Pen kit question

[Thom Sturgill]

Ok, I've turned a few pens 30 or so for SWMBO to give to the staff at the high school she teaches at and a dozen or so others. Almost all have been 7mm slim lines. She got a nice 9mm fountain pen and gel pen. All were very tight assemblies and required the use of a pen press. Then I saw some 8mm pens that I liked (4 so far) ALL have been so loose that I could assemble by hand. Is this a generic problem? Am I doing something wrong? Do I use CA to hold them together?

[Greg Just]

I guess I don't understand what is loose.

I have made a lot pens of various sizes and you need to make sure you are drilling the correct size hole for the brass tube.

[Thom Sturgill]

To clarify, all of the brass parts fit into the brass tubes finger tight rather than being a press fit. This is on four different kits, all 8mm, (from two different suppliers, but all PSI kits).

[Allen Neighbors]

Thom, if I were you, I would notify both suppliers with the name of the kits, and the problems you are experiencing. It may be that they need to get with the quality control people of their suppliers. And I'm sure that your suppliers would be glad for you to contact them, because this is bad advertisement for them. BTW, what kits were they? :)
In the mean time, I would use CA on all those loose assemblies. Be very careful not to get the CA on the outside of the pen... it can wreak havoc with your finish. DAMHIKT.

[Greg Just]

If the kits are any good, they should require a press to make them go together. I agree with Allen and you should return the kits. I have had a couple of the transmission pieces that were bad and the supplier replaced the entire kit

[Thom Sturgill]

Two I turned for my own use, and I will glue the tips on. the other two have been given away. One was the 'sculptured' pen pictured above. Since the problem occurs on all four 8mm pens, I wondered if it was generic to that size, and if anyone else had encountered it.
I will let PSI know about it.

[Stan Cook]

ALL press fit parts WILL work loose over time. Clips are usually the first part to work loose followed by couplers on screw cap pens. I epoxy ALL parts into place. CA will work, but the gases given off while it cures may leave a white residue on the plating which can be difficult to remove. Loctite will also work and does not have the outgassing problems associated with it as CA does.

[Bernie Weishapl]

I do like Stan and epoxy parts. I have had several come back that had come apart and I had to press them all. So now I just put a dab of epoxy on and haven't had one come back yet.

[Thad Nickoley]

Bernie, Stan what type epoxy do you use?

[Paul Douglass]

But the answer remains the same, the parts should have to be pressed in, not pushed in with the fingers. I have not had that problem with 8mm or any other. Adding the epoxy is good insurance, but there has to be something better than trying to mix a "dab" of epoxy. How do you do that or do you just waste a lot of epoxy?

[Jeff Nicol]

Some of the kits I have done of many sizes are sometimes looser than other times. If the plating is a little thicker or the tooling was new or worn or whatever when the pieces were made things can be a 1000th out very easy. I take some 000 steel wool and rough up the tenons that slide in the tube and the tube itself. They will fit tight and the scratches hold each other. Just be careful not to dull up the finish that shows. SImple and perfect.

Jeff

[Thom Sturgill]

Here is the reply I got from PSI:


Hello,

Sorry for the problem. On Sculptured pen kits, some of the components need to be glued into the tube rather then press fit. As for the click pens, we have not experienced such a problem and will need to check the issue. PSI
I waited until I had mixed some epoxy for something else and applied a 'dab' to the nib on my click pen - it had loosened to the point that it would fly apart when I clicked on it!