Hey all,
This may be too vague, but we’ve just gotten into turning pens on the lathe and pen #4 (of absolutely lovely purpleheart) just had the writing tip “sink” back into the body of the pen when I applied pressure to it (a little firmer than normal writing pressure). Now it won’t come out again, and the whole look of the pen is spoiled because all you see of the writing point is basically the ballpoint.
Any idea what might cause this, and how to prevent it / fix it? I love my new pen and want to use it!
Replies
Kyt,
I'm guessing one of two things. Either the entire mechanism has slipped in the tube that holds it, causing the refill to disappear, or the mechanism is not holding the refill properly, because of some defect, and needs to be replaced.
To fix the first, take the pen apart and try to push the mechanism back into the tube. If it slips again, you're out of luck. (I have had this happen but only once about 10 years ago.)
To fix the latter problem, remove the mechanism and replace.
Hope this helps,
Kell
You didn't say what the mechanism is but with the Penn State ones this can happen if you seat the twist mechanism too far into the tube.
Penn offer a dis-assembly gismo which you can use to take the whole thing apart and start again -- if you're going to make pens regularly, it's probably worth buying anyway.
IanDG
It's a Lee Valley Mont-Blanc type kit. The problem is that the lower tube is actually about 1/4" too long. This causes the refil to not seat properly in the little blue thread on holder. So far, I've found three solutions:
Number 1 is the ideal solution, Number 2 I used on pen #1, number 3 seems to have worked on pen #2-. I forgot to crimp yours before I gave it to you. I was obsessing with the finish on the purpleheart. Pen #0 was destroyed trying to extract the twist mechanism to solve this problem.
Peter
Darn - you found me. :)
Everyone, meet my DH. Hon, meet everyone.
Some familiar names from rec.woodworking.
Peter
DH?
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