Trouble with Classic American style pen

[Teacher]

Had couple of the Classic American pen that I have done over the last few month and recently had a problem with one of the them when I was showing a person how to change out the pen refill. It seems that when I revolve the top of the pen in the counter clockwise direction, it will not unscrew but extends the pen point ready for writing. Works fine clockwise as to extend pen normally, just can not unscrew top part to replace ink pen. Any suggestions out there. Have not tried anything yet, like pulling to see if it will come apart, wanted to check here first. Thanks,

Don

Added three pics, shows 2 pens, one acrylic and the other Bocote. The acrylic pen is the one that will not come apart. Have tried pulling apart but not much luck. Waiting to see suggestion from here before I destroy it trying to get it apart

 

[rjwolfe3]

Haven't done one of those but I am sure someone has and will answer this for you.

 

[tim self]

Deleted, I posted about the rollerball

 

[Russianwolf]

sounds like a double twist tranny. The Berea cigars have them too.

If you rotate one direction, the nib extends. revolve back and it disappears. Keep going in that direction and the nib comes back out.

If you keep rotating in the counterclockwise direction, one of two thngs should happen. 1) it will start to unthread the trannt or 2) the tube will slip on the tranny and spin with some friction (but not enough to cause unthreading).

Solutions 1) pull the pen apart and handle the tranny directly ( I don't recommend unscrewing the tranny in the cap as it can get pushed up some when reassembled and cause other issues) or 2) if the nib section is similar to the cigar, unscrew it and replace the refill from the front.

 

[RAdams]

you sure it is a Classic American? I write with a Cl. Am. roller (from woodcraft), and it has no transmission. It is a one piece pen, with a seperate, postable lid. I don't think any fountain pen has a transmission do they?


could you post a picture of the pen in question?

 

[Rick1708]

The picture looks like an Americana Pen Kit. I haven't done one, but when I look at the instruction, it looks like the back just pulls off (reverse of assembling). I assume you would be able follow the assembly steps in reverse and pull the back off and unscrew the transmission.

 

[RHunter]

Looks like a Flat Top American (AS) Click. I made some of those.

I too have had a problem getting the cap off to change the refill.

The tranny is unscrewing from the top of the cap, and not unscrewing from the coupler in the middle of the pen. When it unscrews from the top, it pushes down into the pen extending the refill out.

What I have done is to keep twisting counter clockwise to unscrew the tranny from the top of the cap until the cap comes off. Then you should be able to twist the entire tranny assembly off the coupler.

Solution to prevent from happening again? Beats me, I just tell the folks who bought them from me to bring them back to me with their refill and I'll change it out for them- that way if I have this problem, I can get it, and they don't know about it. Bad customer service as there is a hidden defect in this pen- maybe, but if I have this problem, I change their refill for them, and tell them the issue. They are happy with this since all they really care about is having a working pen...


I'll try and dig one out and post some pix when I get home.

Good luck.

 

[RAdams]

yeah, sorry boss. I don't know what that kit is. It looks like a Classic American, but as i posted, my Cl. Am. has a postable lid. good luck with the problem!

 

[JohnU]

I make lots of these and Ive had a few problems with them also. My problem was I didnt clean the inner tube after using the barrel trimmer and some of the resin from the ends had gotten inside, making the fit too tight between the tranny and the tube. I recommend running a cloth of acetone down the tube to clean them out before you assemble. Then the top tube part should slide off the tranny and you can unscrew it directly. If not what happens is it works loose from the threads being opened and shut and if it comes off the threads and you try to push it too hard while screwing, it moves and you cant get it screwed on all the way to work correctly. I had to use a rod and drive the tranny out of the upper tube after unscrewing the top cap. Good Luck.

 

[emccarthy]

I just recently made a classic american pen, kit purchased at woodcraft. The way it is supposed to work, as one poster already mentioned, is if you twist clockwise, the tip of the pen is exposed. Twisting counter-clockwise will also expose the pen tip, but if you continue turning, it will unscrew from the transmission. One issue that may happen in a customer's hands, is if they play with it and over tighten in the clockwise direction, it can make it difficult to unscrew to replace the ink later on. I'm not sure how you can keep this from happening, except possibly using graphite powder on the threads. Of course, this can make a mess too, and should 'probably' be avoided.

gl

edit: I just noticed that this was an old thread...apologies for bringing up old news, but hopefully this will help someone new to this style of pen.

cheers!