First one of the batch...

[tiggere]

Juniper with Dayacom Euro Satin Nickel kit...finish is Waterlox with a paste wax...it is butter smooth and I think it looks amazing...there is some OOR issues to work out at the nib but I will get it...

Now the question...last night the refill came out to the perfect spot and retracted inside far enough that it was not able to mark anything...this morning the refill comes out approx a 1/16" farther and will not retract all the way back in...I did have to cap off and on a few time after assembly...so I am thinking I might have actually pushed the transmission in a bit further accidentally...could this be caused by the top tube being to tight and pushing the transmission down a little?...long term solutions to not doing this?

Can I chamfer the top brass tube a bit with a 60 degree countersink to help it align a bit better before putting the top cap on? I assume some type of lube is not a good thing as it needs to "grip" the transmission to open the pen...

 

[magpens]

Nice looking pen !! . You have achieved a very beautiful shape.

But, please, could you re-read the question you have written and clarify exactly what you are wanting to know.
For one thing, you say ...
"this morning the refill comes out approx a 1/6" farther and will not retract all the way back in " ...
1/6" = .166" .... that is a heck of a big distance when we are talking about a change in the refill extension.

Another thing ... referring to Waterlox ... that is a brand name ... so we don't know whether your finish is a urethane or pure tung oil ...
... and a paste wax ... which one ?

Also, you ask ...
"Can I chamfer the top brass tube a bit with a 60 degree countersink to help it align a bit better before putting the top cap on? "
I may be misunderstanding, but if you have to go to that drastic measure to achieve alignment in a pen kit, something pretty drastic is wrong.

As far as "lube" is concerned ... with that type of pen you would never think of "lube" unless it is just the "tiny, tinier, tiniest" amount applied internally to the twist mechanism, and extremely carefully, to alleviate stickiness. ... even a drop would be way too much.

 

[tiggere]

1/16" farther out than it was last night when I twist the pen...the ballpoint now sticks out 1/32 of an inch out of the nib in the closed position...

It might also be possible I did not have the refill screwed all the way down when I was checking distance to seat the transmission...then in my fiddling yesterday I actually screwed it all the way in...

I assure you there is some operator error in here somewhere...

 

[DrD]

First of all, that is a very nice looking pen you have made. I have never made a Dayacom Euro, but from what I can determine, it is almost a dead ringer for the Berea Hardwoods 7mm Euro Roundtop. If it is you should have ~13/16" of the transmission exposed at the top (opposite the nib) of the barrel.
Now, if the tip of the pen is exposed when fully retracted, your transmission is in a tad too far - you already know this. The trick then is to back the tranny out a tad + a smidge. This is tricky, but do-able.
1) You will need a short piece of Tygon tubing, ~1". You will need to slit it length-wise.
2) Dry the exposed tranny with something - I use acetone - being very careful NOT get any solvent into tranny or on surface of that beautiful pen. 3) Wrap the Tygon tubing around the exposed tranny and then
4) grip the Tygon firmly with a pair of pliers or channel locks and twist the tranny back out of the tube.
Grip must be firm enough to get the tranny to move but not so firm as to crush or dent the tranny. The Tygon serves several purposes - helps get secure grip, keeps jaws of pliers from marring surface, and gives cushion to help against dents.
The rest is a piece of cake.
If you cannot find Tygon, most any 1/2" clear flexible plastic tubing will work.
Go slow on pushing tranny back in. And if you do dent or otherwise mess up the tranny, a replacement should be easy to get.

Don

 

[tiggere]

Thanks...I do believe that the transmission was put in to far and now I know what I did after playing with it and thinking about it...the refill black cap actually goes inside the transmission when it turns...this is where the problem started...the transmission was not in a full open or full closed position when I screwed the refill in...the refill caught the inside edge of the transmission a smidge and did not screw all the way down to fully seat...

I disassembled the pen and got the transmission to back out a bit with a drift punch...after that I KNOW I did not push it in to far with just the cap...that ain't happenin'...

 

[DrD]

Using a drift punch to push out a tranny may not always end on a happy note. It is fairly easy to make the tranny inoperable by punching it out. Glad it worked for you! As said that's a really good looking pen!

 

[tiggere]

Another thing ... referring to Waterlox ... that is a brand name ... so we don't know whether your finish is a urethane or pure tung oil ...
... and a paste wax ... which one ?

Also, you ask ...
"Can I chamfer the top brass tube a bit with a 60 degree countersink to help it align a bit better before putting the top cap on? "
I may be misunderstanding, but if you have to go to that drastic measure to achieve alignment in a pen kit, something pretty drastic is wrong.

As far as "lube" is concerned ... with that type of pen you would never think of "lube" unless it is just the "tiny, tinier, tiniest" amount applied internally to the twist mechanism, and extremely carefully, to alleviate stickiness. ... even a drop would be way too much.

I used Waterlox Original...the paste wax was Johnson's Paste Wax...

the other issues I think have been addressed as I now think I know what I did...operator error...