Goodbye Pens

[DRAT]

Friends,

I am have some difficulty which I'll bet one of you can remedy with one response back.

I have broken several pens as of recent with a simple drop to the ground.

The problem may be in my assembly.

When I put the pieces all together, I always use two part epoxy to hold eveything together (from the cap to the body inserts). But it seems that my parts are becoming brittle from this process. Yesterday I was showing off a Churchill I made. The person who was inspecting my worked dropped the pen and it broke right in the middle of the pen. In fact, the threaded part which holds the top and bottom together cracked directly in-half. The same thing happened with a Cambridge a couple of weeks ago.

Should I not be glueing in my parts, just pressing them into place?

Help!

DrAT

 

[D.Oliver]

I've never glued any parts. I've always just pressed them in and never had any problems with pens breaking when dropped.

 

[EricJS]

I never glue the components unless there is a loose fit. Then I use loctite to bond them together in case they need to be disassembled.

Any pen is subject to breaking upon impact. Especially when breakable parts are used. If you glue all the components, I would assume the rigidity of the pen would increase, causing it to break easier.

Handle your "high end" pens like fine jewelry. Most of your customers will see this and do the same. Hope this helps.

 

[bitshird]

Older Cambridge and El Grande's had that problem, it's the part it's self, I thought they had corrected that on the Cambridge pens though.

 

[glycerine]

Aren't those particular parts of the pen plastic? I think that's the biggest issue. I've had my two year old daughter pull mine out of my pocket and throw it onto a tile floor and it survived, but all parts are metal (except for the wood that I made the body from).

 

[LanceD]

If those pens were from older stock and you've had them awhile you probably have the ones with the plastic couplers. The newer ones have been replaced with metal couplers to prevent that problem from happening.

 

[joefyffe]

Ken: Now you have me concerned. I have a few ElGrande Elite Rollerballs "Style 2". Would these be the ones which were problematic, or are these a later version? One of my biggest fears is selling something defective. I'd rather deposit it in my trash!
Thanks in Advance! joefyffe

Older Cambridge and El Grande's had that problem, it's the part it's self, I thought they had corrected that on the Cambridge pens though.

 

[ghostrider]

Question:

Is there any chance the heat generated by the epoxy could be contributing to some of the problem?

 

[LanceD]

Question:

Is there any chance the heat generated by the epoxy could be contributing to some of the problem?[/quote

No not at all. That little bit of glue you're using will not have any effect on the parts at all except to hold them together. There is no noticable heat at all.

 

[redfishsc]

Yesterday I was showing off a Churchill I made. The person who was inspecting my worked dropped the pen and it broke right in the middle of the pen. In fact, the threaded part which holds the top and bottom together cracked directly in-half. The same thing happened with a Cambridge a couple of weeks ago.

Other people have mentioned this, but I'll add a bit more.

You just described a HUGE problem (in my eyes) that the El Grande and Churchill pens suffered from for a few years until penturners raised holy hell over the issue. I'll admit that I was probably the most outspoken among us over it.

I had never made a Churchill or El Grande, so I made 1 of each several years ago, and BOTH of them snapped a couple days apart, while I was taking notes in grad school class. I glued them back together, but you can't refill the ink now. So I saved them as "display" pens.


The problem--- the nib coupler (the part you press into the writing end of the pen) was very brittle plastic. Which, for a pen I will charge $100+ for, is inexpressibly inexcusable. So I refused, for a couple years, to even make/sell Churchills and El Grandes. Even 1 customer with a broken pen is bad enough for me, I sell pens in a fairly tight knit educational community.


I started this thread, but I was by no means the only one who complained. There were other threads. http://www.penturners.org/forum/showthread.php?p=435426


Berea, later, decided to put in each bag 1 metal and 1 plastic nib coupler. I throw the plastic one away, every time, along with a hearty "mwahahaha!".


If your supplier is selling you El Grandes and Churchills that do not have the metal coupler, ask them to correct this and buy from somewhere else until they do.


To my knowledge, most every Berea kit comes with both parts. So just dig up that metal nib coupler and use it instead.

Let me also emphasize, that the Churchill is one of my favorite kits EVER. I have one that I use for grading exams for my major prof, for about 3 years now, made from dogwood. I LOVE IT.

