Berea Series 2000 FT American-Need Advice

[Randy_]

A friend of mine brought me a pen to repair....don't know who it was purchased from. It appears to be the Berea kit referenced in the title; but it could be the PSI Classic Rollerball as they look almost identical. Whoever made the pen had a bad day. Hardware is loose in the tubes, wood is proud of the hardware and not quite round and the finish is mediocre. Were it it anyone else. I would advise them to trash is and let me sell them a good pen. But that might sound a little self-serving so I am going to help the guy out if I can.

The biggest problem is that the metal to metal threads don't seem to want to snug up and the cap keeps unscrewing. Is this a defective kit or is there a basic design flaw? I looked at the PSI pen on the PSI web page and it seems to come with a little O-Ring that might have been designed to keep the cap from unscrewing.

Anyone have any experience with this kit or thoughts on a solution? Thanks.

 

[Texatdurango]

Randy, have a look at: http://www.georgeandsirik.com/images/dynamic/ftop45.jpg

I'm guessing that this might be the same kit. If so, I quit making them after about a dozen or so because I didn't like the metal to metal threads and still have a few unused kits. If you would like a kit I would give you one and perhaps you could use whatever you needed or just craft a new blank and give him a new pen.

Let me know.

 

[Geo in Winnipeg]

Randy, I have few of those left (as well as the Streamline American screw cap) and I don't like them for that reason. I'm waiting for some o-rings I ordered from Clewless that I'm going to try.

 

[Randy_]

Originally posted by Geo in Winnipeg
<br />Randy, I have few of those left (as well as the Streamline American screw cap) and I don't like them for that reason. I'm waiting for some o-rings I ordered from Clewless that I'm going to try.

Thanks guys. Think I will just blow this off. If the threads are going to be a headache, there is no point in fooling around with the other problems.

George: I thought about the o-ring solution; but it is for the Baron kit. The Baron design is a lot different than the FT and I don't think the o-ring thing will work on this kit.

 

[gerryr]

This is a common problem with Berea's Flattop American and Roundtop European fountain pens and rollerballs. The threads suck. One thing that might work, maybe, would be to powdercoat the threads on either the cap or body. That might add just enough thickness and "grabbiness" so it won't un-screw itself.

 

[Randy_]

Gerry: Thanks for the idea!! I don't have powder coating equipment; but maybe a drop of CA on the male threads would create enough grip to keep the cap on.....or maybe a coating of clear fingernail polish. The coating might have to be renewed every so often; but that would not be a big deal compared to the inconvenience of the cap unscrewing all of the time.

 

[EeyorIs21]

I like the CA idea. Might hold up longer.

Never tried it, but what about a drop of solder. Ever "tin" the end of a wire before? Something like that, but get it into the threads. Just an idea[]

 

[GaryMGg]

Randy,
What about plumber's dope? A little yucky to look at, but it won't be seen while the pen is assembled and it never hardens.

 

[dbriski]

What about blue loctite? Made to do what you want I think. Blue is the removeable kind, not sure if it would last on and of a lot but it would prevent the screws from loosening by themselves.

 

[Randy_]

Solder, Loctite or anything with color might have a cosmetic issue (when I wrote this the first time the word was cosmic[]) and the pipe dope thing doesn't appeal to me as it might rub off on fingers while writing. I thought about deforming the threads a little by squeezing them with a pair of pliers with the hope of increasing the interference fit of the threads; but I'm not real crazy about that idea either.

 

[jimwill48]

I have made a 10 or so of the PSI Classic Elite Rollerballs and few of the FP and kind of like them. I have never had an issue with the threads or the caps ( other than one kit that had bad threads cut) I always believed the O ring was more for leakage than retaining the cap in place. Texatdurango if you want to get rid of the kits you have let me know what you want for them.

