Newbie - First Pen Trouble

[Plane-O-Joe]

Hello All; Made my first pen yesterday: the good news is it writes; the bad news is the nib & cap kept falling out (literally). Certainly didn't need the pen press I bought! I finally CA'd them in. Used all procedures listed in the book, i.e., alignment, drill size, drill type, mandrel, etc. The kit is a PSI 7mm slimline. Could I have had a defective pen kit? Trimmer oversized?

Also, for a finish I used Hut Liquid after sanding to 600. From reading thru the forum, it appears that was probably a mistake, and this finish won't last long.

Any suggestions will be greatly appreciated. Hope to try my second pen today.

 

[Russianwolf]

Hey Joe,
If you have another kit take the brass tubes and compare them to the nib and finial. You shouldn't be able to assemble them by hand. If you can, then you got a bad batch of kit.

If they are tight then the barrel trimmer is the most likely culprit: It should fit snuggly into the tube, but not remove any brass from the insides. If the pilot is warped it could be expanding the tube also.

When you put the tube on the mandrel, it should be just as snug as the pen mill.

 

[Mike in Nanaimo]

It sounds most likely like a defective kit. Are you sure it is a PSI kit, they are usually very good. I have had several from Rizheng.

 

[Plane-O-Joe]

Yes, it is a PSI kit. Ordered 10K kits, mesquite wood, tools etc. from them. I am going to use my dial calipers to measure everything and check per Russianwolf's suggestion.