rotating pen clips,any tips out there?

[ossaguy]

Hi All,

I have a dozen or so of the cheaper Slimline pen kits,and these have the clips wth a loose fit between the end cap and the clip,so after it's pressed in,during use it can start rotatin around the barrel.

Today I tried applyng some CA on it before pressing it in.It seemed ok for now,but it's kinda messy if the excess glue wicks it's way out.

I like how the CSUSA clips get tightly pressed onto the end cap,no problems with those,except for limitations in variety.

So I thought I'd ask the experts on any tips.

Thanks for any thoughts!

Steve

 

[bensoelberg]

I've had the same problem with kits from CSUSA. I also went the CA route. Any other tips would be great.

 

[JBCustomPens]

Try loctite on the INSIDE of the pen tube, don' try to apply to the part.

Hope this helps.

 

[ldb2000]

Never use CA around plated parts because the out gassing of the CA will ruin the plating in short order . I use a little Loctite in the tube and a tiny drop on the finial before I press it on to the clip and into the tube . It don't take much (I use a tiny drop on the tip of a toothpick , if you get squeeze out your using too much) on the finial to lock the clip in place and the loctite in the tube will keep the finial from loosening up and allowing the clip to rotate .

 

[SteveG]

For the info of those following this thread, I just sold a second pen to a customer who had purchased a PSI Nouveau Sceptre one year ago. The clip was loose and easily rotated around the pen. The point is that this kit comes with the clip and finial all preassembled. I am currently rethinking using/selling this kit and whether I need to disassemble the clip so it can be locked back in place with loctite or other glue.

 

[jttheclockman]

This has been a pet peeve of mine since I started turning pens 3 years ago. There is no reason and I mean no reason that clips can not be keyed to the finial in some way. So easy to do but these manufactores do not want to address an age old problem. I too have started using loctite for this purpose even though I have since stoped using slimline kits for my cartridge pens. Good luck and be careful with the use of CA.

 

[DurocShark]

Loctite.

I've had every kit pen I've made do that. Except for the El Grande. I guess the keyed washer helps.

 

[CHICAGOHAND]

I rarely turn slimlines or the Atlas kit for this very reason. If I do turn one I scratch the clips mating surface and add some CA.

 

[Cincinnati]

Loctite v. CA glue

Never use CA ... use a little Loctite in the tube.

Isn't the active ingredient in Loctite cyanoacrylic acid (CA)? What's the difference in using Loctite?

 

[DurocShark]

Loctite doesn't seem to outgas and deposit crap onto any nearby shiny surface like CA does.

 

[mredburn]

Although it shouldnt be neccessary you could take a burr or drill bit or a small file,(round or triangular) and make a notch in the interior of the clip ring. THen when you add C/A or loctite it not only adheres to the parts it forms a small bump to help keep it from rotating. If you add adhesive to the tube the extra gets pressed down the tube rather than out the sides. Leaving less clean up and mess to deal with.
Mike

 

[garvan]

I had the same problem on the first pens I made several years ago. Reseated the the cap and clip and pressed until I heard a click. Just did my first pen after getting back and did the same thing. The previous pens are still good and the new one is good and tight. Just do not press too hard, just until you hear a click. Just my thoughts on what worked for me.

 

[renowb]

What number of loctitie do you use?

 

[Smitty37]

Not a problem

I have had this problem only once and I think it was because I didn't clean the tube out well enough for the cap to seat fully. It should never happen if you are seating the cap tight enough, I have not found a cap that was too small to seat properly, my few problems have been in the other direction with the cap being prehaps a shade too tight in the tube.

 

[1080Wayne]

I have had this problem only once and I think it was because I didn't clean the tube out well enough for the cap to seat fully. It should never happen if you are seating the cap tight enough, I have not found a cap that was too small to seat properly, my few problems have been in the other direction with the cap being prehaps a shade too tight in the tube.

It shouldn`t happen , but it will ! The flexing of the clip as it goes into and out of a shirt pocket will loosen it over time . Loctite is the best semi-permanent solution .

Some batches of kits will be worse than others . Just a matter of manufacturing tolerances .

