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QUALITY and the last pen.

S

sulla

Apprentice Member
Joined
May 12, 2023
Posts
4
Location
northwest UK
First Name
Ken
I posted recently about the stupidity of not checking for missing components before investing time in a piece of work.
BUT this time, all components were checked, but in the small print of the instructions was the statement "Occasionally you will encounter parts that are loose fitting. This can be corrected by a SMALL spot of glue....."
Loose fitting in this case was like a sausage in the Mersey Tunnel and small amounts of glue needed to fill the gaps on ALL mating surfaces was HUGE. The result a sticky unusable mass. What was sold as a press together kit was in fact glue everything together. More waste of time and material.

In the first case the supplier had not updated the instructions, I was apparently supposed to ring for instructions. In the second case, as far a I can see the tubes are far too small for all the components. Sloppy manufacture of kits and failure to update product documentation are both clear signs poor quality of service and materials.

I like a challenge, a technical problem worth solving is a jewel for the mind. Sloppy suppliers are just a waste of my precious time - I resent that.

No more pen kits for me.
 
silver

silver

General dogsbody
Executive Member
Joined
Jun 29, 2013
Posts
6,304
Location
Somewhere in Staffordshire,
First Name
Eamonn.
@sulla
It would be worth sharing your experience with the supplier and if you don’t get any help then please share on here. It’s not a place to air your dirty washing but if you have purchased the said kits in good favour then you should be able to say at least who the supplier is and what the problems are.
Photos are really helpful to us old people on here, as it says a 1000 words, many can even spot who the lot was manufactured from and who the suppliers are.

I appreciate you say “no pen kits anymore” but please don’t accept that this is what all the pen kit suppliers are like, there are many a very good supplier of quality kits, but there are some .com sites that are not what they seem.

It’s really helpful for us to understand the situation more with what we see and what we hear direct from the end user.
Being the end user is what we stand for on here and many kit suppliers have used this forum to develop their kits and bring them to market.

Hope it hadn’t put you off totally, again if you are close by a forum member then maybe one of us could meet up with you and see first hand what the issue is, we are a really helpful bunch and like to make sure we all succeed in what we do best,
 
alpha1

alpha1

Fellow
Joined
Mar 29, 2018
Posts
1,181
Location
middlesbrough
First Name
Dave
I have been purchasing kits from UK suppliers for several years with out any issues at all. In all that time I have one kit that failed I just don't buy that kit anymore.
 
alpha1

alpha1

Fellow
Joined
Mar 29, 2018
Posts
1,181
Location
middlesbrough
First Name
Dave
May be we could have a poll of peoples favoutite suppliers.

I get my pen kits from:
Beufort Ink. They are all good quality never had an issue.
Taylors Mirifield. They are all good quality only ever had a issue with one kit that I dont buy anymore.
Axminster tools North Shields I have run up there about once a month and stock up.
Prokraft his stuff is just a little bit different.

I have never turned a slimline or a streamline so I have no idea how they are turned.

I get my pen blanks from:
Pam Harris
Turners workshop
Beufort Ink
Pen Blanks and Moulds
My son

I have sold gifted given away lots and lots of pens from these suppliers I have never had one come back with a problem except to change a ink cartridge.
 
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