problem with ink sticking out

[wizical]

hey everyone,

I ran into a problem tonight, I was making a cigar pen and when I assembled it, the refill sticks out enough so it doesnt retract all the way. I was wondering if anyone knows what i can use to create space where the transmission is so i can get the refill back into the pen. thanks

 

[its_virgil]

You made the lower barrel too short...somehow. Probably done with the penmill when squaring the ends of the blank for the lower barrel. You have two choices: (1) add a band of material to the lower barrel at either end to lengthen the lower barrel or (2) shorten the refill by removing material from the black plastic end of the refill. This will shorten the refill and solve your problem. Of course, you wouldn't want to do the second fix unless you keep the pen yourself for personal use. Otherwise when a customer replaced the refill in the future they will have the same problem you now have.
Do a good turn daily!
Don

hey everyone,

I ran into a problem tonight, I was making a cigar pen and when I assembled it, the refill sticks out enough so it doesnt retract all the way. I was wondering if anyone knows what i can use to create space where the transmission is so i can get the refill back into the pen. thanks

 

[wizical]

ive read that you can put a plastic spacer were the transmission goes? is that possible

 

[fiferb]

Have you pushed on the refill to verify that it will not go in? I've had a few cigars lately that had weak springs and weren't pushing the refill all the way back in. I stretched the springs a bit to give them more strength and they work better. Not sure if this is your problem but may be a simple fix if it is.

 

[Monty]

Any of the above or you accidentally reversed the blanks when turning and used the top for the bottom.DAMHIKT.

 

[Russianwolf]

Any of the above or you accidentally reversed the blanks when turning and used the top for the bottom.DAMHIKT.

What he said.

If the refill seems like it's about right in the retracted position then extends even further at the extended position, you swapped the blanks. The long blank is for the lower section and is a crucial length, The short upper blank is much more forgiving. I have a nice BOW Cigar at home that I swapped the blanks accidentally. I couldn't throw it away, so I superglued the tranny in the retracted position and call it a desk pen.

 

[Rifleman1776]

Any of the previous suggestions are good possibilities. The Cigar is particularly critical as to length of insertion. For me, on most pen styles, one of the most time consuming steps is inserting the transmission. I don't like disassembling so I push in just a tiny bit at a time and try the refill then do again and again until it is correct.
For those who might say just set the pen press and seat the same each time, I say "Doesn't work". Kits and transmissions are not identical, even from same supplier, they can vary from lot to lot. Be careful.

 

[randyrls]

Any of the above or you accidentally reversed the blanks when turning and used the top for the bottom.DAMHIKT.

I believe that is most likely, and very difficult to fix without a lot of work.

I have a beautiful acrylic cigar that makes a good display.

If the transmission threads engage at all, you can glue the threads so the transmission is fixed in place. Replacing the refill will be done by unscrewing the nib end of the pen. This is my instruction with all cigars as I commonly glue the threads to keep the double twist tranny working properly.

 

[Chasper]

My guess would be that its virgil/don nailed the problem exactly. The bottom tube is too short. Since the Cigar kit comes with an absolute stop on both ends of both tubes, the only way to go wrong is for the bottom tube to be too short.
What I do it to remove the refill, pull the black plastic mechanism on the end of the refill out of the ink tube, grind down the ink tube on a disk sander, re-insert the black plastic mechanism and re-assemble. My everyday carrying/using pen is a cigar with a short bottom tube and a modified refill. They make good give away pens.

 

[wizical]

these are great ideas, hopefully one of them will work for me. thank you

in the future, i need to be more careful with the cigar pen when i am milling the blanks.

 

[workinforwood]

Lots of great suggestions, and they are all good. I'll toss out one more. The black transition ring on the nib can be replaced with a wider custom made one. Just unscrew it. You can make a new wider ring of the same material to match the pen if you like. Just don't make the new ring too wide that the nib won't screw back on. This technique will only work if your ink sticks out less than about an 1/8 inch is my guess.
No doubt Randy's idea is the simplest one.