Repair advice please

[TomW]

I have a customer that returned an Imperial fountain pen that I made. The nib coupler has pulled out of the lower tube (friction fit) and is completely loose when I put it back in place. I have no idea how it got to this place, but need to fix it. Obviously there is some pressure on this joint due to torque screwing the cap on the lower barrel.

I think CA or epoxy will do the trick, but I'm wondering about roughening the parts, or what else you would suggest. The part is rhodium.

Thanks in advance.

Tom

 

[skiprat]

I would go for the epoxy. Also put the glue in the tube, not on the coupler. That way you won't have to clean up any mess.
Clamp it till it's dry.

 

[KenV]

I lean to loctite medium for these situations. Reversable if needed, but secure and it is designed to cure without mxing parts.

 

[rjwolfe3]

I have been using loctite lately on a lot of pens. I just repaired two pens this morning that I think the customer pulled apart rather then unscrew to change the refill.

 

[ldb2000]

I would use Red Loctite as well . It will hold tightly , is reversable and it won't harm the finish or plating .

 

[TomW]

I've never used loctite. This situation there is no need for reversability. Is red loctite the consensus?

Tom

 

[ldb2000]

Even if you have no future plans to take the pen apart , you can never tell what a customer will do to the pen . I have had to refinish pens that the customer has scratched the finish and brought it back to me for repair . That's why I use the Loctite , I use the red because it was what I had in my toolbox and have just gotten used to it , any of the colors will work .

 

[Randy_]

I lean to loctite medium for these situations. Reversable if needed, but secure and it is designed to cure without mxing parts.

I would use Red Loctite as well . It will hold tightly , is reversable and it won't harm the finish or plating .

I've never used loctite. This situation there is no need for reversability. Is red loctite the consensus?Tom

Although Loctite RED is reversible, the mfg. says it requires heat to achieve the effect. Loctite BLUE does not require heat to release and might be a better choice for pens that you want to disassemble in the future.

 

[skiprat]

Lets not forget that he said the part was 'completely loose'.
As far as I'm aware, the majority of the Loctites mentioned are thread lockers and I believe they work ( and set ) properly when the threads are tightened against each other. Neither the red or blue ( 222 and 242 resp ) have gap filling properties. In fact, if there is any air still in the gap, then the Loctite may never set.

Jeesh, why not just use epoxy You can use the rest of it to glue in tubes.

To each his own, I guess:biggrin:

 

[Randy_]

Skippy: I agree with you that I would probably use epoxy; but the term "completely loose" means different things to different people so the Loctite may be a perfectly satisfactory alternative.

As an example, the threading of a normal nut and bolt might be described as "completely loose" relative to a bolt with a nylock nut; but the Loctite would work just fine on the "normal" nut and bolt combination.:wink:

 

[TomW]

"completely loose" --> If you turn the pen vertically, the nib coupler falls to the ground. I'm going to try to roughen the pieces up some and use epoxy.

thanks
Tom