Lever Axle Holes In Hard Rubber Barrel Broken Out - Repair Possible?

[menoeceus]

I have a Conklin Endura Jr. in woodgrain. The lever w/ axle has broken out from the barrel on both sides where the holes are that hold the axle in place. Is it possible to cement/weld the axle-lever back in place in a way that will allow filling?

[lcoldfield]

I have a similar problem with a Conklin orange/grey/black (halloween?) pen. I am sure it can be repaired to allow filling, but I am not so sure about matching the colours of the missing material. My current thinking is to use epoxy with colouring mixed in (I have found by experience that colouring epoxy causes setting problems if more than a trace of colouring is applied). To increase the surface area of the joint around the pin I am planning to roughen the area and drill some shallow holes. The epoxy will have to be applied with finely pointed instrument to preserve the required colour distribution.

Comments would be welcome as I have been putting this one off for far too long!!

Laurence

[menoeceus]

Please let me know what results you get, Laurence. I have meanwhile read some comments elsewhere that suggest at best only a cosmetic solution is possible because of the stress on the pin holes when used and lack of a suitable solvent/adhesive for the hard rubber material. My pen can still be filled, but it takes some care. The pin is still seated in what is left of the groove. So, I hold the bottom of the lever in place with my thumbnail just over the pin and gently pull the lever out about two-thirds of the way and then close it with my other hand. Of course, this is not satisfactory for an everyday writer. But I'm not going to use the pen anyway (wouldn't even if I found a way to minimally repair it).

[Glenn Atkins]

Ok, here's a wild stab at it from left field.

 

Would it be possible to turn it into effectively an internal "c" clip design with external axles mounted significantly lower on the barrel and the original axle holes filled to color match. The problem with this design as I see it would be installation.

 

The dotted blue line in the picture below represents the original axle. The red of course is a new "c" shaped axle.

 

Alternatively, on a lathe could you turn a groove on the inside of the barrel that would accept a "c" clip?

 

Just thinking out loud...

 

Glennhttp://i1138.photobucket.com/albums/n533/GEAtkins/Pens/Random%20Pen%20Stuff/211571CE-F81E-4771-B4A5-184254B7D0E4.jpg

[FarmBoy]

For a celluloid pen you can rebuild the damage with appropriate donor material by layering in a slurry one application at a time then redrilling the holes. It takes a long time to do this as the grafts must cure between each application.

 

For hard rubber this doesn't work.

[SteveE]

Not sure of the dimensions of your model, but if you remove the lever, is the open slot large enough to use the pen as a coin-filler? You could probably fill it by pressing down on the pressure bar with a coin or stick.

 

This wouldn't solve the cosmetic issue, but if you are just looking for a way to use the pen, you could try it.

[Algester]

without any idea about the damage the only thing I can come up with is an epoxy with rubber shavings mixed with it + coloring... (pycrete) think that if you will

[Dave Glass]

For a red/black HR Conklin woodgrain, you will probably need a replacement barrel since there is no solvent which works. For the same problem in the celluloid Halloween, you just need some donor material. The solvent MEK works very well in experienced hands. You might contact Pete Kirby at Petepens.com for a woodgrain barrel or a celluloid repair. Good luck.

[menoeceus]

Thank you all for your comments. I have meanwhile used the "MEK + donor plastic = slurry" solution on some plastic pens (Sheaffer Balances). It's like doing minor body work on a car but on a much smaller scale. This technique seems promising, and I'm going to work on it eventually (as pointed out, it is time-consuming). The Conklin, however, is hard rubber. So I found a new barrel and have wedded it to the cap and now have a whole pen that looks great and works well enough (I'm still careful about filling it just because of my experience with the first barrel).