 

[bitshird]

Ken: Now you have me concerned. I have a few ElGrande Elite Rollerballs "Style 2". Would these be the ones which were problematic, or are these a later version? One of my biggest fears is selling something defective. I'd rather deposit it in my trash!
Thanks in Advance! joefyffe

Older Cambridge and El Grande's had that problem, it's the part it's self, I thought they had corrected that on the Cambridge pens though.

The problem was the coupler, If you have the newer ones they are metal, the older ones were plastic, I believe Bill at Arizona Silhouette carries the replacement if not, try Ernie at Beartooth Woods, they aren't very expensive, in fact I'd try Ernie first since he's a lot easier to deal with. But I think all of the ones in the past two years have had the metal coupler.

 

[joefyffe]

Ken: If you are speaking of the "nib holder, as it's called in the instruction sheet, then mine are metal. Are we speaking of the same animal? I bet we are. If so, thanks for giving me info that will allow me to sleep tonight. :biggrin: joe

Ken: Now you have me concerned. I have a few ElGrande Elite Rollerballs "Style 2". Would these be the ones which were problematic, or are these a later version? One of my biggest fears is selling something defective. I'd rather deposit it in my trash!
Thanks in Advance! joefyffe

Older Cambridge and El Grande's had that problem, it's the part it's self, I thought they had corrected that on the Cambridge pens though.

The problem was the coupler, If you have the newer ones they are metal, the older ones were plastic, I believe Bill at Arizona Silhouette carries the replacement if not, try Ernie at Beartooth Woods, they aren't very expensive, in fact I'd try Ernie first since he's a lot easier to deal with. But I think all of the ones in the past two years have had the metal coupler.

 

[redfishsc]

I think that is the same part Joefyffe. There aren't many metal parts to the Churchill. I know the FP nib, clip, and the coupler are the only metal parts I can think of, which helps keep it very light, which is why I love it.

I've found my own personal Churchill, with the metal coupler, to be the most reliable pen, and most fun to use, that I have. The cap threads (along with the El Grande) hold much more reliably than the threads on the Jr Gent/Baron types.

 

[Jgrden]

I never glue the components unless there is a loose fit. Then I use loctite to bond them together in case they need to be disassembled.

Any pen is subject to breaking upon impact. Especially when breakable parts are used. If you glue all the components, I would assume the rigidity of the pen would increase, causing it to break easier.

Handle your "high end" pens like fine jewelry. Most of your customers will see this and do the same. Hope this helps.

Excellent and I did not know to use Loctite. This I will try my contributing friend.

 

[joefyffe]

John: Just a word from one who learned, almost the hard way, there are two different loctites. The red has a lot stronger adhesion, but can be separated if necessary. Just don't dilly dally around when doing the assembly. It can be quick!!! The blue is more forgiving but, IMO, is not as sure to hold things in place.

I never glue the components unless there is a loose fit. Then I use loctite to bond them together in case they need to be disassembled.

Any pen is subject to breaking upon impact. Especially when breakable parts are used. If you glue all the components, I would assume the rigidity of the pen would increase, causing it to break easier.

Handle your "high end" pens like fine jewelry. Most of your customers will see this and do the same. Hope this helps.

Excellent and I did not know to use Loctite. This I will try my contributing friend.

 

[joefyffe]

Thanks redfishsc! With that consolation and a glass of Ky. Bourbon, I can sleep all night long, oh well! until about 5 a.m., anyway!

 

[ghostrider]

John: Just a word from one who learned, almost the hard way, there are two different loctites. The red has a lot stronger adhesion, but can be separated if necessary. Just don't dilly dally around when doing the assembly. It can be quick!!! The blue is more forgiving but, IMO, is not as sure to hold things in place.

I never glue the components unless there is a loose fit. Then I use loctite to bond them together in case they need to be disassembled.

Any pen is subject to breaking upon impact. Especially when breakable parts are used. If you glue all the components, I would assume the rigidity of the pen would increase, causing it to break easier.

Handle your "high end" pens like fine jewelry. Most of your customers will see this and do the same. Hope this helps.

Excellent and I did not know to use Loctite. This I will try my contributing friend.

Didn't there used to be a purple also. Wonder what happened to it.