Pen kits quality

[gerti]

Over the time I have given away a number of pens and pencils, and kept some for myself. A number of those have failed (keep coming appart, mechanisms fail etc), but I have not made to many pens of the same type to detect a pattern. But it caused me not to make pens for a while. I'd like to start again though, so some questions?

Which pen kits do you know hold up to frequent use? What are the lemons? Any tricks to make particular kits last better?

Thanks!

[Uncle Cracker]

The kits manufactured by Berea have held up well for me. You can also get these in most Woodcraft locations (they give them different names) and online from Arizona Silhouette. You should resist the temptation to save a few bucks by getting whatever is "on sale" on Ebay or wherever, as reliability is definitely not a given.

[BigguyZ]

I've bought a lot from Woodcraft, Arizona Sillouhette, and Rockler (they have some of the CUSA kits now, more expensive then CUSA normally, but not a bad deal when they have the $15 off of $50 deal). Sierra's from all stores have been reliable for me. However, I've had an issue or two with Classic American twise pens...

[leehljp]

I was surprised at the quality of the Jr. Statesman from CSUSA. I bought the Rhodium version. I have had Barons and while they are good kits, the cap on some comes loose sorta easy, leaving the pen to drop down in the pocket and get ink on the shirt. DAMHIKT! The Jr. Statesman has a nice smooth fit on closing the cap, but there seems to be a slight indent just before it snugs up tight. This should keep it from coming loose in the pocket like the Baron does.

One thing that people do for the Baron is use an "O" ring on the nib above the threads. I am not a fan of that, but it does work.

I definitely am going to order some more Jr. Statesman kits.

[Russianwolf]

quality pen kits........ The never ending question.

I'll sum it up by where I buy the various kits and why.

Slims - come from Arizona Silhouette (Berea). Very good quality in both mechanisms and finish.
Sierra - come from www.Woodpenpro.com or Arizona Silhouette (Berea). Woodpenpro has them in Chrome/Black Ti at a very nice price, and the trim rings look better. The Gold ti/Black ti and Plat/Black ti come from Berea but are very expensive. I avoid the kits with Black Enamel now.
Cigars - Same as the Sierras, WPP or AS. The Chrome kits from AS are my favorite entry level, but the Gold ti/Black Chrome and Plat/Black Chrome from WPP gives a much richer look at a very decent price.
Euros - I've stopped offering since I've not had much success with consistent quality on them. www.laulauwood.com has a kit called the Neopean that I may try that fits into this spot.

I think that's it for ballpoints.

For fountains/rollerballs:

Baron/Sedona in Chrome from AS. Nice quality kit on the less expensive side. Only complaint is the black couplers will wear eventually showing the brass underneath.

Jr. Gent/Jr. Retro/Jr. Statesman from CSUSA (laulauwood.com has the retro in better platings) Slightly larger and heavier than the Baron/Sedona, the upscale plating kits has couplers with matching metal so less of a wear concern than the Baron/Sedona.

The other upscale kits from CSUSA. Most are even larger and heavier than the Jr.'s but the quality is nice.

The Majestic and Scepter from PSI. Only two kits I'll buy from them any more due to plating issues with the others.

That about covers it for me.

[gerti]

Thank you all! I have some pens in my future.

Any favorite pencils? I really like the finer 0.5 mm pencils, but did not find a decent mechanism yet. The one I tried was a flat convertible, but that one seems a bit heavy, the top likes to come of and the twist mechanism doesn't work all that well.

Thanks again!

[Russianwolf]

gerti, the only pencil that is smiled upon is taking a Pentel and making a wood body for it.

None of the other click style pencils work for long. The ones that use the schmidt twist mechanism are okay (Cigar, modified Sierra).

[Uncle Cracker]

+1 what Mike said about the pencils. They pretty much all suck...