the same company, the quality varies depending on what the kit is. Have fun and form your own opinions depending on what you want to get out of your pen turning hobby. Best of luck!

Brian got there before me! You'll end up back with Dan!

 

[silver]

The quality minefield! For the sake of brevity, heres a precis. They all come from China or Taiwan, and one very expensive one from Germany. The ones that come from China and Taiwan then all come via the UK or the USA. If they come via the USA, they are expensive because the American Revenue grab a bit of tax and then our Revenue do the same. Peoples take on quality is subjective and depends on the purpose fro which they are making pens, practice, personal use, boobytrapping for the mother in law or selling commerically. Frankly, experiment and have fun. UK importers of the USA stuff, Pencrafts.co.uk or theturnersworkshop.co.uk or the archive of poor quality and outdated kits, which is currently residing at Turners Retreat. Stiles and bates havent really got a clue about pens and isnt worth bothering about but they have some great wood. There are ebay suppliers, they tend to use one of the largest Chinese suppliers and although they come from the same company, the quality varies depending on what the kit is. Have fun and form your own opinions depending on what you want to get out of your pen turning hobby. Best of luck!

Brian got there before me! You'll end up back with Dan!

Couldn't have said it better...

No point me banging on about pen kit quality at all..I was surprised that Grump replied with a little sensitivity. .

Suppliers only stock pens that sell, the bulk of British pen turners tend to buy cheap kits so that's what allot of suppliers stock.. simple..

Until we stop buying the cheap kits then they won't stock anything else..

 

[Grump]

.I was surprised that Grump replied with a little sensitivity.

Did I? I must be slipping, this practice must cease forthwith.
It's been a hard miserable day at work so I'll use that as an excuse.
When I see a man who has been through the war wishing he was dead and with good cause in my opinion.
That makes me want to do something about the situation but my hands are tied by the system I work for.
Makes my blood boil.
The visit to the dentist after work was a pleasant experience compared to what I have seen today.

 

[wm460]

Couldn't have said it better...

No point me banging on about pen kit quality at all..I was surprised that Grump replied with a little sensitivity. .

Suppliers only stock pens that sell, the bulk of British pen turners tend to buy cheap kits so that's what allot of suppliers stock.. simple..

Until we stop buying the cheap kits then they won't stock anything else..

Cant see this happening soon there or here,

 

[Dave]

Dan is the only place I will buy kits from now. It comes down to value for money and Dan is miles ahead of anyone else in my opinion.

 

[Penpal]

Careful ommision so far is Timberbits.com who with their freight arrangements provide great value IMHO.

Peter.

 

[silver]

Careful ommision so far is Timberbits.com who with their freight arrangements provide great value IMHO.

Peter.

I purposely not mentioned any supplier specifically Peter as all kit suppliers are in it to make a living or to supplement there meager salary from their main job.

So no matter what they do they have to make a profit and sell pens.

To do that they have to have someone buy them. If they are just a few pence cheaper then many will buy them rather than think of the quality of kit they are actually getting.

Having said that, Neil has a footnote says it all.

"There is hardly anything in the world that some man cannot make a little worse and sell a little cheaper, and the people who consider price only are this man's lawful prey. (John Ruskin 1819-1900)"

 

[AllenN]

I couldn't agree more. Neil's quote from John Ruskin really hits the nail on the head. It does not just apply to pen kits. We seem to have lost appreciation of quality. Actually quality is difficult to define but that is a whole separate discussion. When I started pen making a couple of years ago, I went to some of the suppliers listed and got totally confused. They all seemed to stock the same kits but what was delivered was not always the same nor incidentaly did the 'quality' match the price. I think Neil gives a good overview of the current position. What I have received from Dan has certainly been of much better quality than most of the other suppliers and that gives me some confidence. I will no doubt try others from time to time if they have something different which I want to make, but Dan and Phil seem to be doing a great job in trying to move things forward on the pen quality front.

 

[Walter]

I purposely not mentioned any supplier specifically Peter as all kit suppliers are in it to make a living or to supplement there meager salary from their main job.

So no matter what they do they have to make a profit and sell pens.

To do that they have to have someone buy them. If they are just a few pence cheaper then many will buy them rather than think of the quality of kit they are actually getting.

Having said that, Neil has a footnote says it all.

"There is hardly anything in the world that some man cannot make a little worse and sell a little cheaper, and the people who consider price only are this man's lawful prey. (John Ruskin 1819-1900)"

Very well and subtly put Eamonn.

I agree with much of what has been said in this thread. Dan is the man in my opinion and has moved pen kit quality in this country forward.

Neil mentioned the one (expensive) German manufacturer, there is also Silver Pen Parts in the US who make solid sterling silver components. If you are really concerned about quality and not at all about price then they are options.

There was also Marksman Pens in the US who made stainless steel components but their website no longer appears to be selling anything but completed pens. This would tend to confirm the view that there is not a strong enough market for quality components to sustain a manufacturer even in the US. People want cheap so that is what you get.

 

[penfold1]

I for one can vouch for the quality of Davygee's kit's, I no longer buy from anywhere else. The item quality and delivery are next to none.

 

[Grump]

What a well mannered intelligent discussion on a very old muchly discussed sometimes heated subject.
Let's change all that and bring to the gutter init?
Not really A crack on peeps your doing a grand job.

Allen hit the point I have tried to make many times in the past and put it so nicely I feel it deserves another mention.

They all seemed to stock the same kits but what was delivered was not always the same nor incidentaly did the 'quality' match the price.

This is where our Dan and Phil have come in and actually listened to our complaints, I have grumbled and groaned for ages to the point of being an arshole about it.
Good to see some progress from that long moan init?

 

[Walter]

What a well mannered intelligent discussion on a very old muchly discussed sometimes heated subject.

I think that is down to the fact that most of us are now in agreement that, as Allen said and with the notable exceptions mentioned, kit quality varies little between suppliers and bears little correlation to price.

 

[Grump]

And to reiterate comments on suppliers all this about who's kits are best or who gives the quickest service.
Name who you like it boils down to the fact that they are all as good as the manufacturer and as bad as the manufacturer.
Your chosen supplier is your first and should be only point of contact for complaints but they can only sell what they are supplied.
The few places that make our kits have all been mentioned but there are many suppliers and before it turns into a who's who as it always does.

The reason I name and think Dan deserves a special mention is because we and probably me more than most gave him a rough ride when he first appeared here.
I tried to frighten him off thinking just another person coming on to sell his wares, Dan proved me wrong he has listened and taken notice, he researches before acting.
Consults us, the customer before development he alone is trying to make the difference I have long campaigned for, in my opinion that young lad deserves to go far and deserves our custom, he has earned it.
Any idiot can stick a few kits in an envelope and give em to his wife to post and call himself a supplier but to put up with my shit and still be here gets my vote.

 

[Walter]

Ed Street tells me that Lazerlinez have bought out Marksman and are selling their US made kits.

Lazerlinez: Pen Inlay Kits