Help me with my Tapa Pacifica

[woody350ep]

Ok, here is the new problem. I made my first Tapa Pacifica sunday night. I assembled it per the instructions, twisted it to check for operation, and it passed. I put it in the case and took it to work today to show a guy I work with. He took it apart by untwisting it, and when he went to put it back in, it seems that the tube that you push into the blank, the "single twist mechanism" to be precise, pushed up inside the tube and now the thread assembly attached to the nib assembly will not go into them to screw together. I don't know if this is a faulty kit or something because I have never built one, but I don't like the way that works. What if I sold this to someone and they had the same problem? Did I do something wrong here? I would think there would be a stopper in the End Cap to prevent this from sliding up inside the tube any further. Now, how can I get this apart to fix it? I sure hope someone has done one of these and knows what I mean. I imagine they are the same assembly as a Sierra, but I have only done Sierra Click, so that isn't the same. Here are some pics of it, bad ones taken quickly, but maybe it will help. You can see in the first one the threads that go into the tube to secure it.

In the second one, i tried to capture the "male" end that the nib would go into and thread onto. The nib can be pushed into the tube up to the point of the twist mechanism and appear to be assembled, but it slides in and out freely as it wont grab any threads because it has been pushed up in there.

Just in case someone doesn't know, in assembly you twist the mechanism onto the nib assembly and then press the whole thing into the tube so that it is in the proper location.

 

[pentex]

Jason, you should be able to screw the top onto the bottom nib end of the pen. The twist mechanism that is up in the upper barrel should screw into the nib assembly. That is the way the Sierra pen is made. Once it is screwed together, you should be able to pull the top and bottom apart or unscrew the top and bottom. Boy, this sounds confusing, but it will work.

 

[woody350ep]

I got all that, what I am saying is that once I had them screwed together, pre assembly, and then pressed it into the tube it was fine. It was when the pen had been taken apart and tried to reassemble that the twist mech seemed to be pressed up inside of the tube further to the point where the threads on the nib could not reach it. I was asking how to get the pen apart to fix this, and why is there nothing to stop it from pushing up in there so far? It seems this would be a constant issue if someone were to miss the threads slightly upon screwing it in, or if they pushed the nib too far......

 

[wolftat]

The pen was supposed to be pulled apart, not twisted, but that is all past now. The way I have gotten them out is either by tapping out the other end of the pen or by finding something with the same thread and inserting that in and then pulling it out. Might be easier to tap it out, but others may have a different idea.
If you have a scrap pen around, you can grind it down to make it fit in a bit further and grab the threads.

 

[Brandon25]

I'd just find something longer with matching threads to pull it out. If you're having trouble finding something, then I guess if it's a really important pen you could sacrifice another kit by grinding a nib down so it will fit up inside there some. Screw it in, grab it with pliers and yank it out.

Don't they sell a transfer punch set at HF for stuff like this? I thought I heard that somewhere...

 

[Russianwolf]

This has actually been duscuss at length regarding the regular Sierra. It is a "problem" of the kit design for them all.

One solution is to put a spacer on the top of the tranny so it can't be pushed up too far.

Another is clear instructions to the buyer.

Do a search on "sierra problem" and you should find the original thread.

To get it out, some have made an extractor by turning a piece of plastic to the diameter and drilled a hole slightly small than a slip fit, then threaded it on and pulled it out.

 

[MobilMan]

Was the nib [first picture] the only thing that was press-fitted? Is the piece inside pressed in also? Can't you tap it on your bench top enough for the piece inside to drop down enough to get the threads started? I'd try it.

 

[nava1uni]

Use a dental pick (they have them at all kinds of hardware stores) and go above the piece inside the top and gently pull it down so you can thread the bottom into the threads. Harbor Freight has a set of transfer punches that you should get they fit all pens and are great for dismantling pens after something goes wrong. Nice punches, often on sale for $5-7. Good luck!

 

[Chasper]

I got all that, what I am saying is that once I had them screwed together, pre assembly, and then pressed it into the tube it was fine. It was when the pen had been taken apart and tried to reassemble that the twist mech seemed to be pressed up inside of the tube further to the point where the threads on the nib could not reach it. I was asking how to get the pen apart to fix this, and why is there nothing to stop it from pushing up in there so far? It seems this would be a constant issue if someone were to miss the threads slightly upon screwing it in, or if they pushed the nib too far......

It happened to me at a show a few weeks back, a lady twisted it out, leaving the top of the bottom section up in the cap. Then she tried to push it back on, which just pushed it up so far that the threads no longer reach. After spending an hour of so trying to get it out I yelled at it and loudly called it some profane and unkind names. Then I walked outside of my shop and threw it as far as I could into the woods. It didn't fix the pen, but I felt much better.

I think a long bolt or threaded rod to screw into the mis-placed part would get the job done, but personally I perfered telling that pen what I thought of it.

 

[Brandon25]

HAHAHA! Now that's what I like to see! Someone that's not afraid to stand up to a big tough precision writing instrument!

 

[woody350ep]

The pen was supposed to be pulled apart, not twisted, but that is all past now.

How is it designed to be pulled apart? The directions state that you screw the twist mech to the nib, THEN press the whole assembly into the blank. This would leave the twist mech at the position it needs to be in order to twist and untwist the nib for replacement. If it were designed to be pulled apart every time, I would not have needed a press to push it in, isnt that correct? Or maybe I am getting this wrong.....

