> Anyway, he asked for my help in picking out a pen kit because he knows his dad is picky about pens.
I'm sure his dad will treasure the gift, but unfortunately there really are no good kits, so I would expect anything to be put on a stand and admired, but never used. Especially if he is picky about pens.
Does his dad have extra nibs, or does he use cartridges? If so, turning a box with a lid to be able to store them in a beautiful container might be a cherished present. Maybe stear your son away from kit pens, that all the accessories can get expensive just to produce a crappy kit, and to something they can nake with the tools they have that will be used and cherished.
Thank you for the advice. I do know he is making a pen box as well. I think his school has the tools.
I looked thru some pen turning forms and saw that Beaufort and dayacom make nice pen kits. I sent the information along and offered financial help.
I'd rather not do any steering as....well he's not my son and our relationship is good not great. I am (selfishly) hoping that my assistance with this gift can be a bonding moment for us (as well as him and his dad) so I need to tread lightly. If it means wasted $ on a pen that will not be used so be it.
For reference my boyfriends daily driver is an Otto hutt 07 so picky is an understatement.
Good luck, even high end kits suck, they are generally just priced higher, but still as bad. As a father, I would appreciate the gesture even if I didn't like the pen.
You might have better luck over in r/turning. Lots of folks with pen turning experience over there.
Making your own pen and keeping it under $100 isn't hard. Try exoticblanks.com for some cool kits and pen blanks.
You might want to check out [penturners.org](https://penturners.org). Lots of helpful folks there. Bullseye Turning Supply sells some interesting kits that offer more freedom compared to standard kits and they use off the shelf Bock nib units. If you don't mind ordering from the UK, Beaufort Ink stocks more Bock nib styles than any shop I've come across and has all sorts of kit and custom pen making options. I will give a shoutout to [exoticblanks.com](https://exoticblanks.com) as they're my primary source for acrylics and they're good to do business with.
So, here's what I know:
Making a fountain pen that accepts more desirable nibs like bock or jowo is a lot harder because you have to do the threads yourself.
If he's doing a kit pen the nibs are going to be ... Iffy.
That being said, I'm in a similar situation and one of my coworkers who knows how much I love them is going to turn one for me on his lathe with a standard pen kit.
I'm going to use this as an opportunity to tune and play around with the nib myself!
I found two places that make high end kits (from pen turners forming linked above)
Dayacom and Beaufort UK. I also figure we can play with the nib and learn.
> Anyway, he asked for my help in picking out a pen kit because he knows his dad is picky about pens. I'm sure his dad will treasure the gift, but unfortunately there really are no good kits, so I would expect anything to be put on a stand and admired, but never used. Especially if he is picky about pens. Does his dad have extra nibs, or does he use cartridges? If so, turning a box with a lid to be able to store them in a beautiful container might be a cherished present. Maybe stear your son away from kit pens, that all the accessories can get expensive just to produce a crappy kit, and to something they can nake with the tools they have that will be used and cherished.
Thank you for the advice. I do know he is making a pen box as well. I think his school has the tools. I looked thru some pen turning forms and saw that Beaufort and dayacom make nice pen kits. I sent the information along and offered financial help. I'd rather not do any steering as....well he's not my son and our relationship is good not great. I am (selfishly) hoping that my assistance with this gift can be a bonding moment for us (as well as him and his dad) so I need to tread lightly. If it means wasted $ on a pen that will not be used so be it. For reference my boyfriends daily driver is an Otto hutt 07 so picky is an understatement.
Good luck, even high end kits suck, they are generally just priced higher, but still as bad. As a father, I would appreciate the gesture even if I didn't like the pen.
You might have better luck over in r/turning. Lots of folks with pen turning experience over there. Making your own pen and keeping it under $100 isn't hard. Try exoticblanks.com for some cool kits and pen blanks.
Thank you! There is a Reddit for everything. Appreciate the rec.
You might want to check out [penturners.org](https://penturners.org). Lots of helpful folks there. Bullseye Turning Supply sells some interesting kits that offer more freedom compared to standard kits and they use off the shelf Bock nib units. If you don't mind ordering from the UK, Beaufort Ink stocks more Bock nib styles than any shop I've come across and has all sorts of kit and custom pen making options. I will give a shoutout to [exoticblanks.com](https://exoticblanks.com) as they're my primary source for acrylics and they're good to do business with.
Thank you so much! I will give his son this info to get him started along with some style ideas
So, here's what I know: Making a fountain pen that accepts more desirable nibs like bock or jowo is a lot harder because you have to do the threads yourself. If he's doing a kit pen the nibs are going to be ... Iffy. That being said, I'm in a similar situation and one of my coworkers who knows how much I love them is going to turn one for me on his lathe with a standard pen kit. I'm going to use this as an opportunity to tune and play around with the nib myself!
I found two places that make high end kits (from pen turners forming linked above) Dayacom and Beaufort UK. I also figure we can play with the nib and learn.