Cigar Pencils

[LostintheWoods]

I recently had a customer request that I make a cigar pencil to match a cigar pen which he had purchased previously. Had never worked with these before, so I ordered some kits and made up two pencils. Now to the difficulty: both pencils function just fine, but feel loose, almost frail, as though they would break or cease to function at the slightest provocation. Is this common with this kit? When ready to use, there is a sloppiness between top and bottom of the pencil, both radial and ---- sidewise? Can't locate exactly what the difficulty is, which is why I built the second kit; of course, working much more slowly and cautiously, with the same result. Any help is greatly appreciated.

 

[LostintheWoods]

Brrrr! Sure is cold--and quiet!-- here. Or, have I been blackballed? I really could use some feedback on this. Is the apparent looseness between top and bottom sections of the pencil just a characteristic of the kit, or have I done something wrong?

 

[Grizzlyss]

I have never done one, yet, so I can't really say anything. As for being black balled, I haven't heard anything. Then again I am always the last one to know. LOL[]

Sheldon

 

[gketell]

Sorry, Lost. I've not done one yet either. I'm tracking this thread to see what others say, though, so I know whether I want to do one in the future.

GK

 

[angboy]

I don't really have much helpful to offer, other than to say I did one recently and it seemed fine. I used a pen and pencil kit from Woodturningz- don't know where you got your kit from? Maybe there's a difference between manufacturers? I did have to get the clicker mechanism part replaced though- can't remember how, but it didn't work right at first. They sent me a replacement part ASAP and then it worked fine. Personally, I always feel like mechanical pencils like that feel kind of fragile just b/c it's such a thin lead, and in this case, a rather thick pen, plus the whole side to side way of advancing the lead seemed to me like it would be too easy to turn it too far, but I think maybe you're talking about something slightly different than what I was feeling.

 

[Awoodfan]

I have made a number of them and they were all like that. Some have been in use for a couple of years now.

Ron

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[Randy_]

I don't know what sort of pencil mechanism is used in the Cigar pencil kits; but I bought some Schmidt pencil mechanisms from Berea(probably available from AS too) and put them in the pen kits. You have to drill out the plastic ram in the transmission to fit the pin on the top of the pencil mechanism; but that is a simple operation.

The Schmidt pencil mechanism has worked fine for me,

 

[wicook]

I've made a couple of cigar pencils and not had any difficulty with them being loose. I suggest you contact your supplier and ask about whether or not you got a bad one. The cigar, as mentioned already, is a big and heavy design for a pencil, so I strongly suggest that you get the 0.7 mm Schmidt cartridge rather than the 0.5 mm. Randy, the cigar pencil kits use the Schmidt mechanisms...without having to drill out the transmission... []

 

[Sylvanite]

I made a cigar pen/pencil set last year and also felt that the pencil kit had a lot of slop in it. Later, I switched to putting a Schmidt DSM 2006 (0.7mm) refill in a standard cigar pen kit and that came out much better. You don't get an integrated eraser, but then the top doesn't feel sloppy either.

 

[latech15]

I agree...I have only made one but it does have a lot of slop in it. I use it everyday though and didn't really see it as a drawback unitl you brought it up. I also agree witht he .7 lead. I break the lead in this one a lot.

 

[lwalden]

I made 50 of the cigar pen/pencil sets for a corporate order using the .7mm lead kit by Berea (via Ariz Silhouette) a little over a year ago, and several additional one off sets since- and not experienced the problem your discussing....what manufacturer's kit are you using?

 

[LostintheWoods]

The kits I used are Berea, from Ernie, and checking them (even the as-yet unused ones) I find that the "play" I'm experiencing is in the upper section of the Schmidt pencil cartridge itself, and not a defect in the kit, per se, nor an assembly error. Also, the fact that there is no eraser leads me to the conclusion that, unless someone REALLY wants one of these, I need not make them on a regular basis. Thanks, everyone, for the input.