Platinum #3776 Disassembly Including Clip

[MichalK]

Some time ago I scratched one of my Platinum #3776. I make urushi pens, so I wanted to lacquer it, but I could not find any post or video on how to remove the clip safely and later reasemble it. The problem is with this small end of cap holding the clip.

 

So I broke it off. And this is the report

- its permanently fixed to metal part protruding from inside of cap - part of slip'n'seal mechanizm.

- same metal part has a thread, and everything (clip, meta washer, inner cap) is held together with this thread and small nut.

- end of cap is attached with a small plastic rod, that is GLUED into this metal part. On pictures you can see tiny bit of red plastic at the end of this metal part.

 

I brok it off with section pliers, twisting and bending motion. Quite easily. I am going to lacquer the pen and add gold leaves (semi transparent gold tamenuri) and later will glue this small cap back on.

 

I do not recommend this method for cleaning or other maintenance of the pen, but in my case It finally solved the riddle.

 

[Dr.Grace]

Hmm, so they really plan for people to be unable to easily repair their pens. Just buy another one is their motto.

 

Im wondering: Do you do urushi lacquering for others as a service also?

Edited June 9, 2020 by Dr.Grace

[MichalK]

Hmm, so they really plan for people to be unable to easily repair their pens. Just buy another one is their motto.

 

Im wondering: Do you do urushi lacquering for others as a service also?

 

I think they did it to simplyfy assembly - their other pens (Izumo, president) are servicable.

And yes - I do make bespoke pens, both on my material and other makers pens (right now Montblanc 149, Pelikan M1000, Sailor 1911 Large, even a humble Noddlers Ahab in crazy tsugaru nuri). Best wey to see my work and contact me is instagram - link in signature. https://www.instagram.com/tamenuri_studio/

Edited June 14, 2020 by MichalK

[ek-hornbeck]

Thank you, Michal. That is very useful.

 

I have wondered about this for some time. I like the 3776 very much. But a problem with the "slip 'n seal" mechanism is that the inner cap moves back and forth inside the main cap, so ink can creep in-between the two caps, which looks pretty awful over time if you have a clear pen -- rinsing out the cap doesn't get at this ink, so it just builds up. The "slip 'n seal" feature is a great thing, but it'd be really nice if you could disassemble the cap completely, once a year, and wash out all of that trapped ink.

 

Now I know the answer: there's basically no way to do this: it's possible to disassemble the cap, but it involves shearing a glue joint and then reglueing the joint to reassemble. That's not something that is workable on an annual basis.

 

I consider this to be a small flaw in the "slip 'n seal" cap design. Compare to a Parker "51." You can take a "51" that was made 80 years ago and completely disassemble and reassemble it, without putting any wear and tear on the pen. That's why we still have and use these pens so many decades later. The 3776 cap design makes it less of a long-term, maintainable artifact, which is very annoying. It was made with the benefits of many decades of advances in materials and manufacturing science... yet it is more ephemeral, less sturdy. That's disappointing.

 

If I could come up with a way to attach the 3776 cap-end to the rest of the cap that didn't require glue, I could mod the cap once and then be set. But I have no good idea for how to do this. Too bad.

 

By the way, the way I handle the ink-buildup issue in my 3776 is that I take thin dowel (I cannot remember what I used -- maybe the eraser end of a pencil or a Q-tip) and push the inner cap back into the cap, compressing the spring. This opens up a little space between the lip of the inner cap and the inside of the outer cap. If the cap has tap water in it when I do this, the water will go back into the gap between the caps and rinse the ink off. It's not perfect, but it helps.

 

Anyway, thanks again for resolving this question and taking the time to post the answer. It means nobody else at FPN (like me) has to consider sacrificing his own three-digit-dollar pen to figure out the answer! You've saved me a lot of time and trouble and money.

 

EKH

[MichalK]

Thank you, Michal. That is very useful.

 

I have wondered about this for some time. I like the 3776 very much. But a problem with the "slip 'n seal" mechanism is that the inner cap moves back and forth inside the main cap, so ink can creep in-between the two caps, which looks pretty awful over time if you have a clear pen -- rinsing out the cap doesn't get at this ink, so it just builds up. The "slip 'n seal" feature is a great thing, but it'd be really nice if you could disassemble the cap completely, once a year, and wash out all of that trapped ink.

 

Now I know the answer: there's basically no way to do this: it's possible to disassemble the cap, but it involves shearing a glue joint and then reglueing the joint to reassemble. That's not something that is workable on an annual basis.

 

I consider this to be a small flaw in the "slip 'n seal" cap design. Compare to a Parker "51." You can take a "51" that was made 80 years ago and completely disassemble and reassemble it, without putting any wear and tear on the pen. That's why we still have and use these pens so many decades later. The 3776 cap design makes it less of a long-term, maintainable artifact, which is very annoying. It was made with the benefits of many decades of advances in materials and manufacturing science... yet it is more ephemeral, less sturdy. That's disappointing.

 

If I could come up with a way to attach the 3776 cap-end to the rest of the cap that didn't require glue, I could mod the cap once and then be set. But I have no good idea for how to do this. Too bad.

 

By the way, the way I handle the ink-buildup issue in my 3776 is that I take thin dowel (I cannot remember what I used -- maybe the eraser end of a pencil or a Q-tip) and push the inner cap back into the cap, compressing the spring. This opens up a little space between the lip of the inner cap and the inside of the outer cap. If the cap has tap water in it when I do this, the water will go back into the gap between the caps and rinse the ink off. It's not perfect, but it helps.

 

Anyway, thanks again for resolving this question and taking the time to post the answer. It means nobody else at FPN (like me) has to consider sacrificing his own three-digit-dollar pen to figure out the answer! You've saved me a lot of time and trouble and money.

 

EKH

 

You are right about this pen, but not pens in general IMHO. Right now we have so many pens that are very easy to disassemble, and Parker 51 you mentioned was unique in its time - most pens then were PITA to service.

 

BTW: I finished it )

It is not visible on pictures but I kept most of the translucency of the pen. Total 8 layers of urushi + 6 uwazuri with total thickness of all layer est 0,1-0,15mm

 

[minddance]

i would like to re-plate or touch up the gold plating of the clip of all my 3776. the gold plating is terrible, tarnishes even after a few months.

[stan]

Did you attempt to separate the parts with heat? Adhesives with low melting points were commonly used in pen manufacture. Worse case is the adhesive was an acrylic cement that fuses the plastic. If so, you would not have a clean. Judging from your photographs replacing the cap with some clear glue might be an option. 

[JonSzanto]

Indeed, the finial piece is the real downside of their design. I have 7 3776 pens and my oldest one - a Nice - had an accident 2 years ago via my exuberant young kitten. It hit the floor just in the right way to snap off that piece. Unfortunately, when it is a semi-transparent part, the gluing procedure is somewhat apparent, and has not held completely, as I've had to repair it twice since. I hate to think about an entirely new cap purchase because of that one, weak, plastic joint, but it is the only part of the pen that doesn't still look fairly new.

Oh well, I like all the other aspects of the pen, so I can live with it.