# Woodcraft's Survival pen



## ripjack13 (Mar 29, 2017)

I'm not impressed. The kits parts fit together loose. So I had to glue em to keep from pulling apart. The cap screws onto either end with too many twists. The finish scratches very easily, and that makes a problem when you're sliding the cap on or off. I haven't tried the ferro rod tip yet. I should though, just to see if it works. 
I do like the looks of it and it is pretty heavy. But that's all I like about it. I only bought 2 kits. I'll make the other one and return the bushings. 
Here's what it looks like in desert ironwood....

Reactions: Informative 1


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## Don Ratcliff (Mar 29, 2017)

It looks cool, to bad it isn't what you wanted it to be.

Reactions: Thank You! 1


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## Blueglass (Mar 29, 2017)

Bummer on the quality. It does look sleek enough to get blood, hair and teeth off pretty easily.

Reactions: Thank You! 1


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## Tony (Mar 29, 2017)

@Bean_counter

Reactions: Like 1


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## Bean_counter (Mar 29, 2017)

That sucks. Tony and I were looking for it at woodcraft. Glad we didn't find it


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## rocky1 (Mar 29, 2017)

Nice job on it, but it sure doesn't like it's worth all the aggravation.

Reactions: Like 1


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## rdabpenman (Mar 30, 2017)

Well  turned and finished piece of timber.

Les


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## ripjack13 (Mar 30, 2017)

Bean_counter said:


> That sucks. Tony and I were looking for it at woodcraft. Glad we didn't find it



That's just one clowns opinion. Look it over if you can. I'm wondering if it's just me being too critical....


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## Alan Sweet (Mar 30, 2017)

Woodcraft is just a premium reseller of others products. I have always considered their mark-up to be high. But, I am surprised that they let something with quality problems slide through.

Reactions: Like 1


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## Tony (Mar 30, 2017)

ripjack13 said:


> That's just one clowns opinion. Look it over if you can. I'm wondering if it's just me being too critical....



Heck Marc, we were 2 clowns that couldn't even find the stupid thing!

Reactions: Agree 1 | Funny 2


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## ripjack13 (Mar 30, 2017)

Alan Sweet said:


> Woodcraft is just a premium reseller of others products. I have always considered their mark-up to be high. But, I am surprised that they let something with quality problems slide through.



$19.99 a pop for the kit! 

I'm going to turn the other one today or tomorrow....


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## ripjack13 (Mar 30, 2017)

Tony said:


> Heck Marc, we were 2 clowns that couldn't even find the stupid thing!



Did you ask? I had to....they actually only had 3 that they were restocking and one set of bushings. I took 2 and the bushings....

Reactions: Informative 1


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## Tony (Mar 30, 2017)

ripjack13 said:


> Did you ask? I had to....they actually only had 3 that they were restocking and one set of bushings. I took 2 and the bushings....



 no.......

Reactions: Like 1


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## ripjack13 (Mar 30, 2017)

I put the pen in my side pocket of my jeans. The clip just snapped off....WTH!!!!!


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## duncsuss (Mar 30, 2017)

Marc, I think that just about seals it.

Personally, I don't like the way it looks anyway, so I wasn't about to make any of them -- but until I saw this, I wouldn't argue with people who do like them or want to make them. A "survival tool" that can't even survive being pushed into a jeans pocket is plain silly.

Reactions: Agree 4


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## Schroedc (Mar 30, 2017)

I'd be on their customer service. They'll usually credit crappy products. Also, sometimes they don't know how bad stuff is until folks give feedback. I can think of a few other kits they pulled after feedback, didn't clearance them, actually pulled to return to manufacturer.

Reactions: Agree 2 | Informative 1


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## ripjack13 (Mar 30, 2017)

duncsuss said:


> Marc, I think that just about seals it.
> 
> Personally, I don't like the way it looks anyway, so I wasn't about to make any of them -- but until I saw this, I wouldn't argue with people who do like them or want to make them. A "survival tool" that can't even survive being pushed into a jeans pocket is plain silly.



I agree. 
I'll be on the phone with em tomorrow. This is just a bad design on the clip. The area where it broke has a hole in it. That makes it weak. It should be solid near the bend. They would need to have the coating on the parts removed where it fits together. And the coating itself is a poor choice. It should have been chrome, I think. Or even a gun metal finish.


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## ripjack13 (Mar 30, 2017)

Here's the other kit.. I had the tubes glued up already. So I just made it....

Reactions: EyeCandy! 1


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## ripjack13 (Mar 30, 2017)

@lathemaster made the orange blanks for a while back....They look awesome.

Reactions: Agree 1


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## rocky1 (Mar 30, 2017)

Fit any better on that one?


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## ripjack13 (Mar 30, 2017)

rocky1 said:


> Fit any better on that one?



No sir. Just as loose fitting as the first. Another thing I noticed, if the cap is screwed on snug, it is hard to undo it without twisting the fitting in the tube. I used blue locktite in it. I'll use some ca next. I didn't want it de-gassing out on itself. You know, the white stuff....


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## rocky1 (Mar 30, 2017)

So it's not simply a one pen issue, it's consistent across at least 2 of the known 3 they had.

That's not real good odds!

Reactions: Agree 1


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## ripjack13 (Mar 30, 2017)

Yep. I"m not sure what to do with it. I can't in good conscience sell it. So I'll keep it in my truck I guess. I doubt woodcraft will ask for them back...


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## rocky1 (Mar 30, 2017)

You could ask them if they want them back so they can see what's going on. And, don't forget to remind them you're out 2 blanks in this deal.

Reactions: Agree 1


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## ripjack13 (Mar 30, 2017)

True....I'll update after the phone call...


