Osmia 294 Loose Clip Repair

[ralfstc]

Hi folks,

 

One of the things that can be pretty annoying on any pen is a loose part, usually a clip. Not only does it bother me when I'm writing, I worry that it'll get caught on something and pull off, or otherwise get damaged. One of my favourite pens is a lovely wood-grain Osmia 294 from the 1950s. It writes beautifully, and looks great in that streamliney 1950s way! The clip was loose however, and I thought I'd share the repair procedure in case it's useful for somebody with a similar design of pen. Ron Z has a blog on a similar (but not identical) procedure on his Blue Fingers Blog, so credit where it's due!

 

The pen does not have a screw off cap top, because a. it wouldn't be streamliney and b. it would be too easy. And the clip itself is folded metal and cannot be tightened from the outside. When I say loose, I mean it was rattling and moving several mm in different directions. Here is an overview of the pen:

 

 

 

The clip is held tight by a protrusion on the inner cap:

 

 

 

You can see the metal tab on the clip that the inner cap protrusion fits into:

 

 

And here is the final piece of the puzzle, the cap showing the slot the tab fits into:

 

 

 

So how to fix the loose clip?

 

If the clip is loose, it means that the inner cap is loose in the cap. The inner cap has a coarse right-hand (normal) thread on it. I was able to unscrew the inner cap and remove it using a rubber gripping sheet and a chopstick.

 

Initially I tried simply tightening the inner cap, but the alignment wasn't right, so I loosened it and took the parts apart. This allowed me to wipe them down (they were pretty clean) and get the alignment perfect when I re-assembled. I chose to put a TINY bit of silicon grease on the inner cap threads. I may regret this if it continually loosens, but I'd rather have 70 year old parts able to come apart easily than jammed together.

 

So now I have a tight inner cap, a tight clip, and a satisfying story! A small but significant repair.

 

Here's the clip in place. You'll notice the contour of the clip doesn't quite match the contour of the cap all the way along, but it is completely solid, and I can live with that.

 

 

Hope this is helpful to somebody, sometime :-)

 

Best wishes,

 

Ralf

Edited July 9, 2020 by ralfstc

[joss]

That is great info and great pictures, thanks for sharing.

I was not aware that the clip on the 294 is attached this way, let alone that the inner cap is a screw-in.

 

The Osmia 294 is a very elegant pen and the brown striated version is not common.

[ralfstc]

Thank you. Yes, I have a second 294 on the way, in black this time, because I just really enjoy them!

 

Ralf

[joss]

I saw a recent auction where a black Osmia 294 was sold for considerably more money than a green striated 294 from the same seller, while both pens were in comparable condition. Thought that was odd.

[ralfstc]

Yes, I bought the black one. I specifically wanted an example with an ink window! I don’t know who was bidding against me though . . . l in that case, I think the price for the black one was about right and the green striped one was a good deal.

[joss]

l in that case, I think the price for the black one was about right and the green striped one was a good deal.

 

I agree. The two pens were on my watch list but I did not bid. I would place a bid on a brown striated 294 but these seldom pop up for sale.