JUICEDSS
Member
Long read....sorry.....
I recently sold a pen on Ebay and a refund was requested as soon as the recipient received it.
From customer:
Reason for return: Arrived damaged
Comments: It's a pretty pen, but the refill doesn't fit it, and hanging it on with a spring ain't how it's supposed to be. Sorry, but it needs to be your problem.
I immediately issued a refund and asked him to elaborate as to what is wrong. I sent him the assembly diagram from PSI. This was a Presimo chrome pen.
His response:
First, it is a pen with much to commend it: good weight and balance, and the redwood body is an attractive choice. It is a rollerball pen. The standard rollerball refill is too short or the pen is too long, but it should not be made to fit by inserting a spring hooked on to the bottom of the refill – it makes the pen look like it was made sloppily, not by the kind of pen turner who can create a beautiful barrel, like you did.
I've just taken a couple of other rollerballs apart. One is the same length as yours. It has kind of a seat built into the interior of the barrel, into which the refill secures. The other is shorter than yours: with the cap off, from the tip of extended refill, it is only 110 cm, top to bottom. The first is a Museum of Modern Art pen, and retails for about $80; the other is a Bexley, and retails, new, for more than twice that.
I am the farthest thing from an engineer, but it seems like the kit has faults: the metal pieces at the top and bottom of the barrel are too long, 'though they look good and add a nice weight, and, while I'm at it, the plastic part of the grip is too thin. The diameter needs, somehow, to be wider, to create a more finger- friendly grip. I would talk to the folks who made the kit, and get their advice. Many rollerball kit pens have a very long grip piece, which, I'd guess, solves the problem, but is not attractive to look at and detracts from the body you've worked hard at.
I should point out that the pen you sent me does work, and I expect that, if others have accepted it, they simply don't know or care enough to pay attention to the insides. I have seen other pens made the same way as yours, and I own none like that. I've been playing with pens since the introduction of the first ballpoints, over 60 years ago. I have watched many pens being made, and I always take a new one apart as soon as I receive it. Generally, I replace the cheap factory refills with which they come with something more to my liking, but it also gives me a chance to see what I would have to do when the ink runs out.
My intent here is not to criticize, but, rather, to help. I hope I have.
He then followed up:
I just took a look at the parts diagram you sent. A couple of observations about it. First, the body you made may be longer than that shown it it; of course, it contains no measurements. Second, the grip pictured is wider than the one attached to the pen. Third, picturing a spring at the bottom of the pen is just wrong. NO commercial pen manufacturer would ever make a pen like that, and I doubt PennState Industries, for example, would have anything positive to say about it, either. The diagram could cause a pen to be produced, but to produce one RIGHT, that diagram is garbage.
(I did reply and thanked him for the feedback and told him to keep or throw out the pen and a full refund was issued. I also told him it was a Presimo from PSI and the diagram was from their site as well)
MY thoughts
Every rollerball that I have made, seems to have a short tapered spring to keep tension on the refill. Is this not normal ?????
At this point I am not sure what he expected paying $32.50 with free shipping.
While I appreciate honest feedback, if a person has so much experience with pens, they should know they aren't getting Montblanc quality for $32.50.
The pen in question is attached.
I recently sold a pen on Ebay and a refund was requested as soon as the recipient received it.
From customer:
Reason for return: Arrived damaged
Comments: It's a pretty pen, but the refill doesn't fit it, and hanging it on with a spring ain't how it's supposed to be. Sorry, but it needs to be your problem.
I immediately issued a refund and asked him to elaborate as to what is wrong. I sent him the assembly diagram from PSI. This was a Presimo chrome pen.
His response:
First, it is a pen with much to commend it: good weight and balance, and the redwood body is an attractive choice. It is a rollerball pen. The standard rollerball refill is too short or the pen is too long, but it should not be made to fit by inserting a spring hooked on to the bottom of the refill – it makes the pen look like it was made sloppily, not by the kind of pen turner who can create a beautiful barrel, like you did.
I've just taken a couple of other rollerballs apart. One is the same length as yours. It has kind of a seat built into the interior of the barrel, into which the refill secures. The other is shorter than yours: with the cap off, from the tip of extended refill, it is only 110 cm, top to bottom. The first is a Museum of Modern Art pen, and retails for about $80; the other is a Bexley, and retails, new, for more than twice that.
I am the farthest thing from an engineer, but it seems like the kit has faults: the metal pieces at the top and bottom of the barrel are too long, 'though they look good and add a nice weight, and, while I'm at it, the plastic part of the grip is too thin. The diameter needs, somehow, to be wider, to create a more finger- friendly grip. I would talk to the folks who made the kit, and get their advice. Many rollerball kit pens have a very long grip piece, which, I'd guess, solves the problem, but is not attractive to look at and detracts from the body you've worked hard at.
I should point out that the pen you sent me does work, and I expect that, if others have accepted it, they simply don't know or care enough to pay attention to the insides. I have seen other pens made the same way as yours, and I own none like that. I've been playing with pens since the introduction of the first ballpoints, over 60 years ago. I have watched many pens being made, and I always take a new one apart as soon as I receive it. Generally, I replace the cheap factory refills with which they come with something more to my liking, but it also gives me a chance to see what I would have to do when the ink runs out.
My intent here is not to criticize, but, rather, to help. I hope I have.
He then followed up:
I just took a look at the parts diagram you sent. A couple of observations about it. First, the body you made may be longer than that shown it it; of course, it contains no measurements. Second, the grip pictured is wider than the one attached to the pen. Third, picturing a spring at the bottom of the pen is just wrong. NO commercial pen manufacturer would ever make a pen like that, and I doubt PennState Industries, for example, would have anything positive to say about it, either. The diagram could cause a pen to be produced, but to produce one RIGHT, that diagram is garbage.
(I did reply and thanked him for the feedback and told him to keep or throw out the pen and a full refund was issued. I also told him it was a Presimo from PSI and the diagram was from their site as well)
MY thoughts
Every rollerball that I have made, seems to have a short tapered spring to keep tension on the refill. Is this not normal ?????
At this point I am not sure what he expected paying $32.50 with free shipping.
While I appreciate honest feedback, if a person has so much experience with pens, they should know they aren't getting Montblanc quality for $32.50.
The pen in question is attached.