Oh goodness… I need your help with this pen restoration.

[collectorofmanythings]

So.. I finally got my shipment from Anderson Pens for restoring my little Wearever and everything went great! I put a new sac on (which is watertight) and put a new j-bar in (40mm) but since they didn’t have talc in stock I ordered it from a separate place, and it is due to arrive soon. Anyway, so as I was moving the barrel with the j-bar, I dropped it, and the j-bar moved a little bit further back (I didn’t know it could, I pushed it back as far as I could) leaving me not able to pull it out with the hemostat. Long story short, I gave it somebody who, despite me telling them explicitly several times not to open the lever when trying to pull it out, did it anyway, and pulled the lever and a little metal ring out of the pen, along with the j-bar. Can I get the lever back in? Is my pen broken? Could I do anything to fix it? And if I can, should I put it a slightly bigger j-bar? Thank you for all of your help. I really like the way this wrote, it was like a medium that was ground quite stub-like. So I really want it to be a functioning pen. Thank you for all of your help.

 

Below is a picture of all the parts, including the lever and the ring.

[sirgilbert357]

Can you not insert the ring the lever is mounted to through the slot on the pen, and then turn the whole thing (as in "rotate", like you would insert a key into a lock and then turn it to unlock it) to set the lever in place?

 

Edit: Not sure when -- in the above mentioned procedure -- you would insert the J bar though. I'd have to fiddle with it or google that one.

[Addertooth]

Look at disassembly and assembly of the Eversharp Skyline pen.  Your pen looks to use the same technique.  There are lots of references, diagrams, and helpful notes on the skyline.

[collectorofmanythings]

Thank you both. At this point after hours of trying and after losing the ring, I’ve given up and just push on the j-bar through the slot with a hemostat to fill it. I went to the antique store and bought a vintage Stratford and a celluloid mechanical pencil, but the pencil has the most horrific lead jam and the Stratford’s grip is stuck, I’ve been trying to get it off for about a week. I might have to buy section pliers. Again, thank you both.

[Ron Z]

Check my Cheap Tools articles.  You can save some money by making some of your own tools, and in some cases end up with better tools.  I prefer the slip joint pliers with fuel line hose over the hogged off teeth to the section pliers aka spark plug boot pullers.

[Bristol24]

Putting the lever back in is quite simple although you will need to remove the J bar I would think or, at the very least rotate it 180 degrees so its long side does not interfere with reinstalling the lever.  As was mentioned earlier you simply put the ring through the hole in the lever, insert the ring through the slot and then rotate the lever 90 degrees.  If you're lucky, the ring will pop into its groove inside the barrel.  If not, a dental pick/hook works quite well to push and pull the ring until it seats in the groove.  I'm sure that if you measure the inside diameter of the barrel, Dale at Pentooling.com could probably fashion a new ring.  Or, perhaps someone here knows of a source.

 

Cliff