roller ball question

[fshenkin94]

I have been buying the Woodcraft rollerball kits that do not screw to close. They have a plastic piece that is glued into the cover piece and the pen snaps into it to close. I have made several of them and in almost every case that plastic piece comes loose. I am using ca to glue it in and have been giving it plenty of time to dry. Any suggestions would be appreciated.

 

[Mac In Oak Ridge]

The only pens that have a snap on cap that I have seen, you don't glue the plastic piece in the cap. There is a threaded stud that sticks down inside the cap from the metal piece that holds the pocket clip on. You screw the plastic snap device onto that stud when you assemble the cap.

You use that threaded feature to adjust the fit of the cap on the pen. Too loose you screw it in a little bit, too tight you screw it back out some.

Mind you now, I haven't seen every kit that is being marketed but it doesn't sound right that you would glue that piece of plastic in place, as you found, it won't hold.

 

[fshenkin94]

Ok - so I am the fool. I noticed that thread on the top and wondered what it was for. Now the question is how do I screw the plastic into it? Do I do that before squeezing that piece into the top or somehow do it after?

 

[Chris Hare]

I have made a few of the pocket purse pens and I use a phillips head screwdriver to put it in as the last step. Try to use one that fits snugly into the plastic cap. If it is too loose it could stip the inside of the cap and you will no longer adjust the fit. Or you can buy a Pen Cap instertion tool to do the same thing.

 

[alamocdc]

Fred, I've made a number of these and you can use a Philips screwdriver as Chris said. The tool he mentioned is available from CSUSA. I have one and it works much better than the screwdriver. However, if you have a grinder and an old screwdriver with a broken tip you can grind it to look like this graphic for a better bite.

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[fshenkin94]

Thanks guys. I'll give it a try. Do you know if anyplace sells those little plastic pieces separately. I just cracked one of them.

 

[Mac In Oak Ridge]

I have found that it works much better, and it won't help you with the pens you have already assembled, to screw the plastic thing on the threaded stud before I assemble the cap. It screws on realy easy with your fingers and chases a thread in the plastic thing.

If you have any unassembled pens use the stud from one of those to chase the thread on the plastic you are going to screw into the finished pen.

I'd go to the place you bought the pen kit from and ask if you can get a spare for one that is dammaged.

If you make several of this style pen in a row you can almost hit exactly how far to screw the plastic thing on the stud before you put the cap together, then you are not fiddling around with the Phillips screwdriver or installation tool down inside the pen cap. If you don't get it exactly correct you only need to tweak the adjustment instead of having to screw the plastic on in the assembled cap.

I found that a Phillips screwdriver gave me a good starting point for the installation tool but it was not completely satisfactory. The point of the screwdriver extends down into the hole in the plastic thing and you will run out of the bite of the fins on the screwdriver tip before the plastic thing is in the proper location, sometimes the stud sticks too far through the hole. For me this happens most of the time. I altered the screwdriver tip with a Dremmel tool to allow the stud to go up inside the cross pieces of the screwdriver tip and it allows me more adjustment room.