Tight Twist Gatsby Pen

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Kdoc87

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I made a Gatsby twist pen from PSI for a customer, but it seems to have a tighter than comfortable twist when the tip is protruding and retracting. It works OK but just not as easy and fluid of a twist as I would like, especially having the twist mechanism at the clip end of the pen so there's not as much of a grip. Has anyone else encountered a problem like this and is there a solution? I would appreciate any help with the issue! Thank you very much.
 
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epigolucky

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Check the nib, I have found sometimes they are "gummy" and it makes the mechanism tough to use. I used a dental pick to scrape the inside and wrapped a little sandpaper around a narrow punch and sanded the inside. Hope this helps.
 

csr67

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I have had a few that seemed a little "sticky" but they worked themselves lose after a little use.

Same experience here. I recently put together a Gatsby Grande that had a really rough mechanism. I was ready to trash it, but after working the pen a few times it smoothed out nicely.
 

LarryJB

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Check the nib, I have found sometimes they are "gummy" and it makes the mechanism tough to use. I used a dental pick to scrape the inside and wrapped a little sandpaper around a narrow punch and sanded the inside. Hope this helps.
I have made 5 PSI Gatsbys and 3 out of the 5 had very stiff twist mechanisms no matter how much I worked it and one where the sleeve at the cap came loose and would not work at all.
I am fairly new to the pen turning world so I have no idea what a "nib" is. Could you please expand on the definition of "nib"? Is that the twist mechanism itself?
 
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Smitty37

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Check the nib, I have found sometimes they are "gummy" and it makes the mechanism tough to use. I used a dental pick to scrape the inside and wrapped a little sandpaper around a narrow punch and sanded the inside. Hope this helps.
I have made 5 PSI Gatsbys and 3 out of the 5 had very stiff twist mechanisms no matter how much I worked it and one where the sleeve at the cap came loose and would not work at all.
I am fairly new to the pen turning world so I have no idea what a "nib" is. Could you please expand on the definition of "nib"? Is that the twist mechanism itself?
Technically a nib is the writing point of a fountain pen. Typically we use the word here to refer to the writing end of any kind of pen. Generally, it has nothing to do with the twist mechanism.
 

Smitty37

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I made a Gatsby twist pen from PSI for a customer, but it seems to have a tighter than comfortable twist when the tip is protruding and retracting. It works OK but just not as easy and fluid of a twist as I would like, especially having the twist mechanism at the clip end of the pen so there's not as much of a grip. Has anyone else encountered a problem like this and is there a solution? I would appreciate any help with the issue! Thank you very much.
I think the drop of WD40 or some other penetrating oil will work.

For future reference, before assembling the pen test the transmission with your fingers and see how it feels. If it is too stiff for your liking, the first thing I try is warming the transmission, to don't need to make it hot just warming will sometimes soften the grease. If that doesn't work a tiny drop of oil should fix it as some others have suggested
 

Smitty37

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Point? What point? Now I'm really confused. So I thought I'd take a look at PSI instructions. What a good idea!! Not. They show a tubular spring, no point.
They show a point on the refill Tom. That would be the point most often referred to. That and the tip of the pen where the refill point goes. If there is a big end on the spring (not all Parker refill springs have one) it goes on the refill point with the bigger away from the refill.
 
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Jack Parker

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Mar 8, 2014
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Another thing you might want to check is that the refill slips through the tip freely. I have had a few pens that I had to use a needle file on the tip to keep the refill from "dragging". Don't usually see that on the Gatsby/Sierra pens, but something worth checking.
 
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