Pen disassembly - are there really only two options?

[bugradx2]

Ok, I hosed up a cigar pen last night and good.

My good friend lives about 10 minutes from me and I usually just run to his place to pop apart a pen if needed which is great because my pen gets taken apart and we get to visit for a few. Of course this particular time when I'd like to run over to his place he's out of the country on vacation. For the record, normally I would just wait for him to be home but I was making the pen for an auction at a golf outing this weekend and he won't be home in time. I tried remaking the part but it was apparently way too late at night because I remade the wrong half and decided I ought to stop before I dug myself any deeper of a hole.

That brings me to my question. Are there really only two options to take a pen apart? I've seen the PSI assembly/disassembly press and some of the reviews on here were not flattering so I didn't purchase it and went with a regular Milescraft press a few months ago when I needed an assembly press. The other option appears to be the pen disassembly punch set with the vice grip that has rubber jaws which is what my buddy has.

Before I hit the button to purchase something, am I missing a third option? Apparently this situation is Providence telling me that I ought to have something already.

We can all chuckle at the fact that I screwed up the pen and then made the wrong part to fix it. Well, you can all laugh, it may take me a bit.

Thanks all

 

[MillerTurnings]

I use a punch set from Harbor Freight. Normally I can just hang on to the body, but sometimes need to use the rubber jawed vise grips.

 

[jttheclockman]

What did you do to mess the pen up? Is it a case of mixing the bushings up for the cap and bottom? Anyway the easiest way is to use the transfer punches and just hold the pen tightly in your hand and wack the punch with a hammer. Make sure you work over a soft landing area in case the part flys out or you lose grip on pen. You can buy the transfer punches at Harbor freight for cheap money. That is where I get mine. I have about 5 sets around the shop.

 

[KenB259]

I use a harbor freight set that I ground all the points off to flats, I only use this set for disassembly. I hold them in my hand and hammer them apart. Some pens you can damage the components if you leave those points on the punches.

 

[egnald]

I started out with the PSI Assembly/Disassembly Pen Press. It didn't take me long to know there had to be a better way of disassembly than using this thing. (It worked, but just not to my satisfaction).

That's when I went to a PSI Pen Disassembly Punch Set and their Soft Jaw Barrel Gripper. So far they have never let me down. Of course I use the Gripper in conjunction with my bench vise so I can control how much pressure I apply, and I use a plastic mallet to hit the punches -- a regular hammer can deform the end of the punch and even if it is ever-so-slightly, it sometimes prevents the punch from fitting into tubes the way it should.

For some kits where the holes on both ends are the same size, I use a slightly smaller punch and angle it into the tube and work my way around the piece, tapping it loose until it comes out. Then I can use a larger punch to take out the other end.

I still use the PSI press, but now only for Assembly and only with a couple of minor modifications. I turned a cover/sleeve for both of the rams on the press out of HDPE (see pictures). I hated the dimple/recess on the one - it sometimes left marks on the tips of pens when I used it and I didn't like the pressing against the pen parts with the bare aluminum from the other end. With the HDPE cushions, I love how it works.

Regards,
Dave

 

[derekdd]

I started out with the PSI Assembly/Disassembly Pen Press. It didn't take me long to know there had to be a better way of disassembly than using this thing. (It worked, but just not to my satisfaction).

That's when I went to a PSI Pen Disassembly Punch Set and their Soft Jaw Barrel Gripper. So far they have never let me down. Of course I use the Gripper in conjunction with my bench vise so I can control how much pressure I apply, and I use a plastic mallet to hit the punches -- a regular hammer can deform the end of the punch and even if it is ever-so-slightly, it sometimes prevents the punch from fitting into tubes the way it should.

For some kits where the holes on both ends are the same size, I use a slightly smaller punch and angle it into the tube and work my way around the piece, tapping it loose until it comes out. Then I can use a larger punch to take out the other end.

I still use the PSI press, but now only for Assembly and only with a couple of minor modifications. I turned a cover/sleeve for both of the rams on the press out of HDPE (see pictures). I hated the dimple/recess on the one - it sometimes left marks on the tips of pens when I used it and I didn't like the pressing against the pen parts with the bare aluminum from the other end. With the HDPE cushions, I love how it works.

Regards,
Dave

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Dave, I have the same press and that's a good upgrade.

I don't have any trouble with disassembly usually, but it's a tricky process. Enough holding pressure so the blank doesn't slip, but not so much that you break or bend parts.

 

[jrista]

I still use the PSI press, but now only for Assembly and only with a couple of minor modifications. I turned a cover/sleeve for both of the rams on the press out of HDPE (see pictures). I hated the dimple/recess on the one - it sometimes left marks on the tips of pens when I used it and I didn't like the pressing against the pen parts with the bare aluminum from the other end. With the HDPE cushions, I love how it works.

Regards,
Dave

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Can I ask where you get your HDPE, Dave? I have the same press, the blocks you've turned here look great, and I like the idea of having a softer material on both ends (I still have the steal plunger).

 

[carlmorrell]

For years I used a vice to assemble, and a transfer punch set to disassemble. To hold the parts for disassembly, I would wrap them with compression bandages. Then I picked up the PSI Press, never looked back, it works great with a small learning curve for disassembly. Not sure what the complaints about it are.

