# Sierra pen mechanism



## kaydubya (Aug 24, 2014)

Having made a hundred or so pens and experimented with a number of different styles of kit, I've just made my first Sierra. When assembled, the extended writing tip only just protruded beyond the end of the nib body by about 1 to 2mm. I've had this happen on odd occasions with other kits, but have been able to correct the problem by trimming a few millimetres off the end of the turned blank. Unfortunately with the design of the Sierra, that wouldn't help. I solved the immediate problem by robbing a mechanism from another Sierra kit, but I'm worried that if the mechanism from the first kit I used was faulty, others are likely to be the same. Has anyone else experienced inconsistency in Sierra mechanisms?


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## mark james (Aug 24, 2014)

You say this is a "Sierra" Kit...  Hmnnn... Sierra from whom?

Berea, Timberbits, PSI, etc...  There may be differences in specs and quality.


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## kaydubya (Aug 24, 2014)

Timberbits


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## ed4copies (Aug 24, 2014)

Thanks Mark!!  Guess you not only READ my article, you have absorbed it!!


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## kaydubya (Aug 24, 2014)

Am I missing something, Ed?


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## ed4copies (Aug 24, 2014)

In short, I am very opposed to the numerous "sierra" pens.

If a manufacturer (in this case Timberbits, but many do it) have a GOOD product, why not use a name that will distinguish their product.  If the product is sub-standard, THEN using the name and reputation established by Berea will trick people into buying them, expecting the same good performance.

Exotics offers the "diplomat" and the "zodiac"--so I do follow my own preaching.

Mark asked for an article I wrote about this and passed it along to others, so I know he read it!!!!

FWIW,
Ed


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## kaydubya (Aug 25, 2014)

I'm very new to this wood turning/pen making game, so I bow to the superior knowledge of pretty much everyone else on these forums. However, I have been purchasing some of my supplies from Timberbits in Sydney, Australia, which I understand to be a small, family owned and operated, business which imports and retails wood turning supplies and has no involvement in manufacturing whatsoever. Other pen kits I have purchased from them have, I believe, been of high quality. I'm hoping the anomaly which was my reason for initiating this thread is an isolated one and the Sierra kits I have purchased are otherwise OK. I have no idea whether or not they are true to label but I have no reason to think that Timberbits are selling counterfeit product. All I wanted was feedback from others who may have experienced a similar problem so I can make informed decisions about which pen styles and models to concentrate on.


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## BayouPenturner (Aug 25, 2014)

I have only had one issue with a Sierra click pen.  Other than that I have not had issues.  I have only purchased Sierra style pen kits from Penn Tare Ind, Craft supplies, Woodcraft, and Exotic Blanks.  No problems, the problem I had was when I trimmed the end of the blank I cut off a little too much.  I seem to remember something on the forum about Timberbits.  You can go to the top of the home page and search all the postings by subject and find any post referencing Timberbits.  Good Luck.


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## kaydubya (Aug 25, 2014)

Your search advice was very helpful to a newcomer, Jim. A quick troll through the search results certainly reinforced my feeling that Timberbits is a very good company to deal with. The thread was more about Sierra pens, specifically asking what other people's experience has been. In my naivety as a new chum I hadn't realised that there are probably numerous products out there which are copies of the original Sierra family members, and of course some of them will be better than others.
Keith


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## johncrane (Aug 25, 2014)

There are different types of Sierra transmission connecting housing, one is threaded,and some are a push fit not threaded,check to see if you can unscrew the transmission from the housing if you can't unscrew the trans its a push fit and can be adjusted using a pen press/vice. a lot easier than trimming the blank.


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## sbell111 (Aug 25, 2014)

The side disciussion regarding pen names, 'counterfieits', and Ed's subtle adverts have nothing to do with the issue at hand and don't really help the OP with his issue.