JW

 

[Randy_]

Originally posted by Texatdurango
<br />Randy, have a look at: http://www.georgeandsirik.com/images/dynamic/ftop45.jpg

I'm guessing that this might be the same kit. If so, I quit making them after about a dozen or so because I didn't like the metal to metal threads and still have a few unused kits. If you would like a kit I would give you one and perhaps you could use whatever you needed or just craft a new blank and give him a new pen.

Let me know.

George: That certainly looks like the kit I have. Please confirm for me that we are looking at the Berea kit.

I appreciate your offer; but this thread situation is such a "MAJOR" flaw that I would never consider making another one!! I'm a little surprised that Berea continues to sell them.

Which raises the next logical question or two. What does Berea or BB say when you receive such a misperforming kit and complain to them about it?? Do all FTs have this problem, or most of them or some of them or just a small percentage??

There are several other screw cap kits that seem to share the same thread design and may suffer from the same proplem. They are the Streamline American, the Streamline Round Top and the Round Top European. Has anyone had problems with these other kits as well?

 

[jimwill48]

Randy,
When you make this style pen you have to cut a tendon down to the tube for the center band, I wonder if the issue is maybe that the original maker cut the tendon to long (exposing to much tube) which would in effect cause the tube to protrude into the threaded area of the centerband when it was pressed on, which could cause the problem your seeing. Seeing how you discribed the original construction this could be the issue.

JW

 

[Randy_]

Jim: That is a good thought and well worth considering; but, apparently, is not the problem in my case. If you look in the cap, there is a narrow 45°± shoulder just beyond the threads that is the stop point for the tightening process. The end of the tube is a full millimeter shy of reaching that shoulder so I don't see any way there could be any interference to the tightening of the threads.

 

[its_virgil]

Metal threads just suck...no matter whose they are. First of all, they are too coarse...need to be finer and the cap will not stay on if carried in the shirt pocket. I've done several kits with metal threads and they all have the same problem. It's too bad, because a couple of kits with metal threads I really like.

Randy: take the kits apart, sand the blanks and give it a good finish and tell the friend that you can't fix the problem with the cap threads since it is a design problem and maybe the pen looking and fitting better will make him less aware of the thread problem. Try the o-ring.
Do a good turn daily!
Don

Originally posted by Randy_
<br />Jim: That is a good thought and well worth considering; but, apparently, is not the problem in my case. If you look in the cap, there is a narrow 45°± shoulder just beyond the threads that is the stop point for the tightening process. The end of the tube is a full millimeter shy of reaching that shoulder so I don't see any way there could be any interference to the tightening of the threads.

 

[EeyorIs21]

I was thinking that anything you put on the threads might be put on the threading inside the cap where it cannot be seen when the pen is being used. The CA may come off in little pieces over times but it would be clear. The solder I don't know about. Pretty sure neither one of them would come off on the threading where pen is held to create a problem for the user. Would just fall out of the cap when pen was opened(if eiother ever came loose of threading).

So, my suggestion about the solder was intended to be placed on the female/receiving end of the threading, inside the cap. The color of the solder would not be noticed here by a user, only someone looking for it might notice it.

 

[great12b4ever]

Randy, I think a coat of fingernail posih on the female thread, inside the cap would be just the trick. This way you could fix the other problems tell the customer about the thread problem and what you did to fix it, and he can then add more when it wears off. This way you have fixed the other flaws, come up with a solution for him on the loose cap and you should then be the good guy in the whole mess!

Rob

 

[Randy_]

I had been thinking about doing something to the male threads just because they were a little more accessible to work with. Maybe I should consider an application of something to the female threads.

I'm a little afraid of the solder solution. I think it would be way too easy to get too much solder in the threads and fill them up to the point where you could not put the cap on the barrel at all.

But keep shooting ideas my way. I will experiment with the best of them and see if some jury-rigged solution can be achieved.

 

[cdcarter]

Not a metal threads fan. Just a preference, but that's mine.

 

[neon007]

Try putting Loc-tite on the threads. I put it on all of my threaded pens and no problems yet.