On Shortening the Sierra Button Click Pen

[Randy_]

The Sierra Button Click kit has that annoying little metal extension so the pen can be used with either a Parker® brand ballpoint refill or a uni-ball® refill. The little extension is easy to loose and actually won't even work with the Parker® made refills so some folks have opted to throw away the extensions and shorten the barrels somewhat so the pen can be used with the Parker® refill without need of the extension.

I would like to hear from some folks who have actually made up shortened pens and find out what tube lengths they are using.

There is information on the AS web site that says the tube should be 1.882" long; but calculating from measurements of the actual pen components, it looks like the tube needs to be closer to 1.918". That is nearly a full millimeter difference. Using these numbers, we are either going to end up with a pen where the refill sticks out too far or not far enough.

So all of you who have actually done this conversion, which is it??

Thanks.

 

[hdbblue]

Why didn't you ask this question yesterday?????????

 

[Randy_]

Why do you think!! :biggrin::biggrin::biggrin::biggrin:

 

[kirkfranks]

He did, but now he is trying to justify which answers are correct.:biggrin:

 

[tommyd]

I know

I have actually never have done this but I know it is 1.88inches because that's what I sent you so it has to be right

 

[JimB]

I have actually never have done this but I know it is 1.88inches because that's what I sent you so it has to be right

Same here for the same reason:biggrin:.

 

[WriteRev]

I shortened several using AS's dimension of 1.882.

Steve

 

[el_d]

Uh Randy My calculator says its only.036 of an inch off.(Mine dont do conversions)
I have made them SHOOTING for 1.88 and made the first right at 1.88 but the others have been AROUND there. That works good for me and its really your preferance, I like my refills to stick out a little further than others but there is a "Cut too short" point.

 

[hunter-27]

I use 1.884 just cuz that is where I thought it looks "right" and that is what the claliper read at that point............but I rounded my answer yesterday to 2 decimal places(just seemed to look right for those without a .xxx on their calipers).

 

[wolftat]

1.882 is the number that I have been using and have made more than 25 with that number.

 

[mrcook4570]

Uh Randy My calculator says its only.036 of an inch off.

which is just shy of 1mm :biggrin:

 

[Gulfcoast]

Randy--

--- the 1.882 is the dimension. When you look at the extension piece assembled in the Parker ink refill there is a 0.030 gap that has to be included in the final dimension; because the small extension on the Parker refill will go iside the plastic push mechanism when the extension peice is removed.

Hope this makes sense to you, have done several of these pens.

Joe

 

[Randy_]

.....That works good for me and its really your preference, I like my refills to stick out a little further than others but there is a "Cut too short" point.

Lupe: You are exactly correct about the preference thing and I am just the opposite of you and prefer the tips on my refills to not stick out so far. And part of the reason I am, asking the question is i suspect that using a 1.882" tube will give me more tip exposure that I prefer.

I have an ordinary Parker T-Ball Jotter and the tip sticks out of it by 3.5mm which is a little more than I prefer. And I have a fancy metal set made by Parker (pen and pencil) where the tip sticks out by 4.5mm which I strongly dislike.

All of this is complicated by the fact that the clone refills sometimes are not the same length as the Parker refill. I measured up 2 clone refills that I have handy and they are a full millimeter different from each other which is a difference I can see and makes a difference in the look of the pen for me.

Does anyone have a shortened pen handy that you made to the 1.882" dimension that you can measure the tip extension on? I like to have my tips extend to the point where the transition from the cone of the refill tip to the cylinder is just at the tip of the pen or just a hair beyond it, if that makes sense to anyone. That is about 3mm of exposed tip or just a hair less.

Thanks for your help.

 

[Randy_]

Randy--

--- the 1.882 is the dimension. When you look at the extension piece assembled in the Parker ink refill there is a 0.030 gap that has to be included in the final dimension; because the small extension on the Parker refill will go iside the plastic push mechanism when the extension peice is removed.

Hope this makes sense to you, have done several of these pens.

Joe

Joe: I know exactly what you are talking about. I suspected there would be a difference in the fit to the end of the push button mechanism depending upon whether is was direct contact to the refill or to the metal extension; but I really didn't have any way to evaluate how much of an effect there would be. What you are saying is that the tube can be a little shorter than the calculated length because the refill fits a little further into the PB mechanism than does the metal extension.

Make s perfect sense to me. Thanks.

 

[jttheclockman]

Wow, all these measurements. I am still waiting on my order from the group buy so until then I am taking notes on this. But my question is why not leave the pen the way it was intended??? Is it just because of the small piece getting lost??? My question is there a way to glue this piece in the pen so it does not fall out when changing refills and use the original refill????

 

[wolftat]

I just measured 2 of mine with the 1.882 tubes and I got a 3.56mm and a 3.98mm, so there are some other variables going on here too.

Edit--- 3rd one has a 3.46 tip extension.