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## Sprung (Mar 31, 2017)

Marc, you did nice work on your part. I don't care for the looks of the kit, but could see some people that would - and may have made a few. It's a shame to hear about the quality problems with this kit...



ripjack13 said:


> No sir. Just as loose fitting as the first. Another thing I noticed, if the cap is screwed on snug, it is hard to undo it without twisting the fitting in the tube. I used blue locktite in it. I'll use some ca next. I didn't want it de-gassing out on itself. You know, the white stuff....



Instead of CA, try red loctite. The red hardens and holds, while the blue never dries. I use red in assembling all of my pens. I usually ream out the tubes so the hardware is slip fit, or just a little more than slip fit. I have also never had any problems disassembling pens that I have assembled using red loctite. Bonus: no CA off-gassing problems.

Reactions: Informative 1


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## ripjack13 (Mar 31, 2017)

Well it seems as though I'm the first and only one with the complaints on this kit. They offered a refund, but I declined it. I already made em and I wasn't looking for money, just wanted to see if they had complaints yet, and offer some suggestions on the design modifications, if they were to do some. I did ask for for some replacement clips though. I asked for 3, and they are shipping em out today. 
So it looks as though Michele and I each have a pen for our vehicle. 



Sprung said:


> Instead of CA, try red loctite. The red hardens and holds, while the blue never dries. red loctite. Bonus: no CA off-gassing problems.



Sounds like a plan Matt. Thanks for the tip!

Reactions: Like 1


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## Sprung (Mar 31, 2017)

ripjack13 said:


> Sounds like a plan Matt. Thanks for the tip!



Yeah, I learned the hard way early on in pen making not to use CA to assemble components - when I had to scrap a few pens because I couldn't get the white stuff off the parts. 

The red loctite sets pretty quickly too once the parts are pressed together. So if I've got parts that are loose or a slip fit, I'll slide the part in and then clamp it for a few minutes and it's already holding strong enough to finish assembling the pen.

Reactions: Informative 1


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## ripjack13 (Mar 31, 2017)

I just looked in my cabinet. I'm out of red....time to go to Ace....


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## ripjack13 (Apr 19, 2017)

Here's the email/review I sent to both Woodcraft and Berea....


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
*I bought 2 kits the other day and spun em up. And I must say, I'm not impressed. The kits parts fit together loose. So I had to glue em to keep from pulling apart. The cap screws onto either end with too many twists. The finish scratches very easily, and that makes a problem when you're sliding the cap on or off. I haven't tried the ferro rod tip yet. I should though, just to see if it works.
I do like the looks of it and it is pretty heavy. But that's all I like about it. I only bought 2 kits. I'll make the other one and return the bushings.
Also, one day after finishing it, I put the pen in my side pocket of my jeans. The clip just snapped off..so that's the 2 pictures of the broken clip. A "survival tool" that can't even survive being pushed into a jeans pocket is plain silly. This is just a bad design on the clip. The area where it broke has a hole in it. That makes it weak. It should be solid near the bend.

So I put in a call to customer service and it seems as though I'm the first and only one with the complaints on this kit. They offered a refund, but I declined it. I already made em and I wasn't looking for money, just wanted to see if they had complaints yet, and offer some suggestions on the design modifications, if they were to do some.
My complaints and suggestions are as follows...

1- The kits parts fit together too loose. It's not a huge deal breaker, but I had to file/sand the coating off the parts that press fit together and then I used glue em to keep from pulling apart. With the coating on it, it pulled apart easily when my wife was looking it over. So I had to pull the kit apart and modify it.

2- The cap screws onto either end with too many twists. On a rollerball kit it takes roughly a full twist maybe 2, to remove the cap. On this pen cap, It takes at least 7-8 full turns. That is way too many twists. Everyone I showed the pen to said the same thing. The threads need to be less.
Another thing I noticed is if the cap is screwed on snug, it is hard to undo it without twisting the fitting in the tube.

3- The finish scratches very easily, and that makes a problem when you're sliding the cap on or off. Especially on the ferro striker side. It's too tight and scrapes it. The pen is already scratched up from 2 days of use. The black chrome seems like it hasn't hardened fully. It scratches with my thumbnail. If the coating was a plain chrome or even a nice gun metal coating it wouldn't be as easy to scratch.

I did ask for for some replacement clips though. I asked for 3, and they said they will ship soon. That was 3 weeks ago. I guess when you're a complaining customer they throw ya to the bottom of the shipping list.

I cannot in good conscience sell these with the problems I had encountered. So it looks as though my wife and I each have a pen for our vehicle.*
_

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Here's Bereas reply....


*Subject: Re: New Product Review Posted
To:XXXXXXX
Date: Tuesday, April 18, 2017, 11:01 AM

Hi Marc,

Thank you for your feedback.
We appreciate all feedback from our
customers good or bad as this will
help us on future items.

Thank you
Best Regards,
The Berea Hardwoods Co. Inc.*

-----------------------------------------------------

I talked with Woodcraft on the phone, and they didn't have anything to say other than they would forward my comments and email to their r&d dept. They did offer to send out new clips. That was 3 weeks ago that I called. They shipped the replacements on the 12th and I still have yet to see any movement on the tracking.

*04/12/2017
2:45 P.M. Shipment information received by UPS Mail Innovations 
Package Status: Order Processed: Ready for UPS*


I tried out the ferro rod. It certainly works good, but it takes a few strikes to wear it in, to where it will spark. It does make great spark though. _However_, it too scratches the coating off the clip unfortunately.
I do wonder if I got a bunk batch. Maybe the guys who do get em can share their findings and or complaints/suggestions on it...

That's all for now.....

_



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