Kaigelu 316 Acrylic Barrel Finial

[bobje]

Deepak, Total agreement -- the finial replacement is a simple operation and changes the performance of the pen considerably. I'm familiar with micromesh -- what is "a layer of CA"? Probably just the acronym that's throwing me off.

[richardandtracy]

A number of plastics won't take a polish directly, Bob, as they are not hard enough (such as polyurethane resins). So, it's possible to wipe the surface with cyano-acrylate adhesive (CA or 'superglue') to form a hard layer that can be polished easily.

 

Regards,

 

Richard

 

My 'instructions':

 

Instructions for fitting replacement Kaigelu 316 Finials.

 

To remove the brass finial from the pen:

• Dip the end of the barrel and finial into near boiling water for 3 minutes or so.
• Fill the barrel with near boiling water.
• Change the water as necessary to keep it hot.
• Finally, using fireproof fingers or section pliers, twist & pull the finial out.
• If the finial doesn’t come out first time, repeat the process until Kaigelu’s heat sensitive adhesive softens. You may find the paint comes off the brass finial while twisting it out. This isn’t a disaster – you are getting rid of it anyway!

 

[Heat insensitive Glue: Recently it has come to light that Kaigelu are sometimes using a heat insensitive glue which causes a bit of a problem:

If after 5 mins of dipping into near boiling water, the glue doesn't soften, then you have the heat insensitive glue. This ideally needs a lathe to machine the finial out. Failing that, hacksaw the body of the finial off without damaging the ring and drill out the brass spigot left in the barrel.]

 

Now clean any remaining adhesive from the end of the barrel.

 

Try fitting the spigot into the end of the barrel. If it is tight, DO NOT FORCE IT. Instead, gently sand the inside of the barrel or the outside of the finial spigot with fine sandpaper (600 grade) until it fits.

 

Now slip the gold coloured finial ring over the finial spigot. It should come to within 0.25mm of the body of the spigot. If not, either sand the spigot or the sharp inner corner on the ring. It is OK if a tiny sliver of light is visible when seated as far as it will go.

 

Now glue put adhesive (such as epoxy adhesive) on the part of the finial that will be next to the finial ring and slip the ring onto the finial. Then put adhesive on the spigot and flat face of the finial ring, and fit to the pen. Wipe off any spare adhesive before it cures. Allow the adhesive to cure before using the pen.

 

[Kelly G]

Note that I removed the final from my 316 barrel using dry heat. I adjusted my heat gun air flow to a temperature of ~216° F and with a bit of coaxing with section pliers the final pulled off with no damage to the barrel.

I tried some lower temperatures with no luck. It seems the tipping point is in that 210-220 range.