Barrel Bulge?

[kharrisma]

Hi Forum Folke!

 

I just picked up a no-name (only identifying mark is an "F" at the attached end of the pocket clip... not other imprints of any kind) pen from eBay. It's attractive, and has a decent semi-flex Warranted 14K nib... but there's this bulge in the barrel that wasn't apparent in the photos.

 

The bulge is circumferential around the barrel, right where the filling lever retainer/pivot ring is located; it does not go all the way around the barrel, but is confined to about one-third to one-half of the circumference. The mechanism works wonderfully well, and is considerably 'springier' than any other pen I own. I believe the amount of outward pressure the ring is exerting is excessive for the application, and I plan to remove it and 'de-spring' it a bit before re-assembly.

 

My question is: is there any way to remove or reduce this bulge without removing a ton of material and weakening the barrel? I'm envisioning some application of heat in combination with a band clamp (like a modified dental Toffelmeyer clamp). Of course, this problem is further complicated in that the barrel is facteted with 10 flats, not smooth and round.

 

I realize that the material the pen is made of will dictate what is possible and what isn't. I'm not sure how to positively identify the material; it's a swirl/pearlescent/flake kind of stuff:

 

 

Any thoughts/suggestions/cautions would be very much appreciated. While it isn't a valuable pen, I still don't like damaging or destroying what is essentially a piece of history by charging in where I should have asked some questions first. Thanks for your input!

Edited February 15, 2019 by kharrisma

[Ron Z]

It looks like the barrel has a slight warp to it as well. The culprit here likely is not the pressure of the ring, so much as exposure of the pen to enough heat that the material softened, both warping the barrel and allowing the ring to push the material out. The pen might be celluloid, it might be some cheap plastic. It might go back into shape, it might warp and turn really ugly. Its tricky to straighten it out.

 

You do need to remove pressure bar, lever and ring. Then gentle heat applied evenly should allow you to straighten the barrel and perhaps push the material round the ring back down. Note that this could backfire on you, in which case you'll have a more warped pen.

[torstar]

That's squeezing tight while writing.

[kharrisma]

Thanks, Ron, for your valued input!

 

Yes, I wasn't quite sure about the warp while viewing it; thought it might have been just the way the pic was taken, but it does have a slight bend, the concave side of which is centered on the fill-lever and bulge.

 

Ah, the pen getting overheated and swelling from the ring would make more sense than time+plastic+stiff spring ring.

 

Yeah, I'm not sure how to differentiate between celluloid and plastic... I'm leaning towards 'cheap plastic' myself, and will treat it accordingly. Sparing application of heat, sneaking up on a good working temperature for it.

 

The cap ring is just floating on the cap, too... no machined or cast recess for it to sit it; I think they just pressed it on and relied on the facet points to hold it in place. It will stay where put, but is easy to spin or pull off. Is there such a thing as a 'fourth-tier' pen?

 

Well, that's why I mess around with these no-name pens... I'd much rather pay my dues by ruining a no-name than a first- or second-tier pen! I'll follow this up with my results... after I figure to get the (brown) section out. With my luck, it's glued in place, like some Arnolds are....

[peterg]

The pen is made from wrapped celluloid. You can see the seams running at a diagonal down the barrel.

 

It was much cheaper to buy wrapped celluloid tube than a rod of the material with all the incumbant waste from machining it.