Click Bamboo Ebonite

[WJM]

Today it arrived, Click Bamboo. I bought this pen because of its "retro" style, it's made of ebonite (except the plastic section), clipless cap, eyedropper only. At the price of $15 it was worth a try.

 

Anyone has any experience with those pens?

 

My first impression are mixed. The pen is actually much better looking than those smartphone made pictures would lead you to believe and seems to be a good writer. Nothing special but works - a stiff, steel nib stamped "Iridium Point", writes well out of the figurative box, feedbacky but nicely wet.

 

On the other hand it's ridiculous how hard it was to unscrew the barrel. I struggled for about half an hour with this thing. Rubber gloves were of no use, adhesive plaster taped around the section was surprisingly effective.

 

Unfortunately after filling the pen I'm in the same point as before, the barrel and the section seems like they were glued together. I know an eyedropper pen should close tightly, but this is absurd. Any ideas how to deal with that?

 

[watch_art]

best way to deal with those tight threads is to send it back and request another.

[WJM]

Well, that would be one approach, but it would take like five months (the shimpent from India took more than two) so I took a different one. Basically I just repeatedly screwed and unscrewd the section a lot of times, aiming at wearing it off a bit. It's still very tight at the end, but now it's possible to unscrew it without using any gripping material, so I consider it a job done.

[ReadyFireAim]

I don't know what it is about ebonite but the threads seem to wear like tungsten.

 

Heat???

VERY carefully???

See what others say

Edited January 24, 2018 by Nail-Bender

[Seele]

Some time ago I acquired a Madras brand ebonite pen by a long defunct minor maker. The section and barrel felt like they're stuck together, but making a bit of a effort to separate them paid off, and it became obvious that they applied vaseline to the threads rather than silicone grease, which dissolved a bit of the ebonite material. I cleaned it off thoroughly and applied silicone grease and it's been trouble-free. Certainly, it does not mean Click applied vaseline to the threads at the factory, what I mean is that even if that be the case, it is still possible to unscrew the thread.

 

Perhaps it's worth telling the seller about this and say that, as it stands, the pen is non-functional and ask for another one? Your existing one would be considered a write-off and then you can do whatever you want with it, including a redoubling of effort to get the barrel to come off the section.

 

Just a random thought.

[watch_art]

If sending it back is off the table, you could apply some coarse polishing paste on the threads and wear the threads in a bit that way. Just a tiny bit. I've done that on some of my pens early on in my pen making days when the fit from tap and die cut threads wasn't what I wanted. It can take a bit of time but quicker than nothing at all.

[oneill]

best way to deal with those tight threads is to send it back and request another.

 

best way to deal with those tight threads is to send it back and request another.

Which does not solve the problem.

[WJM]

Well, as I said, the threads thing significantly improved.

Unforutnately another thing appeared. My initial enthusiasm thowards the writing experience didn't last long. The nib does write nicely only for a short time after filling the pen, then it quickly develops horrible starting and skipping problems to the point that it might as well not write at all, it's unusable.

The problem seems to be the nib so I guess I'll have to work with it a bit or swap it with another one. I'm not sure about the nib size though, I'm guessing 5,5...

Damn it, I just made an order on FPR two days ago, I could have add a nib...

Edited January 26, 2018 by WJM

[hari317]

 

Well, as I said, the threads thing significantly improved.

 

Unforutnately another thing appeared. My initial enthusiasm thowards the writing experience didn't last long. The nib does write nicely only for a short time after filling the pen, then it quickly develops horrible starting and skipping problems to the point that it might as well not write at all, it's unusable.

 

The problem seems to be the nib so I guess I'll have to work with it a bit or swap it with another one. I'm not sure about the nib size though, I'm guessing 5,5...

 

Damn it, I just made an order on FPR two days ago, I could have add a nib...

It will take the Indian no 8 nib. Indian no 8 nib is 28mm long. HTH.

 

But an ink stoppage problem usually indicates feeder issues.

[ReadyFireAim]

Damn it, I just made an order on FPR two days ago, I could have add a nib...

 

I've got a couple of FPR #5.5 EF nibs laying around I have never used. (non-flex)

PM your address and I'll post them.

[mhguda]

Your problem might be solved by heat setting the nib and feed, and/or pushing it a little further in... also, widening the slit a little. But yes, if they're 5.5 size nibs, they're probably Wality nibs, those are not so great. If you swap it out with a size 6 though you have to make sure the nib clears the inside of the cap when you close the pen... otherwise you may undo your work every time you close your pen.

Good luck and let us know how you resolve the issue... I have a number of these, and after some initial work they're all delightful little pens...

[WJM]

Updating on the subject, it seems there was something in the nib slit and cleaning it got rid of the problem. So now the pen writes nicely, the nib doesn't seem to exactly be the highest quality but it's usable enough.

 

I thought with cap/barrel threads so tight and so long it would be ready for eyedroppering, but no, it leaked from the threads until I smeared it with silicone grease. Now it's fine.

Edited February 6, 2018 by WJM

[bugsydog55]

I have a couple of the Click Century ebonite pens. They are quite nice looking, slim pens with a matching color ebonite section. That being said, they have some issues. Threading is a real problem. I thought I was going to crack one of my pens just trying to open it. A serious deep cleaning with an old toothbrush and silicone grease and repeated opening and closing managed to take care of that. Flow issues also took a serious cleaning as there was still residue caught in the feed from manufacture. The nibs are not the best but they are better than some of the almost unsalvagable Wality nibs. A little heat setting after you refit the nib and feed make a definite improvement in performance. These are some very attractive pens and they are a great pocket size unlike many of the Indian ebonite pens but they can come with a few issues. One thing about it though, you can learn to tinker and adjust them and develop skills you can use on higher priced acquisitions in the future.

[ReadyFireAim]

These are some very attractive pens and they are a great pocket size unlike many of the Indian ebonite pens but they can come with a few issues. One thing about it though, you can learn to tinker and adjust them and develop skills you can use on higher priced acquisitions in the future.

 

I just set a personal record for hours devoted to tuning ONE pen.

It was a rather expensive custom pen so I'm glad I developed the skills on Noodler's & Nemosine pens 1st.

 

Also...I like the small size of Click pens also.

[WJM]

Well, this one is a rather big pen

[oneill]

My congratulations to all of you who contributed to solving this persons problem,it just shows

what a great

family we have here on FPN, This is what we are all about. Oneill

Edited March 11, 2018 by oneill

[sapient]

I know someone mentioned this uses a #8 nib, but can it fit a #6 or #5?

[mhguda]

I think the #5 would be too small, and 8 too big! they come regularly with 5.5, AFAIK. And yes, 6 would work. In my experience.

[hari317]

I think the #5 would be too small, and 8 too big! they come regularly with 5.5, AFAIK. And yes, 6 would work. In my experience.

hi, the Indian designation # 8 is 28mm which is the correct size. There is no accurate replacement from generic western manufacturers for this nib currently. BTW a sheaffer NN nib is the exact same size.

 

Generic Western no 6 is 35mm, which is going to be long but can be shoehorned into the section, provided the cap has space for the longer exposed nib length.

[mhguda]

Thanks for clearing that up, I had been told before that the bigger nibs (I think 40mm) were Indian size 8, apparently not...

Yes to the shoehorning in, that has been my experience, but it does work. On most.