Oops! How do I remove parts from closed-end pen?

[jtate]

Okay, so I made another mistake and as a result the fit is not right between the couple and the body of a closed-end pen I just made. How can I remove the coupler so I can use my trusty pen mill and clean up the edge of the opening of the pen barrel. I can't knock it out with an HF transfer punch because I can't get enough of a grip on the protruding part of the coupler.

Any suggestions?

 

[Firefyter-emt]

Ouch... I think you have to chock this up to experiance! You "could" either trash the pen blank to save the kit, or use a new coupler from another kit and save the wood. If you wish to save the kit, flake off the wood down to the brass tube and file thru the brass tube just down to the coupler in once spot. This will "pop" the tube free and the coupler will be free. Now you are out your blank and a $.50 set of tubes, but if it's a $20 kit, this is the best way to save it.

Oh.... or, you could make it a non-closed end kit by cutting off the "extra" closed end and freeing the tube. Then you could pop the coupler out, however you will most likly need to "re-turn" the kit so that the post end is the right size. This would be the best bet now that I re-think it. []

 

[Blind_Squirrel]

Try a stiff wire with a bend in it. Maybe a bent coat hook. Slip it in, snag the coupler, and gently work it out.

 

[gerryr]

If the pen is a Baron, you have an extra coupler, so just grab the existing one with a pair of pliers and pull it out. Fanger once told me his method of taking apart a closed end pen, but it does require some delicacy. First, remove the finial cap. Then figure out what is the largest diameter wood dowel that you can insert into the coupler. With the nib off, good idea, replace the cap and insert the dowel through the cap and coupler until it is again the end of the closed end. I think it works best if the dowel doesn't protrude more than about an inch above the cap. Get a good grip on the cap and hit the dowel with a hammer. Assuming the CB is a good tight fit and the coupler is not an overly tight fit, the closed barrel should come off. The first time I tried this, I made the mistake of using a metal rod and poked a hole through the end., thus finding another way to make a "not closed end" pen.

 

[dbriski]

You could try turning a dowel the diameter of the opening of the coupler, then a 1/4 to 1/2" below the top make the diameter a bit smaller, then you can use the ledge to grip onto the inside and slowly try to pull/ wiggle it out alternating sides.

 

[Firefyter-emt]

Well, Julia.. Did you get it out?? Just curious how you made the save??

 

[jtate]

I didn't get it all out. I squashed the protrudingend of the coupler (the part to which the cap would attach) in the vise and broke it off. I ground off the little bit that was still sticking out with a diamond file I use for honing tools. I then used a Harbor Freight Transfer Punch and the pen press (also knows as my lathe) and shoved the excess down into the far end of the barrel - where it shall ever remain. It's a fountain pen and I use the little cartridges with it, not the converter - so the little bit of threaded material that's pressed all the way to the far end of the barrel is not a problem. It adds a wee bit of weight but I'm fine with that.

I did try threading the cap part in place and pushing the barrel off the coupler with a transfer punch but it didn't work. The pen is lignum vitae so I didn't worry about punching through it. I guess it was just a super tight fit. Sigh.

I'll be doing another double closed end soon and I hope I've learned some lessons from this one. (My camera's in the shop - when I get it back I'll post pictures)

Thanks for all the suggestions!

 

[clewless]

Sorry I'm late, but for future reference.

Since you have a spare end piece when doing a closed end pen, the easiest way to get the boogered piece out is to take a tiny triangular file and file a slot through the fitting, you can then bend it in on itself with a needlenosed pliers and it will come right out...the voice of experience speaking.

 

[leehljp]

Since you squashed it off, - in hind sight, it would have been better to cut the end off, just shy of the tube, drill the end out. That way you could have disassembled it like a regular pen. If you wanted to keep the pen, you could have made a contrasting ring or added a contrasting end to the base blank.

 

[jtate]

Joe, - now that would have worked! This thing was in there way too tight to pull out, regardless of what I'd screwed into it. I might have been able to thread a tap into it and pull it but I doubt it. I surely could have sawed through it wil a triangluar file and bent it in on itself.

Well, you live and learn.

How 'bout you write this technique up as a tutorial, Joe?