How Do I Take Apart My Pencils ? + Repair Advice

[kalyxpen]

Hooray - my ringtop pencils all came in the mail today but as was expected for the price, none of them work. Does anyone have any advice or links that might help me get started in possibly repairing these myself? Worst case is they still look pretty, but it'd be great if they were functional. Here are images (hopefully) of my pencils as well as what I have found thus far.

 

1) WAHL EVERSHARP RINGTOP (the roughly 4" long kind): The pencil top sort of twisted but the top was loose - I pulled it out and the sides of the chamber came with it but nothing else. I then reinserted the partial cap assembly, twisted the cap and voila, the long middle center slide thingy that I guess houses the lead (or plunges it?) came out as well as the little round nubbin guide which I suspect really should stay attached to the chamber sides and come out any time the top assembly is pulled out. There is a bit of actual lead that one could actually write with at the end of the pencil's case.

 

My questions: 1) Is the little nubbin supposed to stay attached to the pencil top assembly or is it supposed to rest at the bottom of the pencil casing? 2) Am I chasing windmills here or can this be easily fixed by me or inexpensively fixed by someone else? I am not sure what kind of pencil repair resources I have here in NC but I was wondering if a jeweler could handle re-soldering the nubbin if indeed that can/should be done.

 

 

 

 

2) SUPERITE RINGTOP (same 4"ish variety): I could only get the gold cap off to expose the eraser before crying uncle as I didn't want to break anything. Pencil twists relatively freely in counterclockwise direction when viewed from the top, a little less happy when twisted in clockwise direction. There is lead showing at the tip of the pencil. I suppose first thing's first, I could use a little guidance in how to take this cutie apart so I can see what's going on inside.

 

 

3) Shaeffer Sterling Ringtop (3.5"): twists, a little crunchy sounding but probably no lead in it at the moment other than residue which I presume is making that crunchy noise. I would guess the top pulls off but I might need to take the girl power up a notch to pull it off if so (and thus I was too chicken to do this for fear of doing it wrong or perhaps it screws off?) Any guidance here on how to dissassemble would be most appreciated, and any info as to what to look for would be swell too.

 

 

I hope I did the posts right

[kalyxpen]

I stared at the Wahl longer - I am gonna guess that the nubbin has to stay with the pencil chamber. Is it wrong to suggest epoxy? Can a jeweler resolder this to the chamber?

[jbb]

This may not help but my general experience with these sorts of pencils is that they don't work mostly because they have old pencil lead debris inside. I've used a straight pin to dislodge that debris by going in from the nozzle/point end and wiggling the straight pin around. Old pencil lead powder should come out. Once you clear that out that lead residue you often can just insert a piece of new lead (also going in from the point end) and write. You need to push the lead in hard until it grabs/stays in place.

[finepaperpen]

nice!

[kalyxpen]

oh thanks! i will try. still curious if the superite and sheaffer come apart.

[Jack7770]

Best advice I've found: Jonathan Veley's The Catalog of American Mechanical Pencils has a useful section on pencil repair, as does Marshall and Oldfied's Pen Repair. In any case the usual problem is lead jam removed by patiently using a straightened paper clip or 1/32 drill bit to grind a bit of the lead then emptying the debris on a hard surface. It often takes frequently repeated effort to drill out the impacted lead. Good luck. Jack