Princeton Pen Kit

[edicehouse]

I went to wood craft and got a couple Princeton Pen kits. I like the looks of them, but do have a complaint. The hole in the clip is too large, it gives too much play for the clip to slide around. Do the other vendor varations of this pen have that problem?



***From feedback, looks like operators error!

 

[seamus7227]

I went to wood craft and got a couple Princeton Pen kits. I like the looks of them, but do have a complaint. The hole in the clip is too large, it gives too much play for the clip to slide around. Do the other vendor varations of this pen have that problem?

pics please

 

[edicehouse]

It slips around. I actually like the pen, other than the loose clip.

 

[Justturnin]

From what in instructions say once you press H & I together you slide the clip over it and push it over the tranny. That will fill your gap.

 

[Bobalu]

I've assembled several Princetons or its variations and have not had any issue with the clip spinning around. In fact, I just pulled a few out of my storage box and inspected the clips. All were quite secure and could not be moved.

Keep in mind, this style clip has no tab to capture into a slot of a mating piece of hardware, so by design it can spin if the cap, clip, and pen blank aren't pressed firmly against each other. Some things to check to insure full contact between the blank, clip, and cap are:

1) Insure the pen blank has been milled square to the tube. If not the clip will not have full contact with the tube and blank.

2) Insure the cut edge of the tube is flush with the pen blank and has a flat surface. Dull pen mills can create a scalloped effect on the cut edge of the tube, creating high and low spots.

3) Insure the pen tube has no burrs which could hinder full contact between the blank and the clip. The same goes with the cap. I always deburr my pen tubes before assembly with a deburring tool or a countersink bit in a hand drill.

4) Insure the cap assembly has been assembled correctly. The instructions tell you to press the transmission coupler into the cap, then slip the clip over the large end of the coupler before pressing the entire assembly into the pen tube. If you hang the clip onto the coupler and then press both into the tube at the same time, the clip could slip onto the small end of the coupler and be captured between the cap and the step in the coupler, not the cap and pen blank. This is a remote possibility, but could occur.

You can easily pop the cap assembly back off the pen with a transfer punch and inspect the cap, clip, coupler, and blank. It might not be a bad idea rough up the bottom of the cap and both sides of the clip ring before you reassemble. I'd also put a little LockTite Red on the these surfaces at the same time. I'm not a fan of CA for this purpose, as it's too easy get this stuff everywhere and ruin the pen. LockTite will clean off if you have any squeeze out, but give you the same adhesion.

 

[Bobalu]

Is that a Princeton?

 

[Bobalu]

It looks like you have the transmission coupler pressed into the barrel backwards. It should have been pressed into the cap first (small end), then the clip put over the coupler's big end, and then this assembly pressed into the pen tube. If you can remove the cap, it's assembled wrong. The finished two part assembly should look like my photo.

 

[edicehouse]

K thanks for the input.

 

[Bobalu]

K thanks for the input.

Let us know how this all turns out. The answer to the problem, whatever it turns out to be, could be beneficial to others down the line. If it was an assembly mistake....we all do that once in awhile. That's why the transfer punches were invented.....well, maybe not, but I bet it was the second or third reason. :wink:

 

[edicehouse]

I put the piece in wrong, on the clip end. Thanks for the feedback, it is a nice looking pen, better than the pictures I have seen of them.