Berea Flat top - problem

[Jim15]

Hello,

I could use a little advise from someone who has some experience with the Berea flat top pen. I just ruined 3 transmissions assembling the pen. I realize that the size of the barrels is critical so I was very careful ( at least I thought I was). The problem seems to occur when the transmission and post for the clip are pressed into the upper barrel. If I press the clip post and transmission together and thread onto lower barrel the pen will extend and retract properly but when I press the transmisson and clip post into upper barrel and screw it onto the lower barrel the refill not extend and retract.It ruins the transmission. I think maybe I'm making the upper barrel to short but I'm not sure. I hope I'm expressing myself clearly. Any help would be appreciated.

Thank you,
jim

 

[airrat]

Jim need a little more information. Is it too tight to twist and that is how you are breaking the transmission? I had a similiar prob on a BEB I just finished. I ended up pushing the Brass Clip Bushing in just past the lip of the tube. Basically the made the lower tube so it wouldnt screw into the CB so far. I will post picture of it tomorrow hopefully.

On this kit I get a little Aceotone on a long q-tip and clean the inside of the barrels. I push the brass clip bushing onto the twist mech. Dont push it so far you mess up the twist mech. Then push it into the upper barrel from the top.

I think making the wood on the upper barrel too short would give the same result as me pushing the brass clip bushing in just past the lip.

One more idea, check your brass tube where the CB is. Make sure you didnt "crimp" it in any way. Hastur and I did this one day on a pen of his. Took us 45 min to figure out why the moment we put it in the pen it would not turn. We ended up putting sand paper on a punch and sanding the inside of the brass a little.

 

[vick]

Originally posted by airrat
<br />
One more idea, check your brass tube where the CB is. Make sure you didnt "crimp" it in any way.

This is a common problem that comes up alot with this kit and I would bet it is the problem.

 

[Rudy Vey]

This comes up nearly every month, Flattop problems. I recommend to do a search with the word Flattop in it. Also, if you include in your search a member name, like mine (Rudy Vey), you have a lot of info coming up.
I think I have described FT problems several times here.

 

[DCBluesman]

Try this link. http://www.penturners.org/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=12968&whichpage=1#129945

 

[Jim15]

Thank you, Tom, Rudy, Mike, and DCbluesman. I appreciate your answers and your time. I will try all of them and read all the links. Tom the pen is real hard to turn, I don't know if it's hard to turn because I'm breaking it when I insert it or if being hard to turn is actually the part that is breaking it. I will give it another try this afternoon.

Thanks again to all,

jim

 

[Rudy Vey]

Originally posted by Jim15
<br />Thank you, Tom, Rudy, Mike, and DCbluesman. I appreciate your answers and your time. I will try all of them and read all the links. Tom the pen is real hard to turn, I don't know if it's hard to turn because I'm breaking it when I insert it or if being hard to turn is actually the part that is breaking it. I will give it another try this afternoon.

Thanks again to all,

jim

If the pen is hard to turn it is either glue residue in the brass tube (about 75% of the time) or the centerband is binding due to a not square blank where the brass tube extends from the wood.

Here is something I had sent to a fellow pen turner who asked me for advise on how to align the grain, and it also gives you some hints:

"For grain aligment with the American Flattop pens I do assemble not like the instruction from Berea says!! The trick for alignment is as follows:
assemble the lower barrel and put a refill in and screw on the twist mechanism on. Check that it twists either way and "park" the refill in "neutral" position. Then press the brass finial thingy into the top of the upper barrel, before make sure that the tube is clean inside, I use a "L" bit for this and make sure a twist mechanism will easily slides through. Now press on the centerband and again make sure with your "L" bit that this is not too hard to get in and out, if needed ream the brass out so that the bit will go easy in and out (most binding twist mechanism are either from glue residue or not square centerband assembly). Now test that the two pen barrels slide easily in to each other. Align the grain and when you find the sweet spot, press the two parts together - this is the part where I use a pen press, carefully, do not press too much, it may bind then.
It sounds much more complicated that it really is."

 

[Jim15]

Rudy thanks for the detailed answer. I made another one today and the problem occurs after I press the center band on. The tube must compress a little and the transmission wouldn't go into the tube, so I used a file and a drill bit to enlarge the tube a little and he pen worked fine. I will try your method of assembly next time I do one. Thanks again to everyone for your help, I at least know what the problem is now and can remedy the problem.

jim