Question about Majestic Pen kits from PSI

[Raymond Sprouse]

I just finished my first Majestic fountain Pen kits from PSI. I have a few a few questions for you pros.

First, when I pressed in the center band assemble into the pen, it shaved off a bunch of the plastic. I had to spend a lot of time getting it off the pen. It also mad a portion of the wood press out passed the metal. It's hardly noticeable but I am still not impressed. How do I stop this from happening again?

My next problem came after I had it assembled. There was an extra piece with the kit. It looks like an ink cartridge with nothing in it. It has a metal part at the end then when you twist it, a plunger moves along the length of the part. It is not shown in the instructions. Is this the refillable reservoir they mention?

Last question. I purchased there oversized rosewood gift box (PKBOXOS1) for this pen, but the pen is too fat. Is there any other nice boxes that these pens will fit?

Thanks in advance.

[Michael James]

Ray,
I haven't done this kit, but I did the majestic jr and am about to do another one this afternoon. I had no problems with the kit, other than some *&^*(!! at USPS stole it in delivery and my friend never got it.
My favorite kit is the hart double twist from Woodcraft but the kit is a nightmare. I've finally figured out how to get around it, but I have several non working versions on my desk as I type.
PSI sells a set of knockout rods for every conceivable pen diameter so you can unassemble parts. If you are going to do pens, I strongly suggest you order this, or get it whereever. Some of these kits are not cheap!
I think sometimes the blanks get too short if you're aggressive with the barrel trimmer and that will skew the fit. I use a dremel to grind pieces down when necessary to make it work. That ain't right, just is on these things. Just be careful not to destroy any parts that might be part of a mechanism for tip in/out on many kits.
What you refer is the option for the fountain pen as far as I can guess. You might (have) want to get a little storage or tackle box for just pen parts. If you make a lot of them it will be worth it to save any cannibalized parts you can.
I don't know if this was helpful in this case, but hopefully might be in your future pen escursions.
mj

[John Terefenko]

The small part you say is extra is the manual filler pump. That goes with the kit to the buyer. They can load their own inks with it. If you click on the tab that says instructions it may help with assembly. Here is PSI link.

http://www.pennstateind.com/store/PKMAFTP.html

[Paul Douglass]

You can buy this set from Harbor Freight for a lot less than PSI to disassemble pens and it works just as good. It is often on sale for around $5

http://www.harborfreight.com/28-piece-transfer-punch-set-3577.html

[Harry Goodwin]

I agree the transfer punch set from harbor freight is the best option. PSI have their instructions on their website and they have a technical staff to help with problems. Great people. Harry

[David E Keller]

Not sure about boxes for the full sized Majestic... That's a pretty hefty pen, so most of the standard boxes are gonna come up short.

The refill piece was already addressed.

As the the black plastic, there are a couple of things you can do when pressing the parts together. I use a chamfer bit from my router bits to hand smooth the inside of the tube openings before assembly. I also stop just before I fully seat the component so that i can clean any plastic shavings off more easily.

I hope that helps... A photo of the pen in question would be nice.

[Denis Monti]

Hi Ray. I have made dozens of Majestics and that problem has always been there. I've heard others complain about it and understand PSI have chosen to ignore it. Problem is, once that piece is pressed in, nothing is going to get it out again, short of destroying the part. Then you will find that PSI are not prepared to supply spare individual parts. "Buy the whole kit..." I've had a few other problems with those kits such as misfitting nibs. swarofski crystal badly placed, and holes in the gold decoration. Unfortunately the Majestic is arguably the best kit available so if we want to have it, we have to put up with the poor quality control.
I have a set of transfer punches which fit every kit size and work great for disassembly.
Boxes for the Majestic are hard to find. I make do with a slightly too small box.
Denis

[Raymond Sprouse]

Thanks everyone for your responses.

I don have the punch set. Unfortunately, I purchased it a while ago from PSI. I didn't realize HF had them. Oh well.

I'll try to champher the edges and smooth it out, and maybe sand the plastic down a bit on the next one.

I'll try to get some pics of it today. I did get the plastic out so I don't know how well it will show up.

Thanks again everyone.

[Raymond Sprouse]

Here's some pics of the pen. See the outward swelling on the top left corner of the first pic:
http://i202.photobucket.com/albums/aa115/rizaydog/100_5338.jpghttp://i202.photobucket.com/albums/aa115/rizaydog/100_5330.jpghttp://i202.photobucket.com/albums/aa115/rizaydog/100_5326.jpghttp://i202.photobucket.com/albums/aa115/rizaydog/100_5323.jpg