I made these parts to build a Customized Sierra style pen last year around the time of the 2009 PIth contest. One thing led to another and I never got the pen Made. I kept putting them aside muttering I need to get that pen made but ...... well I finally got around to it. I decided I wanted to extend the tube. The lower end is quite a lot of white/silver and I thought a longer tube would balance the design better. In the first 2 pictures I took a Standard Sierra/wallstreet tube (10.5mm) and cut it in half. I then took a cigar tube, (10mm) and cut it about an 1.125 long. I then soldered the tubes together extending the Sierra tube about 9/16 (14mm) It could have been just as easily epoxied or glued with CA. You can see the difference between the standard tube and the extended one.
The third picture is of the lower unit Assembly. It is made up of 3 Silver pieces soldered together to form the lower end, an 8mm tube cut to length and in this case pressed in. From the tip of the nib to the end of the 8mm tube is 3.130 inches. An 8mm coupler from PSI pkmont kit, that has been trimmed down to match the tube was pressed in and the transmission and refill are in place. I can tap the lower parts and use a Sierra transmission but they are not available by themselves and the cost of the kits are more than the psi kits. This also eliminates the problems with the Sierra tranny unthreading so easily and getting stuck in the upper tube. The only drawback is that the Private Reserve refills wont go in the pen without peeling the sticker off the refill. the tolerances are so close the sticker is a no go.
The last pictures are of the top cap with an 8mm tube that is cut to length and the epoxied into the the cap. This is the tube that grips the tranny. I still have to drill an indexing hole in the cap and clip. I will put a 20 gage wire in the cap that will keep the clip from spinning.
All I have left is to choose a blank, turn it to size and final finish
The third picture is of the lower unit Assembly. It is made up of 3 Silver pieces soldered together to form the lower end, an 8mm tube cut to length and in this case pressed in. From the tip of the nib to the end of the 8mm tube is 3.130 inches. An 8mm coupler from PSI pkmont kit, that has been trimmed down to match the tube was pressed in and the transmission and refill are in place. I can tap the lower parts and use a Sierra transmission but they are not available by themselves and the cost of the kits are more than the psi kits. This also eliminates the problems with the Sierra tranny unthreading so easily and getting stuck in the upper tube. The only drawback is that the Private Reserve refills wont go in the pen without peeling the sticker off the refill. the tolerances are so close the sticker is a no go.
The last pictures are of the top cap with an 8mm tube that is cut to length and the epoxied into the the cap. This is the tube that grips the tranny. I still have to drill an indexing hole in the cap and clip. I will put a 20 gage wire in the cap that will keep the clip from spinning.
All I have left is to choose a blank, turn it to size and final finish