Favorite single tube click kit

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RogerC

RogerC

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Joined
Jan 30, 2017
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149
Location
Oklahoma
The only click kits I've turned are the Stratus, but after having way too many of the plunger mechanisms break, I'm looking for something constructed better.

So hit me with your favorite single tube click kit.
 
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I like the Vertex Click and have had no problems with it, but I believe others have said that it has the same mechanism as the Stratus which clearly is not what you want.

My go-to clicker has been the Sierra Click but I now prefer the Elegant Beauty Click.

I do not like the look of the CSUSA Artisan Clicker.

I have been using the PSI Slimline Pro, which is designed as a two-barrel click and I am working on a way to turn it into a single long barrel and also eliminating the tubes. . This seems to be working out and I will be posting a thread about this work in due time.
 
RogerC said:
Anyone have any experience with the Compson?
Click to expand...

I made 6 of them -- well, 5 if you discount the one where the mechanism broke before it even got to the display rack. Not impressed, won't be doing it again.

I like Vertex click (I always use the toothpick & CA trick to strengthen the plunger), not so keen on the LeRoi Elegant click (seems not to catch every time). I'm in the middle of making 5 Artisan "Long" click pens, time will tell on these.

The most satisfactory clicker is the Schmidt all-metal mechanism, but you have to make a custom barrel for it (i.e., it's not a kit.)
 
+1 one for the Le Roi... specifically the newer Long Body clicker model. However, when I last tried to order they were out of stock, and I'm hoping they haven't been discontinued.

I like the Compson as well, and make quite a few of those. It's a little lighter (34 grams vs. 40 for the Le Roi) and for smaller hands, I think it's got the best balance of them all. However, the clip on it feels cheap to me and has a rather imprecise fit. I have several that are into their second refill and have held up fine.
 
Thanks for the input, everyone!

I may just order a bunch of kits (including some of those mentioned here)and see what trips my trigger. In the meantime, I've still got a couple of stratus kits, so I may do the toothpick trick and see how they fare.
 
The Compson is probably my favorite mechanism in a click pen but wish they offered something other than that black piece of plastic grip. Have done 50-60 various click pens this past year including the Stratus, the Vesper, and the Vertex. Still like the Compson mechanism over these three. However, there was a CSUSA group buy last year where I picked up 10 Artisan Aero click pens. The mechanism is very smooth and feels almost like the Compson. So right now, the Compson and Aero are my two favorite clickers. Several years back, I made a couple dozen Long Wood click pens and Le Roi clicks. I believe it was Rockler's Long Wood Click Pen... too clunky, just didn't sound smooth. But, I recall the Le Roi Elegant Click had a really nice smooth mechanism and a gunmetal grip/gold components that made it look, well,,elegant.
Jeff
 
BTW... the Artisan Aero Clicks I mentioned were all the 10k Gold/Chrome and I had several customers that commented favorably on both the mechanism and the finish. I'm not a big fan of certain finishes in gold but, these I liked.
 
Does anyone else ever think like this ? ... A Plea to the Pen Kit Industry

I am continually amazed at the lengths we have to go to to make something - as fundamentally simple as a pen - function satisfactorily after paying $10 or so for the pieces that are advertised to do the job. . It is like this is the stone age of design and manufacturing expertise.

Tonight, at a surplus store, I bought an unused, sealed box of 50 plastic-bodied ballpoint pens for $5 ... the sort of pens that insurance agents give away by the handful along with their yearly calendars ... sold as surplus for $0.10 each. . These are click pens and they function perfectly. . The springs in them, which seem to be identical to the springs we get in the click pen kits that we buy, are fully worth the price.

And here we are explaining methods to beef up the click mechanism in the Stratus and Vertex pen kits !

Something is quite wrong, it seems to me.

Those two pen kits are sold to us as kits to make, break and complain about.

The Artisan Clicker pen kit, and its "identical twin", the Dayacom Longwood Click pen kit, is unsatisfactory because it is clunky, rough to operate, and noisy, not to mention ugly.

Come on, you click pen kit designers, manufacturers, and marketers, wherever you are .... listen to us, your customers, and improve your products !
 
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The Stratus is my favorite. I have made about 30 and so far no issues.
I have recently been making a slimline pro modified to be a single tube which I really like. There is an article in the library on how to do that one.
 
magpens said:
I like the Vertex Click and have had no problems with it, but I believe others have said that it has the same mechanism as the Stratus which clearly is not what you want.

My go-to clicker has been the Sierra Click but I now prefer the Elegant Beauty Click.

I do not like the look of the CSUSA Artisan Clicker.

I have been using the PSI Slimline Pro, which is designed as a two-barrel click and I am working on a way to turn it into a single long barrel and also eliminating the tubes. . This seems to be working out and I will be posting a thread about this work in due time.
Click to expand...

I bought 10" tubes and cut to length for the Slimline Pro's. Works well and looks alot like a long clicker but skinnier. I personally like the long clickers and the Vertex.
 
magpens said:
Tonight, at a surplus store, I bought an unused, sealed box of 50 plastic-bodied ballpoint pens for $5 ... the sort of pens that insurance agents give away by the handful along with their yearly calendars ... sold as surplus for $0.10 each. . These are click pens and they function perfectly. . The springs in them, which seem to be identical to the springs we get in the click pen kits that we buy, are fully worth the price.
Click to expand...

I also pick up the gimmee pens, but after they have served their use, I spend the time trying to "dissect" and improve the pen. I have to see how it works, and wonder if I can make a custom pen out of it's guts. Most are not designed to last very long, some are actually better than the ones that you can spend good money on.
 
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