 

[hughbie]

i never measured the finish tube length. i took my calipers and set them the the length of the extension and lock them the go to the tube andscribe a mark around the tube that same distance from the end of the tube.....i've made several like this and they work fine

john.....the reason i do this is because, to me, the extra length just doesn't look right.

 

[Randy_]

Here is the deal on that John. First off you wouldn't want to sell a pen where the piece was glued to the refill. And if you glued it to the pen, then you loose the option of using the longer uni-ball refill. Secondly, the damn extension doesn't even work with the Parker brand refill. There is a little tit on the end of the extension that is supposed to fit in a little hole on the plastic end of the refill. This is supposed to make it harder to loose the extension when changing refills and I guess it is a good idea. Problem is that that hole does not exist on the Parker brand refill.....only the clones.....so if your customer goes out and buys a brand refill when his clone quits, the pen won't work.

I assume Berea will fix this oversight sooner or later; but I am not aware that they have done so to date.

So right now it is a lot easier to decide up front whether you want to use the uniball refill and just throw the little extension away or use the Parker refill and throw the extension away; but then shorten the tube so the shorter Parker refill will work.

 

[Randy_]

I just measured 2 of mine with the 1.882 tubes and I got a 3.56mm and a 3.98mm, so there are some other variables going on here too.

Edit--- 3rd one has a 3.46 tip extension.

Thanks, Neil. 4 would just be way to long for my preference. I could live with 3.5; but would prefer something around 3 or a hair less. So as I was guessing, a 1.882" inch tube would be fine for some; but too short for my taste.

 

[Randy_]

.....the reason i do this is because, to me, the extra length just doesn't look right.

John: Hugh makes another good point. The pens are long enough that they sometimes don't fit very well in a small shirt pocket so that is another reason to shorten them.

 

[jttheclockman]

When I get my order and get these in my hand i will see better what you all are talking about. One other question when you shorten the tube, will both the Parker and the roller ball fit the pen now???

 

[Randy_]

No. If you shorten the tube, you give up use of the longer uni-ball refill

 

[Wildman]

Has anybody tried swapping out tubes from "Gatsby Click Pens?"


Would think going to one of PSI resellers for those tubes might not be that expensive.

Maybe someone has some tubes laying around they could measure and provide info!

 

[joeatact]

I use the 1.882 and it works great.

 

[Randy_]

I just measured 2 of mine with the 1.882 tubes and I got a 3.56mm and a 3.98mm, so there are some other variables going on here too.

Edit--- 3rd one has a 3.46 tip extension.

Neil: I wonder if you have the same type of refill in each of those pens? Remember my comment earlier about having clone refills that vary in length by as much as 1mm?

I put your numbers to the calculator, BTW, and it is very interesting to note that if I were to take the third pen you measured and modify it to get the tip extension that I wanted, the tube length would have to be within 0.001" of the length that I calculated (1.918") from the pen components that I have on hand!! That is pretty damn close!!

I sure would appreciate some of you others posting the measured tip extensions on your pens so I can get a feel for what you like to see on your pens.

Thanks.

 

[Randy_]

He did, but now he is trying to justify which answers are correct.:biggrin:

How very insightful, Kirk!! Good thinking!!

This is, in fact, a situation where there is more than one correct answer and I have always had the feeling that the "answer" posted at AS would probably not satisfy me. This discussion and the information you guys have provided has pretty well convinced me that my gut feeling was correct.

Thanks.

 

[Randy_]

i never measured the finish tube length. i took my calipers and set them the the length of the extension and lock them the go to the tube andscribe a mark around the tube that same distance from the end of the tube.....quote]

Hugh: You have done exactly what I have calculated on paper....... basically subtracted the length of the little metal extension (0.505") from the length of the tube. That would give you tube lengths in the neighborhood of the 1.918" that I have mulling over.

To get the 1.882" tube length that is called for on the AS web site you would need to shorten the tube by 0.541" which is a little more than I think I would prefer.

 

[Randy_]

Has anybody tried swapping out tubes from "Gatsby Click Pens?"


Would think going to one of PSI resellers for those tubes might not be that expensive.

Maybe someone has some tubes laying around they could measure and provide info!

Since we can't be assured that the click mechanisms or other components are the same in both kits, having dimensions for thr Gatsby tubes may not shed much light on the how we deal with modifying the Berea kit.

 

[jkeithrussell]

Would someone please describe how you cut the tube?

 

[Randy_]

Would someone please describe how you cut the tube?

Keith: There are lots of different ways to do it and people probably choose based on what is easiest for each individual depending upon what tools they have available. Some methods might be as follows:​

Band saw
Scroll saw
Table saw
Plumber's mini pipe cutter
Mini miter box and hack saw
Dremel tool with cut off wheel
Cutoff saw (standard or mini)
and probably a few others that don't come to mind.

In most cases, the end of the tube will be deformed a little and you will need a chamfering tool or a rattail file to clean it up.

I plan to glue my tube in a slightly over-long blank and then cut it close on a sled on my table saw and then get it to final length with a barrel trimmer.

I'm sure there will be some folks along shortly with other techniques.​