To the OP:  As you alluded, the turned blank has nothing to do with the performance of a Sierra pen.  That's good because it takes one thing off the table when diagnosing a problem.  The way I see it, there are only four things that can cause a performance problem with the sierra:

Transmission - Swap it out with one that's known to be good.
Nib opening - Remove the transmission from the nib section.  Remove the refill.  Take the spring off the refill and drop the refill into the nib section.  If the refill hangs on the opening of the nib section, there's your problem.  Use an appropriate-sized drill bit to clean the excess plating from the nib hole.
Spring - Probably not the culprit, but turning it around and seeing if the problem persists can't hurt.
Refill - Check the refill's length against one that is known to be good.


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## ed4copies (Aug 25, 2014)

johncrane said:


> There are different types of Sierra transmission connecting housing, one is threaded,and some are a push fit not threaded,check to see if you can unscrew the transmission from the housing if you can't unscrew the trans its a push fit and can be adjusted using a pen press/vice. a lot easier than trimming the blank.



The above information from John is the precise reason we need to know what pen we are discussing, before we can make meaningful suggestions.

Hence, determining WHICH sierra is NOT a side discussion, it is indeed extremely germaine information.

IF some "sierras" have a push-in transmission as John suggests (and John is usually correct!!), it is another possible solution and a good reason why we should know what pen is being discussed, before trying to solve a problem.  It is also a factor I would never have considered, since I have never seen a "sierra" that was constructed that way.  Steve's suggestions seem to indicate he has not seen such a construction, either.  






sbell111 said:


> The side disciussion regarding pen names, 'counterfieits', and Ed's subtle adverts have nothing to do with the issue at hand and don't really help the OP with his issue.


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## sbell111 (Aug 25, 2014)

ed4copies said:


> johncrane said:
> 
> 
> > There are different types of Sierra transmission connecting housing, one is threaded,and some are a push fit not threaded,check to see if you can unscrew the transmission from the housing if you can't unscrew the trans its a push fit and can be adjusted using a pen press/vice. a lot easier than trimming the blank.
> ...


His comment that adjusting the transmission is easier than trimming the blank suggested to me that he was lumping more pen types into the discussion than just sierra twists.  Regardless, as you stated, you were not aware at the time of your post that any sierra kits had anything but a twist transmission.

To the OP's question about bad transmissions.  This happens.  It happens on occasion with all twist pen kits from all sellers.  When it happens, you trade out the transmission with a good one.  As long as it happens infrequently, I don't see it as that big of a deal.  If I were to encounter multiple bad transmissions in the same order, I'd contact the seller and discuss the problem.


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## johncrane (Aug 25, 2014)

Sierra Transmission push fit and screw in fit.


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## sbell111 (Aug 25, 2014)

johncrane said:


> Sierra Transmission push fit and screw in fit.


They both screw in to the nib section, right?

I see where you are going with having limited ability to regulate how far the refill extends by adjusting how far the actual transmission is pressed into the adapter, but that's little different than locking down the screwed in transmission if the refill is extending too far and really isn't an option for those refills that don't extend far enough.


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## nativewooder (Aug 25, 2014)

It should always be a practice to call the retailer and ask about replacement parts, kits, whatever is needed to renew your faith in the vendor.  You will quickly find out which vendors want your business and which ones don't care.


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## kaydubya (Aug 25, 2014)

Thank you, John. The twist mechanism screws into the nib assembly at the bottom and presses into the clip assembly at the top. As the extent of writing tip protrusion is determined only by (1) the depth of the screw thread and (2) the amount of travel in the twist mechanism itself, I don't see how the length of the turned blank is relevant. In the context of my problem, (2) is undoubtedly the cause, as replacing it with another twist mechanism overcomes the problem. Having said that, I think I could probably fix it 'Heath Robinson' style by trimming two or three milimetres off the entry end of the female thread on the nib assembly. Hardly worth it though, just to save the cost of a twist mechanism which I'm sure Timberbits would replace, anyway, if I bothered to return it to them.


