Quality Internals

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dash2358

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I've been turning pens for the last 4 years and the common theme with the kits I get from any supplier is the internal mechanisms break or wear out very quickly. Is there any supplier that provides better quality mechanisms? Thank you for the insight!

-Dan
 
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Welcome to the site Dan.

The question you asked will not be answered to any degree of accuracy. You will get opinions. But lets start with what kits are you using now that have given you trouble??? Also what internals are you talking about??? Is it the transmissions, click mechanism, refills, springs or etc. ???
 
dash2358 said:
I've been turning pens for the last 4 years and the common theme with the kits I get from any supplier is the internal mechanisms break or wear out very quickly. Is there any supplier that provides better quality mechanisms? Thank you for the insight!

-Dan
Click to expand...

Dan, welcome.

Your experience has not been the same as mine. At least since I quit purchasing the very cheapest of kits, especially bottom end cross refill pens.

Some have been exceptionally bullet proof, such as double twist cigar pens in the titanium finishes ( and chrome too).


So what have you been having problems with?
 
Gents, thanks for the replies.

I purchased from a variety of sites when I first got started and then locked in on purchasing through Penn State Industries as I grew accustomed to the new terminology associated with penturning and felt like I knew what to expect when I purchased new products.

The mechanisms are what fail the most. I have a Vertex click pen where chrome click mechanisms snapped off of the post holding it. I've turned pens with titanium or rhodium finishes, but I hesitate to do anything too nice because it seems the internals don't hold up very long. The best luck i've had is with fountain pens, absolutely no issues. Click pens and their internal mechanisms fail me worse than anything else. Any recommendations to different kits/suppliers are welcomed! Thanks.

Dan
 
Click pens are probably the most temperamental, however the Vertex is one of the most reliable, I don't think the plating has anything to do with it. I have turn a lot of Vertex in chrome and gunmetal and never had a problem. When I went to first do a click pen I settled on the Vertex and the Stratus (which I think is the same mechanism as the Vertex) because of the reviews I got from doing searches on this site. As someone else said, the real cheap cross styles sometimes have problems but they are transmission type slimline type. Maybe if you had pictures of the failures someone here could let you know what was happening. Maybe it is an assembly problem and someone else has had the same problem. You also should contact the people you bought it from and ask them.
 
I threw away the actual chrome click piece, but this is where it broke off from the rest of the mechanism.
 

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I am sorry but can not help much with that kit. I do not make many click pens but the ones I do are the Sierra Elegant Beauty kits and have had no problems at all with them. At least to my knowledge. Have never had a return or complaint from a customer. I get them them from Bear Tooth Woods.

If that is a PSI kit why not contact them and tell them of your problem. They will instruct you what you can do. Click pens have always been a topic of interest here because they are the one kit that seems to fail the most. Companies do not find out if there are defects in a product unless the buyers complain and report it. Maybe this has been corrected if it is a problem or at least make them aware. Good luck.
 
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I too had had a problem with the Vertex click mechanism with a 100% failure rate when I dropped them. Like a cup cake they always land top down. What I do, based on some other conversations on this site, is to take a tooth pick and with a little sanding insert it into the hollow part of the click mechanism as a reinforcement to the vertical click part so it fits nice and tight and filling the hollow part of the click mechanism completely. Since inserting the tooth pick I have not had any failures.
 
The Vertex breaking off the clicker when it is dropped is a known problem. PSI also is aware of it. Spoke at length with their customer support about one that broke.

The tech suggested I super glue in a small 18d finishing nail with a drop of medium superglue. I do that now and it seems to work, though I don't know how many have been dropped after repair.

These clickers seem to be the best I have found. I just made the mistake of buying three "slimline Pro 8mm click pens" from PSI. They have the three piece clicker that you have to assemble. I hate those and will return these to them. Wasted a lot of time on a nice dyed and stabilized lace wood blank when the clicker jammed up after giving it to the buyer...
 
Fix for Vertex Click Pens

Gents,
I e-mailed PSI and they actually sent me a "hack" to fix the click pen problem. I was pretty stoked to get a reply from them, although it was a sluggish 2 week lag and I broke my wife's pen when I tried to fix it without instructions...anyways, they have sent me a new kit and these instructions. Hope it helps someone else!

Dan
 

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