Pen kit plating quality

[CHJ]

What are peoples experience with pen kits and durability of plating finish.

How much reliance can be placed on the so called premium grade gold plating.

Are there any other platings , silver, titanium, chrome, whatever that have shown problems or found to be long lasting?

I have requests to produce more kits but knowing the intended destination I am concerned that 12months down the line they are not going to look their best.

 

[aurrida]

gold generally is not so hard wearing and will rub off. go for titanium gold minimum. stay clear of the rest particularly if selling to public and offering guarantees.

silver, good but not as good as chrome, platinum, rhodium, titanium all hard wearing. have seen pitting in platinum and rhodium platting.

safe with Ti gold, Black ti, Rhodium, and chrome.

i personally stick to using craft supplies usa, arizona silouhette, and those that re- sell their kits.

 

[stevebuk]

hi chas
i think its the old adage, 'you get what you pay for' . Not been turning long enough to know how long the plating lasts, although that said, dont offer any sort of guarantee with pens that are low budget, as aurrida says, the TI range and rhodium are the way to go, but are not cheap, and its getting people to part with cash that makes these out of range for me as yet, although i would love to buy some.
Where do you normally buy your kits Chas, i have only bought from ebay so far, and some on there are not cheap either..

 

[Paul.J]

Sorry Chas can't help with this one,as i have only recently been turning pens,though swmbo does use hers most the time and it still seems good.
Got all my kits from Axminster,except for a batch of 20 i bought off Ebay which seemed the same quality,just hard to tell good from bad :?

Edit-
Forgot to say that all the ones (few) that i've made have been the cheaper 24ct gold plated ones.
And i used to work with a plater and not all went well all the time :shock: so i suppose with all these thousands upon thousand of kits been made there are bound to be some that don't plate too well,but how you can tell when you get them is anyones guess.

 

[aurrida]

hey, good to see a few more pen makers here.

 

[Wanlock Dod]

Hi Chas,

My experiences are limited, and I'm afraid that both times I've bought a bag of 10 pen kits which as far as I can recall had no brand name or other identifier of their origin. The first lot were from Turners Retreat (their stand at a show). Those that remain still don't seem to be too bad. More recently I got some from my "local" woodturning shop (Just Wood in Ayr), I think they were a bit cheaper but seem a bit rubbish once used (and they're not yet old enough to worry about the plating ).

In conclusion, I've no idea where you'll get genuinely good quality ones from. Craft supplies would appear to sell dozens of styles, but quite how you can tell which ones are good, or otherwise, I'm not so sure. I don't recall ever seeing any reference to titanium or rhodium in relation to pen kits (but then maybe I wasn't looking).

Appologies for ranting on without being much help

Dod

 

[jpt]

As aurrida said the standard cheap finishes do wear fairly quickly and you are better of paying a bit more for the better finishes.

I buy mine from craft supplies, Turners retreat and the pen kit company http://www.penkits.co.uk/index.html

john

 

[greggy]

hi chas, as aurrida as said i dont use gold unless its titanium gold,i use chrome, black titanium , rhodium etc... and i get my kits from the states or give turners retreat a ring cos he has just got some new high end kits in. but the are not cheap. up to £30.00


well i did say they werent cheap.

 

[CHJ]

Thanks for the input so far, thoughts, findings and the same reservations that I was/am having, coming to the conclusion that for special orders I might just point requester to the kit options and marry whatever they get to their wood of choice.

Soon as I can get some browsing time allocated I will spend it going over the links provided on Steves thread by Paul.J and Argee for forums etc.

As aurrida said the standard cheap finishes do wear fairly quickly and you are better of paying a bit more for the better finishes.

By paying a bit more John how high up the asking price do you find you need to go to ensure durability. £3 - 5 - 8 - 12 - 20 per kit?

I buy mine from craft supplies, Turners retreat and the pen kit company http://www.penkits.co.uk/index.html
john

Likewise + Axminster and a couple of others I can't remember, and have been buying in the £3-5 bracket (per kit) but nowhere do you see product description that isn't written with a pinch of legal marketing savvy, most frustrating.

Wish I still had access to my last workshops Brush Plating facility, they could all have had a Rhodium or Platinum once over as part of the daily quality control run. :lol:

 

[stevebuk]

hi chas
why dont you hop over to:
http://www.penmaker.co.uk/
and join us in the UKAP, uk assosiated penturners.
I am a member there and will acknowledge your application. We are meeting on 10th May at turners retreat , then for a few beers and a meal Sat night at the angel.
i will tell mark(founder) you may be applying.
let me know..

 

[jpt]

HI Chas I have found that for plating that lasts prices start around the £5 mark but it depends where you get them from.

The type of plating, as mentioned above, are the ones to go for, but as you say they are all covered by legal disclaimers over how long the plating will last before showing signs of wear etc.

Many years ago I used to work for a imitation jewelry manufacturer and I used to do all the testing of solutions. As you say a little while in the plating shop would give me pens you could guarantee for years.

john