 

[Smitty37]

maybe

I have had this problem only once and I think it was because I didn't clean the tube out well enough for the cap to seat fully. It should never happen if you are seating the cap tight enough, I have not found a cap that was too small to seat properly, my few problems have been in the other direction with the cap being prehaps a shade too tight in the tube.

It shouldn`t happen , but it will ! The flexing of the clip as it goes into and out of a shirt pocket will loosen it over time . Loctite is the best semi-permanent solution .

Some batches of kits will be worse than others . Just a matter of manufacturing tolerances .

You might be right, but I have never seen it myself and some of my slimline pens have been out for 3 years.

 

[1080Wayne]

I have had this problem only once and I think it was because I didn't clean the tube out well enough for the cap to seat fully. It should never happen if you are seating the cap tight enough, I have not found a cap that was too small to seat properly, my few problems have been in the other direction with the cap being prehaps a shade too tight in the tube.

It shouldn`t happen , but it will ! The flexing of the clip as it goes into and out of a shirt pocket will loosen it over time . Loctite is the best semi-permanent solution .

Some batches of kits will be worse than others . Just a matter of manufacturing tolerances .

You might be right, but I have never seen it myself and some of my slimline pens have been out for 3 years.

And its happened to some in my pocket in a week !

In Wayne`s world , there are two types of customers : those who carry pens in their shirt pockets , and those who carry them in their purses . The first type will either complain , squeeze the bejeebers out of it in a vise , glue it together with wood glue , or throw the darn thing away in disgust . The second type won`t even see the problem !

Gotta run now .

 

[jttheclockman]

I have had this problem only once and I think it was because I didn't clean the tube out well enough for the cap to seat fully. It should never happen if you are seating the cap tight enough, I have not found a cap that was too small to seat properly, my few problems have been in the other direction with the cap being prehaps a shade too tight in the tube.

It shouldn`t happen , but it will ! The flexing of the clip as it goes into and out of a shirt pocket will loosen it over time . Loctite is the best semi-permanent solution .

Some batches of kits will be worse than others . Just a matter of manufacturing tolerances .

You might be right, but I have never seen it myself and some of my slimline pens have been out for 3 years.

It happens and it happens with your slimlines too. You are not selling a better slimline so please do not make it sound that way.

It is the design of the kit. I have seen this happen to my pens that I used to use when I made slimlines. The answer to why was given when mentioned the stretching of the clip will loosen them. You may have not been told because you are the distributor and not the maker of the pens. The person may or may not have chosen to tell the maker of the pen. Then if they did they may have chose to fix it on their own and never passed this on to you. It is a design flaw that should be addressed but being this is a lower priced kit it probably does not draw that much attention. When you have a flat metal object pushed against another metal object and the only thing keeping it from spinning is friction, not a good combination. Now with wood as a blank you may get more friction than you would with acrylic and that maybe why this sometimes does not happen. Also alot of beginners who use slimlines choose the bulging approach and this will cause more tension on the neck of the clip which can add more friction. Just my 2¢

 

[arioux]

This is what i use:
http://www.permatex.com/brand_gel_twist.htm

Because it is a gel, it don't run and is very easy to apply with a toothpick.

I apply it to every pen with a clip that i make because i still have to see a kit that the clip won't get loose after a while of being use regurarely in a shirt pocket.

 

[Hubert H]

Steve, thanks for asking this question. I sure learned a lot tonight.

 

[DurocShark]

I'm going to have to work on more diffuse lighting and raise the pen from the background to get a good dark background pic. But here's one anyway:

Here's a close up of the CB and you can better see the gold in the resin.

 

[ossaguy]

Me too,I'm going to try the loc-tite,and also I try cutting a slot to see if it will act as a key like suggested,even though the cap doescn't have a key in it.

Just think if one of the pen companies could come out with a keyed cap/clip design that was still economical so they wouldn't be priced out.That would set it apart from everyone else and I'm sure would result in more market share once it was advertised as such,since it seems to be such a widespred,yet unadressed problem.

Let's hope they read the IAP for marketing ideas......

Thanks for all the tips everbody!

