Disassembly did not go as planned

[wortmanb]

I was trying to disassemble a pen to adjust the cap twist so that the grain would line up better, and somehow managed to get the center punch I was using to try to knock out the cap stuck inside the cap! It won't pull back out and it won't twist. It just won't budge.

Any ideas, or am I going to have to sacrifice this pen and start over?

 

[Lenny]

Drill a hole slightly larger than the punch .... Cut it creating a split ring so you can then clamp it back around the punch. Lock some vise grip pliers on the opposite end of the punch and tap it with a hammer. Hope that makes sense!

 

[randyrls]

Lenny has the right idea. Mark the position of the punch so you can see progress. Drill a hole slightly larger than the punch in a piece of wood. Clamp the end of the punch in a vice with wood jaws so you don't mar the punch. Tap on the wood piece against the cap until the punch comes out. Use many gentle taps rather than one hard blow. Make sure you have a soft landing spot picked out for the cap.

 

[wortmanb]

I completely get that. I'll give it a go tonight. Thanks, gentlemen!

If it survives this, I'm going to keep it for myself and not worry about the grain alignment! Start over on a new pen for him.

 

[sbell111]

To stop this problem in the future, use a smaller punch held at a slight angle to just catch one edge of the fitting to be knocked out. Use fairly light taps and work your way around the piece to knock out the fitting fairly evenly.

 

[wortmanb]

It'd sure be nice if learning these things weren't so hard. But I guess the pain makes the lesson memorable. At least, that's what I keep telling my kids! ;-)

 

[wortmanb]

IT WORKED!!! Thank you all -- about 10 taps with the hammer and the cap popped off onto a pillow (thanks for reminding me to give it a soft landing spot, Randy!)

Best of all, the cap wasn't damaged, nor was the trim ring. I reassembled the pen as-is and am sending off to my dad after all. It's an early piece, he'll get a much nicer one for his birthday in June, I'm sure.