About us - our story so far

Our journey began in 2014 when we realised that the pen refills commonly supplied with most pen kits are mainly all made in the Far East, as cheaply as possible, with poor components, poor quality control, and usually containing the bare minimum of poor quality ink. A pen is only ever as good as the refill inside it, and there is nothing worse for a well made pen than a refill that doesn’t work because it’s dried up or corroded, or the ink flow skips, or it feels scratchy on the paper.

We are a family firm, owned and run by people who are pen makers and pen enthusiasts, and we realised that apart from upgrading pens with well known makes of refill from High Street stationers, for which you pay through the nose, the way forward was to produce our own - good quality refills that are a pleasure to write with, that don’t dry up or degrade through use, and are full up with ink.

And so Beaufort Ink was born.

As pen makers ourselves, we also wanted to address the fact that in the UK, pen kits themselves were dominated by cheap imports from China, or by blatant copies of designs from other manufacturers, so we set about changing that too, by designing and producing our own. In fact, today we remain the only supplier in the UK whose pen kits are 100% original designs - we don't buy in pen kits from other manufacturers to re-sell,  we don't rip off designs from other manufacturers and pass them off as our own, and we're pleased to say that our pen kits have taken their place amongst the best quality kits available worldwide.

We have since also applied the same rationale to a large range of top end products that support both pen makers and pen owners, including fountain pen inks and fountain pen nibs, together with an enviable range of specialist tools and accessories to support those who make custom pens (or so called kitless pens) from first principles. Today, we are able to employ a small team of enthusiastic staff, and we produce and/or sell the very best of pen kits, pen refills, fountain pen nibs, fountain pen inks and pen blanks, together with a host of supporting products and tools, to discerning pen makers and pen owners around the world.

All of our pen kits are designed by us here in the UK, and are engineered and manufactured to the highest standards and tolerances to take their place amongst the best available worldwide. (Needless to say, they all come with our own refills or fountain pen nibs as standard).  We specialise in parts and tools for kitless pens and custom pen makers, and thanks to our own specialist knowledge of pens and pen making, our attention to detail and to customer service, we have grown to become, amongst other things, the foremost agents in the world for Bock nibs, with a vast range of fountain pen nibs from which to choose, and we are market leaders in the innovation and supply of parts and tools for custom pen making, increasing their accessibility to all and debunking the many mysteries that surround kitless pens.

More recently, following on from the closure of that well known and highly respected turning supply house, The Toolpost, we arranged with them to take over the manufacture of their market leading Versachuck wood lathe chucks, which would otherwise have disappeared from the scene for all time. The Verchachuck is undoubtedly the most versatile and innovative wood lathe chuck on the market, and along with associated products such as lathe faceplates, micro-chucks and spindle thread adaptors, we are honoured and proud to be able to carry on where The Toolpost left off. In addition, we also took over some of the other market leading products which The Toolpsot was known for, so that now, alongside other well known brands such as Chestnut Products, Micromesh Abrasives and Sheild Technology rust prevention products, we are the UK agents for The Beall Tool Company, who are the manufacturers of quite possibly the finest wood buffing systems available, and for Starbond CA superglues, who likewise, are the manufacturers of quite possibly the finest CA glues available.

We ship our products worldwide on a daily basis, and we are always very happy to offer advice and discuss your requirements if you want to get in touch. You can order on our website or by phone, and we will always do our very best to look after you as a customer. Many of our customers have gone on to become, or are already well known and respected pen makers or commercial pen manufacturers around the globe, several on an international scale, and many have become good friends through our common interests in pens or in pen making, and more recently we find, though woodturning too

We look forward to working with you.