Looseness with a tube !

[avbill]

After I glued in the tube into a blank drilled for a sierra pen I milled the ends. I used a 7mm with a acrylic sleeve. After finishing and polishing the blank I started to install the pen's hardware. Both ends are so loose that neither are anywhere close to a fit .

id of tube .3970
id of new tube .3950

od of nib .3890
od of top .3930

I can take a new tube .4105 od and .3875 id of the tube and it slips over the hardware also. any suggestions

bill

 

[Randy_]

I'm going to have to think about the implications of the numbers you posted for a minute and may have to get out a kit and my vernier and take some measurements. But what I can tell you is the Sierra kit is known to have a "loose" tube. I can push the clip end hardware into the tube without the need for a press and can pull it back out with no tools needed. All of my Sierras get a half drop of CA to assure that they will stay together!!

 

[rlharding]

I ran into a problem with my first. I started to put it together in the same way I did other pens and the parts didn't fit. You have to put the whole pen together as it's the cap that holds everything together the way the transmission hooks up....or something like that. I haven't had a problem since.

 

[Buzz]

What Ruth says. The Sierra confuses most people first time. Simply place the refill in the nib and screw on the transmission nice and tight. Then fit the clip, you may or may not need to use a press. Then push the nib section into the barrel where it will mate with the clip assembly and hold it all together. Easiest pen to make of them all

 

[Randy_]

Originally posted by avbill

After I glued in the tube into a blank drilled for a sierra pen I milled the ends. I used a 7mm with a acrylic sleeve. After finishing and polishing the blank I started to install the pen's hardware. Both ends are so loose that neither are anywhere close to a fit .

id of tube .3970
id of new tube .3950

od of nib .3890
od of top .3930

I can take a new tube .4105 od and .3875 id of the tube and it slips over the hardware also. any suggestions

Got out my caliper and measured the first kit out of my box"

OD = 0.408"
ID = o.390"
CLIP/Finial = 0.89"
Nib = 0.386"

First off, Bill, as was suggested before, only one end of the tube is supposed to have a snug press fit......the finial end. Where the tube slips over the nib end, the fit fit should be close; but not tight. The tube should rotate freely with out any noticeable friction between the tube and the nib. The "connection" between the nib and the tube is made at the finial end where the end of the transmission is a snug fit into the open end of the finial.

The finial should be a tight press fit into the tube; but the Sierra kit is well known for being loose at this juncture. A drop of CA is used by many to be sure the finial is well anchored in the tube; but you have to be careful to let the CA cure for a day or two in the open or the CA fumes may cause a white powdery coating on your exterior metal surfaces. That being the case. it might be just as well to use epoxy to glue in the hardware rather than CA.

As you can see from the tube measurements I posted, it looks like the tube you are having problems with is a little over-sized in its ID. The tube may have been bad from the start or maybe you reamed it out just a hair to much when cleaning up the excess from the gluing process??

 

[Randy_]

Note: There was a typo in one of the dimensions in my previous message. Edit time had expired so I couldn't fix it. Consequently, I reposted the message here with the correction.

Originally posted by Randy_

Originally posted by avbill

After I glued in the tube into a blank drilled for a sierra pen I milled the ends. I used a 7mm with a acrylic sleeve. After finishing and polishing the blank I started to install the pen's hardware. Both ends are so loose that neither are anywhere close to a fit .

id of tube .3970
id of new tube .3950

od of nib .3890
od of top .3930

I can take a new tube .4105 od and .3875 id of the tube and it slips over the hardware also. any suggestions

Got out my caliper and measured the first kit out of my box"

OD = 0.408"
ID = 0.390"
CLIP/Finial = 0.389"
Nib = 0.386"

First off, Bill, as was suggested before, only one end of the tube is supposed to have a snug press fit......the finial end. Where the tube slips over the nib end, the fit fit should be close; but not tight. The tube should rotate freely with out any noticeable friction between the tube and the nib. The "connection" between the nib and the tube is made at the finial end where the end of the transmission is a snug fit into the open end of the finial.

The finial should be a tight press fit into the tube; but the Sierra kit is well known for being loose at this juncture. A drop of CA is used by many to be sure the finial is well anchored in the tube; but you have to be careful to let the CA cure for a day or two in the open or the CA fumes may cause a white powdery coating on your exterior metal surfaces. That being the case. it might be just as well to use epoxy to glue in the hardware rather than CA.

As you can see from the tube measurements I posted, it looks like the tube you are having problems with is a little over-sized in its ID. The tube may have been bad from the start or maybe you reamed it out just a hair to much when cleaning up the excess from the gluing process??