disassembling a closed end pen

[mick]

Been making a lot of closed end Gents and Barons lately and ran into a problem. I put one together and don't like the plating and wood combination. Is there a good way to get the nib coupler out of the closed end barrel without damaging the pen barrel or the coupler. I've got a couple of ideas but don't want to mess either up.

 

[Texatdurango]

Let's see, it's been so long since I messed up I forgot how I did this! :biggrin:

Actually I used a tap that was pretty close to the threads in the nib housing, threaded the loose fitting tap into the housing and pulled (yanked) on it a few times... and it came out with no damage to the housing threads.

When I go back out to the shop I'll try to remember which tap size worked.

 

[panini]

Aloha George, I've got several closed end barons, What size taps you need to use on both sides...TIA

 

[its_virgil]

If you don't need to save the wood or the tube, the cut then (closed) end off and drive out the coupler as you would do for the standard gent or baron. But, I like George's solution also...it saves the wood. Remember the plugs that once came with the jr gents (or statesman) used for pressing in the barrel parts? ... I;ve screwed those into the coupler and pulled as George suggested.
Do a good turn daily!
Don

Been making a lot of closed end Gents and Barons lately and ran into a problem. I put one together and don't like the plating and wood combination. Is there a good way to get the nib coupler out of the closed end barrel without damaging the pen barrel or the coupler. I've got a couple of ideas but don't want to mess either up.

 

[mick]

If you don't need to save the wood or the tube, the cut then (closed) end off and drive out the coupler as you would do for the standard gent or baron. But, I like George's solution also...it saves the wood. Remember the plugs that once came with the jr gents (or statesman) used for pressing in the barrel parts? ... I;ve screwed those into the coupler and pulled as George suggested.
Do a good turn daily!
Don

Yeah I wanna save wood and coupler if possible. It's a sweet piece TX mountain laurel that curtis cast with some resin and I wasn't real happy after I put the gold Tl kit on it. It's hollerin for Rhodium!
Thanks Guys

 

[Texatdurango]

The tap I used is a metric tap, m8x1.

Below you can see the tap inside a pen. The idea is to clamp the tap in a vice then pull while holding the pen body. The tap is pretty loose but did manage to pull the coupler out without any damage to the threads.

DISCLAIMER: This is NOT the proper size tap for these threads, they are a non-standard size BUT this tap does thread inside the coupler without damaging the existing threads AND it works, at least the couple times I tried it. If you try it, you may hold your tongue the wrong way or not equalize your weight on both feet just right and it may not work so don't blame me for your poor tongue holding and balancing skills!

 

[pmpartain]

See if I can explain this right. You can put a piece of anything inside the tube so long as it is fairly hard. A wooden dowel, piece of allthread, anything. Leave it a little short of the coupler. Diameter isn't that critical. Next get something to thread into the coupler. Could use a ruined nib or a bolt if you can find the thread. Rig up a nipple at the end of the bolt. Maybe 1/4 inch long or so. Now thread this bolt into the coupler and tighten. This will push on the tube filler and force the coupler out. It would work like a puller you use to remove the harmonic balancer off of a crank shaft. The more you tighten, should force the coupler out of the tube. As long as you don't pull the threads out of the coupler, it will be nearly impossible to ruin anything. Or so I think.

 

[mick]

Thanks for both ideas! Rigging some sort of puller was what I had in mind. I don't have a tap that comes close to fitting so I think I'll cobble up a "puller"

 

[me2cyclops]

or you could try an old machinist trick and fill the tube with a heavy grease, and press a tight fitting dowel through the coupler. hydrolic removal, thats how we remove tight fitting bearrings from a blind hole without damage.
never tried it on pen parts just an idea.

 

[Texatdurango]

I had a thought last night!

Probably the cheapest route would be to sacrifice a kit and make a puller from the upper attaching cap section. Then you would simply thread the puller onto the lower cap threads and pull it out! Actually, by just continuing to screw the cap on, the lower coupler starts pulling loose.

If you think about it, if someone offered a specialized coupler pulling tool for sale for $10, we'de probably jump on it, right? Why not sacrifice the cheapest jr gent or baron kit when you catch them at 25% OFF?

 

[mick]

Thanks to everyone for the suggestions. got the pen apart after George mentioned that over twisting the cap would loosen the coupler. That got me thinking about maybe dropping a dowel into the pen body and using the cap with another dowel and screwing it together and having the two dowels push on each other and pulling the coupler out. the only problem with that was how to keep from pushing the finial out. As I sat there pondering I over twisted the cap and the coupler came out a little. I twisted as far as the cap would go and had a decent space between the trim ring and the barrel. It wouldn't twist anymore without damaging the threads in the cap so back to more pondering. I started looking around for something to wedge between the trim ring and the barrel when it dawned on me to wrap a rubber band around the space between the two. A couple of twists and the coupler was out easy as pie!
So now if you ever need to take apart a closed end pen all you need is a rubber band!. Talk about simple disassembly tools!

 

[Texatdurango]

Ya gotta love it when a plan comes together! :biggrin:

 

[hunter-27]

OR, in this case. APART!!!!!!

 

[Texatdurango]

OK Mike, now you got me to thinking and I just wanted to share a thought....

When I make a closed end pen I measure enough room for a fountain converter, rollerball refill or rubber ink cartridge and a spare then allow for a little material beyond that. I also use different size drills rather than one size all the way to the end so when I taper the pen body the lower wall thickness doesn't get really thin.

For those using one size drill all the way down, your wall thickness will get thinner if you taper the pen body much and if you put dowels inside to press against, you might break your pen in half or at least crack the lower section.

Just something to consider.

 

[mick]

OK Mike, now you got me to thinking and I just wanted to share a thought....

When I make a closed end pen I measure enough room for a fountain converter, rollerball refill or rubber ink cartridge and a spare then allow for a little material beyond that. I also use different size drills rather than one size all the way to the end so when I taper the pen body the lower wall thickness doesn't get really thin.

For those using one size drill all the way down, your wall thickness will get thinner if you taper the pen body much and if you put dowels inside to press against, you might break your pen in half or at least crack the lower section.

Just something to consider.

To add to George's comments I've found that for me its easiest to drill my smaller hole(9/32) to the full depth. I don't remember the exact depth since it's marked on the bit I use :biggrin: I then go back and drill the hole for the tube to just beyond the depth needed. This allows a small amount of material for squaring.
I tried different bit sizes for the smaller hole and found that the 9/32 was small enough to leave good wall thickness and large enough to allow the spring to seat into the bottom of the hole.