Button Click Pen.

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WoodChucker

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This is a Fiddle Back Maple blank that I got from Rich. It's a Button Click pen kit from Berea and finished with friction polish. Thanks for looking!

FiddleBackBC.jpg


R.T.
 
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Thanks Fred, to tell you the truth I did have some problems, but I'm not sure what it is yet. The pen works good now that it's done and I've made 4 of this same style from Berea so far. But I have a feeling it's the bushings and not the mechanism. After gluing in the tubes I have to file the inside of them in order to get the bushings to seat inside the tubes. It's real tight, can't even force them in without filing first. And then I have to glue the parts inside from filing to much off, or they slide out. Guess I'll have to give them a call and see if anyone else has had this problem or not. It's a nice pen, my wife has been using one now for about a month and hasn't had any problems, and she can break anything. [:D] I Just hope the glue holds up.

R.T.
 
I also have made that pen.
It's not much more than a slim line though it takes an 8mm tube.
(I think)
The kit requires an "R" bit but the step bushings are awful small.
Mechanism does not feel "solid"(I was going to say chintzy but Y'all say I'm too negative)
I compared the mechansim to the power pen from PSI which seems larger,more substantial and a more robust mechanism.
It's a "screw together" rather than press fit tube refill at the bottom.It kind of reminds me of the Bic Clicks that sold for $.39 when they first came out.
 
Fred, what size is the click pen from PSI? Is it bigger then the Berea or at least bigger then a slimline? I'll have to try one and see how I like it. Maybe it's just to early to tell, but so far the pen is holding up fine, it feels pretty good to me. But if the bushing thing is always going to be a problem then I won't buy anymore. Oh and your right about it being an (R) size bit, but they don't carry that size and tell you to use an 11/32" bit. You would think that the kit companies would make a nice click kit, most people that I talk to ask me if I make them, but maybe that doesn't really mean anything.

R.T.
 
I guess "clicks" are looked on as "throw aways" and the industry has no desire to change the publics perception.
I needed to make a click and wound up modifying a power point by grinding the ring on the center band that joins the 2 halves together.
I drilled the blank in a 4&1/2" length dropping the drill bit as I went.
I milled the blanks and roughed them so they were under 3/4" dia.
I inserted the centerband once I realized teh mechanizm could be inserted from the top end after turning.
I cut a contrasting centerband and kept "kissing" it with the mill until it was flush with the mating tube.
Press fit the 2 halves together and turned the pen in one piece.
(Clear as mud huh?)
I like the pwer point pencils but I with PSI would make a conventional thin lead pencil to match the power point click pen.
I have had some customers turned off by the 2mm lead and no eraser.
 
Oh yes I forgot why I started to post. First you did a very nice job on the pen R.T. and I just recieved a big order from Rich and all I have to say is...Eat Your Heart Out to anyone who did'nt get around to getting any. I bought a bunch of his fiddle back maole and his Osage orange burl, and, and, oh hell its all so nice I can't wait to get down to the shop to turn some.

I've had a problem and have not been able to work in the shop in over a week. I pulled a muscle in my chest and although it only hurts when I breathe or cough or stand, ah you get the idea it just d well hurts to do anything. I'm a woodaholic and I'm having shop withdrawls. When the wood from Rich came I just sat and looked at each piece over and over again.

Wayne
 
Nice pen RT. But hey, BIG SHOP means bigger pens. I don't want to see many more slim lines from you. Can't wait to get you those Ligeros. Wayne, sorry to here your feeling down, but maybe it's all that gloating, with new tools, new wood piles and who knows what else.

I agree the clicks we get are crap and I refuse to buy them. If you try a click pen from a real pen company you can't feel or hear the click to open. I am sure it is not rocket science to make desent pen parts, why do we settle for some of this stuff they sell us? Anthony
 
Thanks everyone,

Wayne, I agree about the blanks, there some of the best I've seen. Sorry to hear your down and can't get out to the shop. My wife says I'm h*ll to live with when that happens to me. But I'm sure I'm a peach any other time. [:D]

Anthony, yeah I'm looking forward to those Ligeros too, I like the bigger pens also, but I still like the slims too. There just fun to make and a cheap way to practice.

Anyway, I hope they end up making a good click pen someday. I think there's a market for them and we could cash in on it. Even a waitress where my wife and I eat told me thats the only kind of pen she would use, because most of the time they have a large tray in one hand and need a pen like a click, thats easy to pull out and write with. I see her point and I'm sure there's other people that would have the same problem.

R.T.
 
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