Artisan Clicker Pen Kit Problem

[DLGunn]

I turned an Artisan Clicker Pen Kit and assembled it. This is the first time I have made this kit. Once the pen was assembled, the tip of the refill stuck out ever so slightly. The click mechanism works well but when it retracts a very small portion of the tip sticks out.

I guess I sanded off a little of the brass tube. I use a disk sander to square the end of the blank before turning.

For a fix I tried to "file" down the opposite end of the refill. That did not work. Once I put the refill back in, the click mechanism would not work with the filed down refill.

Any suggestions on how to fix this?

 

[lwalper]

Disassemble the nib end, add a little contrasting material (call it an "accent" peice), refinish, reassemble the correct length pen. I've got one with the exact same issue -- got the body of the pen just a little short.

 

[DLGunn]

Any other fixes? I really don't want to have to disassemble this pen.

 

[edstreet]

This is why rollerball kits have springs. It's not because the rollerball itself needs a spring its because of the fudge factor needed when the tube is over sanded and made to short. Besides modifying the mechanism (and you will need that disassembled for that) you will have to replace the tube.

 

[Bean_Counter]

Check and make sure there isn't a burr in the nib opening. Take the nib off and push the refill in and out a few times. Then try with a new refill that isn't filed down.

 

[79spitfire]

The click mechanism in these pens uses the dogs on the back of the Parker style refill to extend/retract, so shortening the refill isn't an option. The only way to fix this is to make the tube longer. This is one of my favorite kits, but it is very sensitive to tube length.

 

[chrisk]

This issue is not a real issue. In fact it gives the opportuniy to make a high end click pencil.
Clicker's tube length is exactly 105mm (or 4.134"). If the tube is up to 1mm shorter I make a pen with a Parker refill. It's a bit disgracious but still OK. If the tube is more than 1mm (up to 2,5mm so far) shorter than the normal Clicker I use a Schmidt DSM 2007 pencil mechanism (with the spring) and I make a pencil. I always have a few of these pencil Clickers for some people don't like the twister pencil mechanisms.

 

[DLGunn]

I found a solution here. I looked at converting to a pencil kit, but haven't placed my order with Exotic Blanks yet.

What I did to fix it was change the refill out with one that comes in the LeRoi Elegant Royale kit. The only difference I see is the spring on the refill. I put the clicker refill in the Royale kit and it worked well. The refill from the Royale kit did not stick out of the tip on the long clicker.

I am glad I did not have to alter my long clicker. I think it turned out well. It is a Cocobolo blank segmented with a strip of maple.

 

[Smitty37]

I found a solution here. I looked at converting to a pencil kit, but haven't placed my order with Exotic Blanks yet.

What I did to fix it was change the refill out with one that comes in the LeRoi Elegant Royale kit. The only difference I see is the spring on the refill. I put the clicker refill in the Royale kit and it worked well. The refill from the Royale kit did not stick out of the tip on the long clicker.

I am glad I did not have to alter my long clicker. I think it turned out well. It is a Cocobolo blank segmented with a strip of maple.

The Le Roi Elegant Royale uses a Schmidt EasyFlow 9000 refill - available many places. I don't know what refill comes with the Artisian but it's probably not a Schmidt.

 

[SteveG]

The "solution" you arrived at indicates the problem was likely some obstruction at the nib (assuming no excessive tube shortening), and what Bean Counter said would also likely have corrected the issue. Just by retrying the original refill, and then an alternate one, you were in effect doing what he said. The slight friction between a refill and nib is the most common cause for this type of problem, and doing something to clear that, or possibly compensate for it by replacing and/or reorienting the spring will usually correct the issue.

Glad you are now happily "clicking" along, without having to disassemble