Zen magnet problem

[bensoelberg]

I've seen a lot of Zens posted in the last day or two, so I figured I'd ask if anyone else has had the same problem I had last week. The magnet in the cap slipped out a couple of times. I would pull the cap off and the magnet would still be firmly stuck around the nib. This only happened a few times, so whenever it did, I would just pry the magnet off with my fingernail, shove it back into the cap and move on. When I did that on Friday, the magnet broke into 4 pieces. I've tried putting it back together, but that is proving more difficult than I thought it would be. Has this happened to anyone else?

 

[greggas]

Ben, I have made about 300 Zens and have had the magnet come out about 10 times. I just CA them back in place. One did break on me and after trying to get it back together for an hour ( magnetic pull defeats CA) I just junked a kit and grabbed a new cap. Maybe try gluing one piece at a time...darn, why didn't i do that last year?!?!?

 

[G1Pens]

Made my first Zen yesterday and the magnet would not stay in. I just CA'd it into place. So far it is holding fine.

 

[thewishman]

I use 5 minute epoxy when making refrigerator magnets, it seems to work better than CA for the shear forces.

 

[Rmartin]

I bought a dozen kits several months ago. I made 3 pens and all of them would come apart when slipped into a shirt pocket.

I posted a thread way back then asking if anyone had had that problem. The replies I got were just the opposite; the cap stayed on too good. It was suggested that I needed to move the magnet? I couldn't figure out how to do that. I've moved on to other projects and haven't made any since then. Maybe I should give them another look.

 

[76winger]

I haven't made any yet, but was just wondering:
Is the magnet physically sticking to the nib and thus pulling out of the cap? Or are they just not glued into place properly to begin with.

 

[G1Pens]

I haven't made any yet, but was just wondering:
Is the magnet physically sticking to the nib and thus pulling out of the cap? Or are they just not glued into place properly to begin with.

I'm not sure, but it appears that the magnet should be a friction fit in the cap. In my case it came out and remained on the nib everytime I removed the cap. Infact....it was out of the cap in the packet. It would also come out of the cap and remain on the pen with the cap posted on the end.

 

[bensoelberg]

I haven't made any yet, but was just wondering:
Is the magnet physically sticking to the nib and thus pulling out of the cap? Or are they just not glued into place properly to begin with.[/quote]

I think that it is a little bit of both. I think that the magnet is so strong that it breaks the bond of the glue that is used (if there actually is any glue in the first place...) and remains around the nib.

I had planned on glueing the magnet back into place as soon as I got home from work, but it broke before I made it. Now I know not to mess around with it and how to fix it should it ever happen again. I really like the Zen kit, so this is definitely not a deal breaker for me, just unfortunate.