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The best kits are the Emperor and Jr Emperor, the imperial and the lotus from CSUSA and the Majestic and majestic Jr. from Penn State Industries. I also think the Gent, Jr. Gent and retro from CSUSA are very good kits. You can tell by the prices which platings are the best.
 
Chrome is the best finish if you're budget-conscious...of all the low-end finishes, it lasts the longest..

Of the fancy finishes, black titanium, platinum, and rhodium are all long-wearing and upper-eschelon. Don't confuse gun metal for black titanium - gun metal does not last.

Gold platings wear off very quickly, with the exception of titanium gold (which is titanium nitride - same plating as on drill bits, I believe)...

Copper looks great, but being a soft metal, won't last as long as the upper-echelon finishes.

Hope that helps! The chrome series is my series of choice, as I cannot afford the higher-end platings. Chrome comes on some fancy kits too, like the Baron.
 
aggromere said:
You can tell by the prices which platings are the best.
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I wouldn't always go by that.

You are pretty safe using any of the titanium or the platinum kits. I would personally avoid anything that is 24kt as that is too soft for me. The chrome kits are pretty durable. If you ask 20 people, you will get 20 different opinions. I tend to buy mostly CSUSA and Berea kits as I have found them to work best for me.
I don't know what your pen turning abilities are, but if you are new, I would suggest not buyig high end kits yet. Practice for a while, whatever you make now is probably not going to be what you would accept as a final result in a year. Take your time, practice and enjoy yourself, that's what is supposed to be about.
 
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wolftat said:
I wouldn't always go by that.

You are pretty safe using any of the titanium or the platinum kits. I would personally avoid anything that is 24kt as that is too soft for me. The chrome kits are pretty durable. If you ask 20 people, you will get 20 different opinions. I tend to buy mostly CSUSA and Berea kits as I have found them to work best for me.
I don't know what your pen turning abilities are, but if you are new, I would suggest not buyig high end kits yet. Practice for a while, whatever you make now is probably not going to be what you would accept as a final result in a year. Take your time, practice and enjoy yourself, that's what is supposed to be about.
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Man you said a mouth full.If just starting up try www.woodturningz.com.You can get anything that PennState sell's.AT WHOLESALE
 
Also, www.woodnwhimsies.com have decent prices and same PSI kits for less than PSI prices. They also have a few other kits PSI doesn't have.

Bear Tooth Woods is another great place for pen kits.
 
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