The problem with getting something up there to attach and pull out is that the end in the pen is the male end. I guess I will try either the dental pick idea or head to harbor freight and get the knockout set and hopefully I dont screw up the clip end knocking it out.

I can't hit it on the table to knock it down because it was pressed in. Sounds like a serious flaw of design and the pen should COME with a spacer perhaps built into the clip assembly so when it is pressed in, it will have a stopper for the twist mechanism to hit.

Has anyone cut a spacer for their tapas or sierras? If so, could you give me the length required so that I can take this step in the future to prevent customers from having an issue? Even SPECIFIC instructions will not be heeded, we all know this. I would rather take my own precautions rather than having someone bad mouthing my stuff because they simply didn't listen or forgot.

 

[woody350ep]

Was the nib [first picture] the only thing that was press-fitted? Is the piece inside pressed in also? Can't you tap it on your bench top enough for the piece inside to drop down enough to get the threads started? I'd try it.

The nib itself is not press fitted. It is simply used as a "set point" for the twist mech so that you don't push it too far up........

It goes in and out of the tube freely with a little tolerance....

 

[woody350ep]

Wolftat - I read some old articles about it, and I now see what you mean. Sorry. Once I get this out, I will be doing one of two things. I will either be making a spacer to put in the pen so that it cannot be done again, or just hoping people understand that it needs to be pulled off before untwisting the refill. I read someone relate it to slimlines that need pulled off, and it was a good reference that made my non-operating brain realize that it DOES make sense. I was thinking that the having to pull it off to untwist the refill was out of the ordinary, but it is ME that is out of the ordinary. Oh well, problem solved and hopefully avoided from now on out. Thanks for your help guys.

 

[Brandon25]

but it is ME that is out of the ordinary.

Well...I wasn't gonna say anything... LOL

 

[bitshird]

Jason, what Cindy said works quite well, I had on customer do the same thing three times, I finally tightened the tranny down with a small pair of channel locks. If you have a very small pair of needle nose pliers or even Hemostats, you can get the transmission out , it;s actually not in as tight as you might think, after you get it apart, try and make a spacer to put in the top of the pen, or Tighten the crap out of it so some other dumbass doesn't do it, Nice part about Aarrons Elegant beauty, the twist is in the top, and there's a thicker wood and smaller tube.

 

[woody350ep]

So you're saying the Elegant Beauty is designed to be twisted apart to replace the refill? That would be optimal, but for now I will tighten the tranny.

 

[Chasper]

The problem I had is not that the customer turned it too far and unscrewed the transmission/twist assembly from the nib assembly. That does happen and it is usually easy to fix, just screw it back in and pull it out, then turn it very tight so it doesn't happen again, at worse it might be necessary to reach in with a narrow pliers and pull it out. The bigger problem is when twisting it too far causes the male end of the friction joiner (C on the attached drawing) to come unscrewed from the upper end of the twist assembly (B). The problem gets quickly compounded when the nib and twist assembly is pushed up into the cap and the male friction joiner is pushed too far into the female friction joiner (E).

I don't have a tool long enough and narrow enough to reach in and get it, can't get around it with something like a dental pick, pounding it out with a transfer punch will damage the male friction joiner, a tool with threads to screw on to it would work, but it would need to be something like a 7MM tube with threads on the inside, that could probably be built with a tube and the right size tap.

I don't think the threads between the twist assembly and male friction joiner are needed, the refill can be changed at the other end of the twist assembly. Why not glue them together so they can't be unscrewed? A stopper inside of the female friction joiner (E) would also probably do the job.

 

[TowMater]

I put mine together with hand pressure, they pull apart the same way.

The clip end is the only end of the tube that needs to be "pressed" on.

 

[woody350ep]

yeah, i came to realize that towmater. I guess I just assumed that it needed to be pressed and did it out of habit. Now I know lol

 

[DurocShark]

Bleh. It's easy.

Tap the top half of the pen on your hand a few times. The mechanism will work down far enough to let the nib section be threaded on. You only need to catch the thread a little bit. The nib will pull it the rest of the way down.

Happened to me just today in fact. Took a while to figure out how to do it without tools.

 

[Stephen]

I have recently done more than 75 Gatsby pens and would like to share my method on assembly of these kits- rightly or wrongly. I am not familiar with the Sierra or the Tapa Pacifica but understand from this forum they are basically the same as the Gatsy
Firstly, I press fit the clip assembly on the selected end of the finished barrel. Next I take the twist mechanism and twist it to the extended position. Then screw the threaded male end of mechanism into the nib end without the refill. I have also noticed the instructions from the suppliers of the Sierra, Tapa Pacifica and Gatsby differ on this.
Finally slide the opposite end of the mechanism into the pen barrel and push in with hand pressure. Some required a pen press ,although just a few. I suppose this may be due to manufacturing dimensional tolerances.
Next unscrew the top barrel from the nib assembly and insert the refill first into the upper barrel ensuring it is fully home and finally into the nib assembly and screw a little extra tight. This ensures that it will not work lose during extending and retracting the refill.
For changing the refill I unscrew the pen and not pull it apart.
These are my thoughts and welcome comments or point out any errors in my procedures that I may have over looked.
Stephen