Steve

 

[sbell111]

Rotating clips is definitely a design problem with slimline/comfort/etc kits. For us, the fix has been to put a very small amount of thick (or gel) CA on the inside of the tube and then press in the clip/cap assemby. I then set it aside until the glue cures and complete assembly later (typically the next day.) I don't know whether it is because I use such a small amount of thick CA, allow it to fully cure prior to assembly, or just dumb luck, but I have never had any ugliness happen to the plating on the clip assembly.

 

[Smitty37]

Didn't say I was

I have had this problem only once and I think it was because I didn't clean the tube out well enough for the cap to seat fully. It should never happen if you are seating the cap tight enough, I have not found a cap that was too small to seat properly, my few problems have been in the other direction with the cap being prehaps a shade too tight in the tube.

It shouldn`t happen , but it will ! The flexing of the clip as it goes into and out of a shirt pocket will loosen it over time . Loctite is the best semi-permanent solution .

Some batches of kits will be worse than others . Just a matter of manufacturing tolerances .

You might be right, but I have never seen it myself and some of my slimline pens have been out for 3 years.

It happens and it happens with your slimlines too. You are not selling a better slimline so please do not make it sound that way.

It is the design of the kit. I have seen this happen to my pens that I used to use when I made slimlines. The answer to why was given when mentioned the stretching of the clip will loosen them. You may have not been told because you are the distributor and not the maker of the pens. The person may or may not have chosen to tell the maker of the pen. Then if they did they may have chose to fix it on their own and never passed this on to you. It is a design flaw that should be addressed but being this is a lower priced kit it probably does not draw that much attention. When you have a flat metal object pushed against another metal object and the only thing keeping it from spinning is friction, not a good combination. Now with wood as a blank you may get more friction than you would with acrylic and that maybe why this sometimes does not happen. Also alot of beginners who use slimlines choose the bulging approach and this will cause more tension on the neck of the clip which can add more friction. Just my 2¢

I didn't mention ths slimlines that I sell at all...I was referring to the ones I have turned which include, PSI, CSUSA, the ones I sell, and at least 2 or 3 other brands. I have not had it with any of them. I do turn almost all wood..

 

[Smitty37]

Rethinking

Now that I think about it I did buy 10 kits from someone selling them as seconds. The problem with them was that the od of caps and clips was a shade too small...but I knew about it and knew I had to glue them in so I didn't associate it with this problem.

That being said, it sounds like the problem is not with the clips but with the caps not staying seated and it seems like the easier it is to press the cap in, the more likely you are to have the problem. Maybe the reason I have not seen it is that when I was still turning a lot of slims and comforts I often left the small amount of epoxy in the tube which would make for a tighter fit of the cap and would probalby prevent it from working loose.

 

[sbell111]

Perhaps the people simply didn't return the bad pens to you.

 

[DurocShark]

I just made a platinum Baron and the clip is spinning. Grrrr...

 

[1080Wayne]

Now that I think about it I did buy 10 kits from someone selling them as seconds. The problem with them was that the od of caps and clips was a shade too small...but I knew about it and knew I had to glue them in so I didn't associate it with this problem.

That being said, it sounds like the problem is not with the clips but with the caps not staying seated and it seems like the easier it is to press the cap in, the more likely you are to have the problem. Maybe the reason I have not seen it is that when I was still turning a lot of slims and comforts I often left the small amount of epoxy in the tube which would make for a tighter fit of the cap and would probalby prevent it from working loose.

Unfortunately , they weren`t all sold as seconds . I had a couple where I could push the cap in with my thumb .

 

[Smitty37]

Honest Guy

Now that I think about it I did buy 10 kits from someone selling them as seconds. The problem with them was that the od of caps and clips was a shade too small...but I knew about it and knew I had to glue them in so I didn't associate it with this problem.

That being said, it sounds like the problem is not with the clips but with the caps not staying seated and it seems like the easier it is to press the cap in, the more likely you are to have the problem. Maybe the reason I have not seen it is that when I was still turning a lot of slims and comforts I often left the small amount of epoxy in the tube which would make for a tighter fit of the cap and would probalby prevent it from working loose.

Unfortunately , they weren`t all sold as seconds . I had a couple where I could push the cap in with my thumb .

I can only speak for the place I bought them...clearly said they had a problem and what it was and sold them for about $7.50 for 10 shipped.