Let's forget pen kits from China and Taiwan for a minute and think about what constitutes Quality.
Let me give you a little back ground...for 32 years I was a Test Tecnician and Test Engineer for a large corporation and product testing (which is what I was involved with) is strictly a Quality Control field. So my background is closely related to this issue.
We had to reach some decisions on what "quality" is - and in the end price did not go into the equation. Conformance to requirements (specifications) is the only issue when determining whether an item is high quality or not.
The specifications themselves should describe whether the item is (say) "good", "better" or "best" ... using automobiles as an example: If I take a Mercedes advertised and spec'd to do 150 miles an hour on the highway and a VW Beetle spec'd to do 80 mph and I test drive them both and the Mercedes dose 128 and the Beetle does 82...with respect to speed the Beetle is the higher quality car...it exceeded its spec while the Mercedes did not meet its spec. The Mercedes is still a "better" car from the standpoint of luxury but it is not a higher quality car.
The same is true of the pens you make...how much you pay for the blank has very little to do with how well you turn and finish it. You can do an outstanding job with fit and finish and still have an ugly pen and you can do a mediocre job and still have a great looking pen....which is the higher quality? Well if you put tight spec's on your fit and finish as many of you do, the ugly pen meets the spec and the beauty doesn't...the ugly pen is the higher quality, but still might be worth a lot less. Beauty sells.
Now, with pen kits....some are manufactured to sell with in a price range...and the specifications are designed to call for components that will work but still allow them to sell in the price range. So the transmissions should turn the pen in and out reliably but perhaps not as smoothly and perhaps not for as many operations as a "better" kit. If a cap is supposed to screw on and off, it should screw on and off reliably but perhaps not as smoothly as a more expensive "better" kit. The finish should look like it is supposed to look, no scratches, missing plating etc. but it may well not look as highly polished and refined as a "better" kit.
So what the turner needs to do is determine what his/her goals are..if you want to be know as a "great" pen maker who's pens sell for hundreds of dollars or you want to be considered an "artist" rather than a "craftsman"
you will probably want to choose luxury in your selection of materials. If like me you want to have a bit of fun in your shop turning a nice piece of wood into a pretty nice looking pen you will probably chose lower priced materials. Both choices make perfect sense.
Let me give you a little back ground...for 32 years I was a Test Tecnician and Test Engineer for a large corporation and product testing (which is what I was involved with) is strictly a Quality Control field. So my background is closely related to this issue.
We had to reach some decisions on what "quality" is - and in the end price did not go into the equation. Conformance to requirements (specifications) is the only issue when determining whether an item is high quality or not.
The specifications themselves should describe whether the item is (say) "good", "better" or "best" ... using automobiles as an example: If I take a Mercedes advertised and spec'd to do 150 miles an hour on the highway and a VW Beetle spec'd to do 80 mph and I test drive them both and the Mercedes dose 128 and the Beetle does 82...with respect to speed the Beetle is the higher quality car...it exceeded its spec while the Mercedes did not meet its spec. The Mercedes is still a "better" car from the standpoint of luxury but it is not a higher quality car.
The same is true of the pens you make...how much you pay for the blank has very little to do with how well you turn and finish it. You can do an outstanding job with fit and finish and still have an ugly pen and you can do a mediocre job and still have a great looking pen....which is the higher quality? Well if you put tight spec's on your fit and finish as many of you do, the ugly pen meets the spec and the beauty doesn't...the ugly pen is the higher quality, but still might be worth a lot less. Beauty sells.
Now, with pen kits....some are manufactured to sell with in a price range...and the specifications are designed to call for components that will work but still allow them to sell in the price range. So the transmissions should turn the pen in and out reliably but perhaps not as smoothly and perhaps not for as many operations as a "better" kit. If a cap is supposed to screw on and off, it should screw on and off reliably but perhaps not as smoothly as a more expensive "better" kit. The finish should look like it is supposed to look, no scratches, missing plating etc. but it may well not look as highly polished and refined as a "better" kit.
So what the turner needs to do is determine what his/her goals are..if you want to be know as a "great" pen maker who's pens sell for hundreds of dollars or you want to be considered an "artist" rather than a "craftsman"
you will probably want to choose luxury in your selection of materials. If like me you want to have a bit of fun in your shop turning a nice piece of wood into a pretty nice looking pen you will probably chose lower priced materials. Both choices make perfect sense.