 

[egnald]

For years I used a vice to assemble, and a transfer punch set to disassemble. To hold the parts for disassembly, I would wrap them with compression bandages. Then I picked up the PSI Press, never looked back, it works great with a small learning curve for disassembly. Not sure what the complaints about it are.

The thing I disliked the most about the PSI press for disassembly was having to change the tooling between assembly and disassembly. That and the thin layer of silicone tubing between my pen and the sharp edges of the clamp often didn't give enough grip without really cranking down hard. A couple of times even with the tubing it left marks on my blank. Don't get me wrong, the press does work as advertised and I'm perfectly content with it. - Dave

 

[egnald]

Can I ask where you get your HDPE, Dave? I have the same press, the blocks you've turned here look great, and I like the idea of having a softer material on both ends (I still have the steal plunger).

I don't remember for certain, but I think I got those through McMaster-Carr. Although I turned mine down to 1-1/2 inches, they started out as a 2-inch Acetal Homopolymer Rod (essentially Delrin). The 2-inch diameter was a lot more expensive than the smaller diameters at about $25 a foot.

I could have started out with 1-1/2 inch rod at only about $15/foot but I had another project that needed a larger diameter. McMaster is my usual go-to for this kind of stuff, but I've also bought some of these kinds of materials from MSC and from Grainger. (Of course there is always eBay, but it is sometimes pretty hit and miss for finding what you are looking for -- and sometimes the prices are not even any better).

Dave

 

[bugradx2]

What did you do to mess the pen up? Is it a case of mixing the bushings up for the cap and bottom? Anyway the easiest way is to use the transfer punches and just hold the pen tightly in your hand and wack the punch with a hammer. Make sure you work over a soft landing area in case the part flys out or you lose grip on pen. You can buy the transfer punches at Harbor freight for cheap money. That is where I get mine. I have about 5 sets around the shop.

well.... Let's go with "WTH won't that clip stay where it's supposed to when it's pressed in place" I pressed it a second or third time in my obvious moment of insanity because I repeated the same action. I wound up REALLY pressing the top assembly into the pen before I realized I needed to pay attention to the fact that the damn cap had come unscrewed. In my shortsightedness pressing the top again I put too much pressure on the blank and "shale cracked" it between layers of CA. That's why I needed to take it back apart so I could pop it back on the lathe to refinish it again.

 

[bugradx2]

Thank you all for your replies

As I've already got a press that's only a couple months old I will probably pick up a set of the punches

 

[sorcerertd]

I have to say that I have not had any problems with the PSI press for disassembly. Yeah, it's kind of a pain to take the spring ram out, but I don't do it that often. Also, I just set a piece of scrap wood on it to keep from scratching parts. I really like Dave's HDPE covers, but I'm too lazy to make something.

I second (3rd, 4th, 10th, ??) the HF transfer punches. I use them for several reasons when making pens and have also done the "grip the barrel and hammer away at a punch" quite a few times until I got the press. In fact, I just use the HF punches instead of the ones that came with the press.

Now, if only I could find a way to disassemble some of those pesky click pens...

 

[leehljp]

Harbor Freight set:

Transfer Punch Set, 28 Piece

Amazing deals on this 28Pc Transfer Punch Set at Harbor Freight. Quality tools & low prices.

www.harborfreight.com

No instructions come with it but not hard to figure out. With all the sizes, there is usually one just the right size.

Handy tool set to have around.

 

[egnald]

I really like Dave's HDPE covers, but I'm too lazy to make something.

They are really easy to make if you have access to 1-inch and 30mm Forstner bits. The small aluminum piston is 1-inch OD and the other one is 30mm. All I really needed to do was to turn my Delrin down to about 1-1/2 inches in diameter and drill a couple of holes. If I would have had some 1-1/2 inch rod to start with all I would have had to do was to drill the holes! (I think i also added a wrap of painters tape around the pistons to get a more snug fit with the covers). - Dave

 

[Woodchipper]

I hold the part in my hand,wrapped with a piece of the rubber drawer lining. Have a piece of 2x4 that I clamp to the workbench for those stubborn chores.

 

[randyrls]

When knocking out the fittings, use many gentle taps. Strong hits may break the glue bond on the tube loose from the blank. DAMHIKT

 

[bugradx2]

When knocking out the fittings, use many gentle taps. Strong hits may break the glue bond on the tube loose from the blank. DAMHIKT

THAT is great information to know!

 

[Paul-H]

What is use is a set of pen disassembly pliers and a set of cheap transfer punches

These are the pliers

PSI Locking Soft-Grip Pliers for Pen Disassembly | The Woodsmith Store

Locking Soft Grip Pliers…

thewoodsmithstore.com

I have all the bits to do it with my pen press, but find it a right faff to set it up for disassembly so just use the pliers and punches.

 

[Muddydogs]

Another option to the pliers is a set of rubber soft jaws for a bench vise. The set I have has a couple molded rounds in it we're one of them fits around a pen nicely.

Just be aware that some pens don't come apart very well so weight the option of destroying a pen over living with whatever is wrong with it.

 

[jttheclockman]

I read the use of pliers all the time here and I cringe everytime. The risk of deforming a tube or worse deforming the blank scares me. I use my hands. Have not found a pen I could not hold if I needed to take apart.