Click pen problem

[rbaron]

Hi all...... I made a few of the click type pens and for some reason I am unable to get the pen tip to fully come out of the barrel.

I trimmed and squared the blanks right up to the brass tubes. I turned the blanks, then shinned them up but when I put it together and clicked the top of it the pen tip does not come out enough to write with.

It is almost like the bottom barrel should be 1/16" shorter to allow the tip to extend further.

Any help would be appreciated...

Rich

 

[kingkeyman]

which kit did you use?

 

[ed4copies]

If possible, a picture would be helpful to determine the problem.

 

[rbaron]

The pen kit I used was the Slimline Pro 24kt Gold Click Pen Kit. I cut the blanks and squared them off to just where the tubes started to show.

As you see from the picture, the tip barely shows.

 

[Dalecamino]

This happened to me once. It turned out to be a metal shaving in the nose cone. Take a look. That's all I have right now.

 

[frank123]

How far does the nib stick out with the plunger fully depressed before you let off it and it returns?

Does the click mechanism itself work properly?

Not familiar with that particular kit, but every click I've used always pushes the nib out quite a ways with the plunger all the way down and then retracts it to the writing position when it is let off.

YMMV

If the mechanism is working correctly, I'd make a guess that the pen is a small bit too long for some reason.


Edit: Just adding thought about it, is the refill itself the proper length? Always a potential for a problem there I would think - it may not hurt to try using a different brand refill to see if that makes a difference.

 

[Smitty37]

Hi all...... I made a few of the click type pens and for some reason I am unable to get the pen tip to fully come out of the barrel.

I trimmed and squared the blanks right up to the brass tubes. I turned the blanks, then shinned them up but when I put it together and clicked the top of it the pen tip does not come out enough to write with.

It is almost like the bottom barrel should be 1/16" shorter to allow the tip to extend further.

Any help would be appreciated...

Rich

Are you using the stock gel refill? I have found my wifes slimline pro to not love all refills....

 

[rbaron]

frank123.....

The nib sticks out really far before I let go.

and

Yes, I am using the refill that came with the kit.

 

[Smitty37]

Make sure the larger diameter end of the refill spring is pointed away from the refill body toward the tip.

 

[frank123]

FWIW,

I just measured the extension on one of my click pens and maximum protrusion with the plunger fully depressed is .249 inches, letting the plunger off returns the point to a .130 protrusion for the writing position, a click movement of about an eighth inch from clicked to unclicked resting positions.

This isn't the same pen you are using, but perhaps someone could measure the mechanism movement on your pen for comparison. I'm wondering if your click mechanism has a lesser amount of travel and the pen could be slightly too long for it.

With the pen retracted, look in the nib end and see how far back the tip of the refill is, perhaps it is not seated close enough to the end. Mine -the one I measured- seems to be retracted at around 3/64 inch from the end opening of the nib (a bit of guesswork here since I really don't have anything handy for a more precise depth measurement).

If you have sufficient movement of the mechanism, try carefully measuring a different manufacturers refill against the one you have in it, the refill being too short could as easily cause this as the pen being a bit long and is probably more likely. An easy fix if this is the case.

 

[rbaron]

Smitty37.... looks to me like both ends of the spring are the same size.

Frank123.... I don't have the tools to measure my pen nib to see how far it sticks out. But looking at the nib end with the pen retracted it looks like it is in pretty far. I can't measure but that's what it looks like. You say yours is not the same pen I am usiing.... what are you using?

Thanks for the help you guy's. I am sure I am doing something wrong but I can't figure out what it is

 

[Smitty37]

Smitty37.... looks to me like both ends of the spring are the same size.

Frank123.... I don't have the tools to measure my pen nib to see how far it sticks out. But looking at the nib end with the pen retracted it looks like it is in pretty far. I can't measure but that's what it looks like. You say yours is not the same pen I am usiing.... what are you using?

Thanks for the help you guy's. I am sure I am doing something wrong but I can't figure out what it is

OK you might have acouple of things -- your plunger spring could be a little weak or your refill springmight be a little strong or it might be stopping short of where it should be in the tip. Try lengthening the plunger spring a little.

 

[frank123]

The only clicks I have made have been either kitless (using a mechanism from IPD) or some of Woodcraft's clicks when I first started making pens.

I find that to have the proper extension either in the kit pens (determined by the tubes in the kit) or in my kitless pens the nib tip at rest when withdrawn should be just a tiny bit inside the nib cone opening, not far back in it.

If the total at rest extension length of the refill doesn't go far enough out of the pen it is because the refill is positioned too far back in the body (i.e. if the tip is 1/8 inch back and the mechanism moves it forwards only 3/16th inch there will only be 1/16th extended out of the nib cone which is not really enough).

Assuming a correctly working mechanism and a proper length cartridge, the solution is to shorten the front body of the pen (by 1/16 inch in the above example, your numbers will vary since I just used those hypothetical figures for illustration).

If the cartridge is too short -not the length the pen is designed for or just a mis manufactured cartridge) the solution is to use a different cartridge.

If the mechanism itself isn't extending far enough it needs to be replaced, contact the vendor. You need about an eighth inch extension past the pen when it is clicked in place which means you need the mechanism to click out farther than that so the tip of the refill will be inside the pen when it is retracted. Maybe you could carefully measure the total clicked and unclicked length with the lower pen body removed using a ruler to see if you have enough mechanism extension, it doesn't hurt to sketch things our to figure out where and how you need to measure.

Since you've said it extends out quite a bit past the pen tip opening with the plunger fully depressed, I'm not thinking in terms of a spring or other problem that is preventing it from extending. I could be wrong about this if I've misunderstand the description of the problem, YMMV.

 

[rbaron]

Frank & Smitty,

I'll check to see where my nib is before and after I depress the plunger.

Also, if I shorten the bottom barrel of the pen what do I do about the gold insert tube? Does that get shortened also?

I'll check and let you'all know.

Thanks for the help... Rich