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## Smitty37 (Aug 25, 2014)

kaydubya said:


> I'm very new to this wood turning/pen making game, so I bow to the superior knowledge of pretty much everyone else on these forums. However, I have been purchasing some of my supplies from Timberbits in Sydney, Australia, which I understand to be a small, family owned and operated, business which imports and retails wood turning supplies and has no involvement in manufacturing whatsoever. Other pen kits I have purchased from them have, I believe, been of high quality. I'm hoping the anomaly which was my reason for initiating this thread is an isolated one and the Sierra kits I have purchased are otherwise OK. I have no idea whether or not they are true to label but I have no reason to think that Timberbits are selling counterfeit product. All I wanted was feedback from others who may have experienced a similar problem so I can make informed decisions about which pen styles and models to concentrate on.


They are probably not selling a counterfit product but as you noticed the first question you were asked was whose "Sierra" are you talking about.


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## Tom D (Aug 25, 2014)

I would say send an email to Timberbits, I am sure they would be happy to help.


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## kaydubya (Aug 25, 2014)

Tom, I agree entirely. However my OP was not about finding a solution to this very minor problem; rather it was about determining whether this is a common enough problem with Sierra pen kits to consider when deciding whether or not to buy more.


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## kaydubya (Aug 25, 2014)

sbell111 said:


> The side disciussion regarding pen names, 'counterfieits', and Ed's subtle adverts have nothing to do with the issue at hand and don't really help the OP with his issue.
> 
> To the OP:  As you alluded, the turned blank has nothing to do with the performance of a Sierra pen.  That's good because it takes one thing off the table when diagnosing a problem.  The way I see it, there are only four things that can cause a performance problem with the sierra:
> 
> ...



Good ideas, Steve. Thanks. I have established that the problem with this transmission mechanism is that it has less than the usual amount of travel. As I said in the OP I replaced it with another which works fine. Very minor problem, very easily fixed. My purpose in asking the question in my OP was solely to determine whether or not this is a common problem with transmissions in Sierra pens so I can make an informed decision as to whether or not I should buy more. It sure has sparked off some wide ranging discussion, though!


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## Smitty37 (Aug 26, 2014)

kaydubya said:


> sbell111 said:
> 
> 
> > The side disciussion regarding pen names, 'counterfieits', and Ed's subtle adverts have nothing to do with the issue at hand and don't really help the OP with his issue.
> ...


I understand but with so many Sierra Style Pen Kits available using essentially the same twist mechanism but from different manufacturers it is tough to say.  I will say this though, I have not seen a tremendous number of similar complaints posted at this site (and you didn't get a lot of "me too" responses) which would lead me to believe it is not a big problem. For what it's worth that is coming from a competitor.


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## Ironwood (Aug 26, 2014)

I have made and sold perhaps 150 - 200 Timberbits Sierras, I can only recall one tranny that had problems, it wouldn't retract properly, the refill would get stuck halfway back in, it could be pushed back in but the spring wasn't strong enough to do the job.
I just replaced the transmission with a spare, I have  spare Sierra tranny's that I use in my bullet pens.

I have had issues with two other pens I made from Timberbits pen kits ( not Sierras ), I contacted David on both those occasions, he sent me a replacement kit both times. I have been very satisfied with Timberbits service and backup.

If the problems were regular occurrences I would be concerned, but one off problems can happen with anything.


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## sbell111 (Aug 26, 2014)

kaydubya said:


> Tom, I agree entirely. However my OP was not about finding a solution to this very minor problem; rather it was about determining whether this is a common enough problem with Sierra pen kits to consider when deciding whether or not to buy more.


We've made hundreds of sierras and dozens of custom pens that used a sierra transmission (and I buy cheapos for these).  I think that I've seen two faulty transmissions (but those didn't have the problem that yours did).


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## sbell111 (Aug 26, 2014)

kaydubya said:


> sbell111 said:
> 
> 
> > The side disciussion regarding pen names, 'counterfieits', and Ed's subtle adverts have nothing to do with the issue at hand and don't really help the OP with his issue.
> ...


I suffered the same mistake as many before me.  I failed to either carefully read the first post or retain the information once I read through the earlier responses.

To your question, I think that your transmission had a very uncommon problem.


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