New Series Rollerball Failure

[lhowell]

I bought several of these New Series Rollerballs when they were back on sale a few months back and had my first failure.

A bit of a backstory for those not familiar with this type of pen kit but the twist mechanism is actually pressed into the cap tube which then screws on over the bottom tube containing the ink cartridge. It is not like a cigar style where the twist mechanism screws onto the lower tube and the top tube slides over that for an interference fit.

I had made this for a friend for her birthday as she is a huge Virginia Tech fan but was so embarrassed by how tight the twist action was on it that I decided to just keep it on my desk at work and instead made her a Falcon style pen with the same blank material.

From day one I had issues with the transmission being very very tight. I thought it was clearance around the lower tube but I remedied that issue and still had issues. The twist mechanism is a double action and always worked better one direction than the other. Since it is press fit it is very hard to remove without damaging surrounding components.

Well, after several attempts at trying to make the twisting motion smoother the thin metal that connects the lower and top tubes via threads finally sheared away.

Long story short, has anyone else had similar issues with these pens with being very hard to twist? I have not made another one since this one so I only have this one to judge by but I am not impressed with this kit so far.

 

[curlyjoe]

Did you test the twist mechanism in the brass tube after you pressed on the centerband?
Your twist mechanism could be binding up there causing the issue.
or
Your lower blank was not turned down enough and was binding at the centerband.
Both will cause a hard twist.

 

[lhowell]

Did you test the twist mechanism in the brass tube after you pressed on the centerband?
Your twist mechanism could be binding up there causing the issue.
or
Your lower blank was not turned down enough and was binding at the centerband.
Both will cause a hard twist.

I tested it prior to pressing into the upper tube but since I had pressed the cap on first there was not really a way to test the twist mechanism once it was pressed into the upper tube.

I thought at first I had issues with clearance around the lower tube so since I was keeping it and not selling/giving it away I took my knife and scraped away some material from the lower tube until I had a clearance all the way around the upper and lower tubes. Prior to this, I did have a wear mark where it appeared the upper and lower tubes were making contact. It still was tight afterwards.

I'm wondering if by pressing in the transmission if it creates too tight of a fit and "binds" up the transmission in the upper tube? I may disassemble the top tube now and see where the contact is that holds the transmission in place to the lower accent band.

I was at first wondering if there was a misalignment issue between the upper and lower tubes causing the issue but I am pretty stumped at this point.

 

[curlyjoe]

When the centerband is pressed on it could cause a crimp in the brass tube, maybe from glue or a burr. If you test the twist mechanism and get a tight fit then you can use a file to open it up and free it. This is stated in the instructions. The twist mechanism, clip assembly can be pressed in as one unit after you test fit the mechanism.
I want to bet its this that is causing the issue more then the lower blank too fat but, from your picture it looks like it the centerband was rubbing on the blank.

 

[lhowell]

When the centerband is pressed on it could cause a crimp in the brass tube, maybe from glue or a burr. If you test the twist mechanism and get a tight fit then you can use a file to open it up and free it. This is stated in the instructions. The twist mechanism, clip assembly can be pressed in as one unit after you test fit the mechanism.
I want to bet its this that is causing the issue more then the lower blank too fat but, from your picture it looks like it the centerband was rubbing on the blank.

Thanks. Yes it was, the pictures are "post-op" from me just trying to make it work and not really worried about appearances since I had decided it would be a desk pen on my desk. I kept it hidden amongst other pens because I was so embarrassed by it!