This pen kit has been excellently reviewed by Edstreet:
http://www.penturners.org/forum/f96/zoe-r-b-crafts-140293/
I bought some of these kits from William Wood-Write (in Canada); they are sold under the name "Regal".
I really like the results, but there is one concern with assembly.
If anyone else has tried this kit I would appreciate your approach to this concern.
I know that Edstreet has made this kit, and I believe that SteveG has also.
The concern is about the double-twist style transmission for the Parker-style refill.
This transmission gets inserted into the shorter (upper) brass tube. . The fit seems to be extremely tight, so much so that I have to ream the brass tube in order to get the transmission in. . I ream it out from the end that points towards the nib. . If I were to ream it out from the finial end, then the finial would be a very sloppy fit, so that's not the way to go.
My reason for reaming is that I am assuming that the preferred way to do refill replacement is by pulling the upper barrel off the transmission and then unscrewing the transmission. . Cigar style pen kits work beautifully in that way.
There is an alternative, though; the upper barrel could simply be unscrewed, leaving the transmission still tightly inside. . In that case, it wouldn't matter that you can't pull the upper barrel off the transmission (due to the extremely tight fit inside the brass tube).
But, if I don't ream and just force the transmission into the upper barrel, my fear is that the upper barrel blank might crack ... yes, it's that tight of a fit and I don't want to risk cracking the blank.
I am thinking that instead of reaming out the brass tube, I could file down the three "bumps" on the transmission so that it goes in easier, being careful to leave enough material on the "bumps" so that there is still enough friction to do the twisting for extension/retraction of the refill.
If anyone else has made this pen kit and can comment on this problem during assembly, I would greatly appreciate that. Thanks.
Edit: I nearly forgot to mention that there is a disadvantage to the reaming. . After assembly, the upper barrel has a slight "wiggle" due to the slightly enlarged I.D. of the brass tube. . This "wiggle" is not as significant as you routinely find in the case of slimline pen kits. . But I would like to avoid the "wiggle" if I can.
http://www.penturners.org/forum/f96/zoe-r-b-crafts-140293/
I bought some of these kits from William Wood-Write (in Canada); they are sold under the name "Regal".
I really like the results, but there is one concern with assembly.
If anyone else has tried this kit I would appreciate your approach to this concern.
I know that Edstreet has made this kit, and I believe that SteveG has also.
The concern is about the double-twist style transmission for the Parker-style refill.
This transmission gets inserted into the shorter (upper) brass tube. . The fit seems to be extremely tight, so much so that I have to ream the brass tube in order to get the transmission in. . I ream it out from the end that points towards the nib. . If I were to ream it out from the finial end, then the finial would be a very sloppy fit, so that's not the way to go.
My reason for reaming is that I am assuming that the preferred way to do refill replacement is by pulling the upper barrel off the transmission and then unscrewing the transmission. . Cigar style pen kits work beautifully in that way.
There is an alternative, though; the upper barrel could simply be unscrewed, leaving the transmission still tightly inside. . In that case, it wouldn't matter that you can't pull the upper barrel off the transmission (due to the extremely tight fit inside the brass tube).
But, if I don't ream and just force the transmission into the upper barrel, my fear is that the upper barrel blank might crack ... yes, it's that tight of a fit and I don't want to risk cracking the blank.
I am thinking that instead of reaming out the brass tube, I could file down the three "bumps" on the transmission so that it goes in easier, being careful to leave enough material on the "bumps" so that there is still enough friction to do the twisting for extension/retraction of the refill.
If anyone else has made this pen kit and can comment on this problem during assembly, I would greatly appreciate that. Thanks.
Edit: I nearly forgot to mention that there is a disadvantage to the reaming. . After assembly, the upper barrel has a slight "wiggle" due to the slightly enlarged I.D. of the brass tube. . This "wiggle" is not as significant as you routinely find in the case of slimline pen kits. . But I would like to avoid the "wiggle" if I can.
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