Variants on the Jr Gent 2 - Tube Lengths?

[magpens]

In addition to the Jr Gent (and Jr Statesman) we now have a number of variants including Jr George, Jr Aaron, Jr Antony, etc., all of which use brass tubes with the same diameters of 10.5 mm and 12.5 mm.

The tube lengths, however, are not all the same. For example, I just bought some Jr Antony kits. The cap tube matches the Jr Gent cap tube at 1.89" but the body tube of the Jr Antony is about 0.070" longer than for the Jr Gent.

I am wondering if anyone has compiled a list of tube lengths for these variants on the Jr Gent.

If you know of such a list, please post a reference link to it.

Wayne's lists referenced on the IAP Home page may contain all the info in the various lists, but I am looking for a single concise list all together in one place.

 

[Dale Allen]

The internal cap length can vary a lot. All the ones I've done have 1/8"-1/4" of extra room and I think that is due to the FP tips being a bit longer.

 

[magpens]

Dale ... by "internal cap length" do you mean after assembly ?

I am talking about the brass tube length as received in the kit.

And my numbers above for the Jr Antony show cap tube length same as Jr Gent,
but body tube being considerably longer than for Jr Gent.

 

[Dale Allen]

I guess what I was saying is that the tube length determines the internal length and it can vary without effecting the clearance for the nib end. Of course if there is a difference in diameter then the hardware won't fit. Lay out the hardware and determine the length needed for the nib end. Then compare that to what the internal clearance is including the extra on the cap hardware.

 

[JohnU]

Thankfully the diameters are all the same, at least for now. So, If it's a rollerball and you have the longer tubes, an idea to fix is to find a longer spring to fit in the bottom, or cut a small plug and insert under the spring to raise the rollerball ink stem from the bottom. Just a thought.

 

[magpens]

John .... Thanks for your reply.

A specific problem that I face is fitting a set of your Jr Gent 2 feather blanks to a Jr Antony.

I don't know if it will work. . I am thinking I will have to add a ring to each end of the lower barrel blank.

 

[its_virgil]

I don't see the point in making the smaller tube longer in some of the juniors. The rollerball refills are the same. Is the spring for the ones with the longer tube also longer? Or, does it really matter? I do not make any of the newer juniors, just the gent and statesman, so I'm not familiar with them. I require a customer for snake blanks to specify EXACTLY which junior they want. Just ordering jr blanks no longer works.
Do a good turn daily!
Don

 

[magpens]

Don .... I don't know the answers to your well-posed questions. . I don't know if the length really matters. . Thank you for asking. . Before I make up the pen I am going to do some accurate measuring and try to find out if the length does or does not matter.

As I said in my Post #6, what I am hoping to do is use a pair of Jr Gent 2 feather blanks made by John on a Jr Antony. . The "problem" is that the Jr Antony is designed around a lower brass tube which is 2.166" long, whereas the blank by John is made to the Jr Gent 2 specified length of 2.092".

I put "quotes" around the word "problem" because I do not know at this stage if it is a problem or not. . Perhaps I can use the short blank as is with no negative consequences. . It could be that it will work. . But if I need to, I can glue on a ring at each end to increase the length. . I know that with the rollerball architecture, there is some flexibility.

So I will make some detailed measurements of the internal dimensions of the Antony kit and make a decision on what to do after I have done that. . The most important internal dimension is the internal depth of the lower barrel finial (cap) where the spring sits. . The nib end should not be a constraint because it includes a ridge that the rollerball refill abuts to. . So I am hoping that the spring can accommodate the extra 0.074" compression forced on it by the shorter lower barrel.

I still would like to find an information source for the tube lengths of the newer Jr series kits.

 

[ed4copies]

The tubes are different lengths.
The refill is a constant.
Therefore, the nib length or finial length must differ from model to model.
As John said, if you use the longest (and I have not measured ALL models), the spring can be lengthened, or an insert can be put in the finial.
If you use a short one, I don't think it will operate well, but I am open to your solutions.


FWIW,
Ed

 

[magpens]

Jr Gent Lower Tube Works Fine for Jr Antony

YES !!

I tried it and the shorter Jr Gent 2 lower tube works fine in place of the longer Jr Antony lower tube.

The rollerball spring does indeed accommodate the required additional compression.

 

[magpens]

Jr Gent Lower Tube Works Fine for Jr Antony

YES!!

I tried it and the shorter Jr Gent 2 lower tube works fine in place of the longer Jr Antony lower tube.

The rollerball spring does indeed accommodate the required additional compression.

 

[Chasper]

There are three lower body tube links in the Jr. family, Triton is the shortest, Jr. Gent, Statesman, Atrax is longer and Jr Aaron, Anthony, George is even longer. I make all of them in whatever legnth seems to be best for the blank. I'll make short Jr Aarons, long Tritons, and Jr Gents in all three sizes.

It takes a variety of springs to accommodate all the sizes. If you are using a precast blank you can't make it longer, but you can grind it down in some cases (not feathers).

In general I like a longer spring that any of them come with. Buyers mostly don't like the movement that comes with a short spring.

 

[magpens]

Thanks, Gerry, for your categorized info on the related pen kits.

As I stated in Post #11, I successfully used a pre-cast blank of Jr. Gent 2 length on a Jr Antony.

 

[JohnU]

Good news! Thanks for keeping us updated.