# Best click pen



## DRAT (Feb 28, 2012)

Friends,

I want to make my dotor a click pen, one that will hold up to many clicks each hour.

Which pen kit do you recommend?  It's gotta be good looking too!

Thanks,

Dr AT


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## Younka (Feb 28, 2012)

I find the Cigar click pens work the best from PSI Hears the link

Cigar 24kt Gold & Black Enamel Click Pen Kit at Penn State Industries


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## BSea (Feb 28, 2012)

Personally I like the clicker pen.  Sometimes it's called the long click.  You can get it from CSUSA or Lau Lau woods.  It probably has the beefiest click mechanism I've ever used.  

Clicker CSUSA

Click Pen Lau Lau Woods

I've used one almost every day for close to a year.  I don't use it like a doctor would, but I think it should hold up fine.  I did spend a lot of time early on just holding it & clicking while I watched TV.  I wanted to be sure it would hold up.


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## 76winger (Feb 29, 2012)

I haven't made too many clicker's but I liked the Gastby clickers that I have made: 
Gatsby Rhodium Click Pen Kit at Penn State Industries
They have a classy, yet simple appearance as well.


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## nava1uni (Feb 29, 2012)

The clicker from LauLau has a very nice mechanism and holds up to lots of use.  I am an RN and use it all the time.


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## seamus7227 (Feb 29, 2012)

Lupe made me a long click pen from CSUSA or LauLau and i have been using it for almost a solid year and havent a problem at all! I have been thru the click pens and so far this kit has withstood the test, and I'm not gentle.


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## greggas (Feb 29, 2012)

I find the clicker from craft USA and the vertex click from Pennstate to be the best that I have made in terms of mechanism reliability


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## cwolfs69 (Feb 29, 2012)

my favorite is the cigar click from PSI. feels so smooth that when you first try it you think it is broke. SWMBO and i both have one for every day carry and never a problem with them. they are a little big though, cigar pen size. if to large the "Long clicker" from CSUSA as mentioned above is also very dependable.


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## el_d (Feb 29, 2012)

seamus7227 said:


> Lupe made me a long click pen from CSUSA or LauLau and i have been using it for almost a solid year and havent a problem at all! I have been thru the click pens and so far this kit has withstood the test, and I'm not gentle.



My Favorite......


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## crabcreekind (Feb 29, 2012)

The sierra click is not bad, the long click is very sturdy and hard click, but can take a beating. The only thing is the nib has to be PERRRFECT  diameter, without no outofroundness. In order for it to feel good


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## johncrane (Feb 29, 2012)

Sierra Elegant beauty, Bear tooth woods


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## Chasper (Feb 29, 2012)

My experience:

Long click:  none have failed as far as I know, but they are very slow sellers.
Vertex:  no failures and I've sold 50 or so of them, higher priced and semi good sellers.
Slim/Comfort/7mm family:  If I can get them to work to begin with they are good for 20-30 clicks before they jam.
Sierra/Wall Street click:  no failures but slow selling
Clgar click:  haven't made any.

I see a void in the market for a dependable clicker that can sell for less than $50.


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## BSea (Feb 29, 2012)

Chasper said:


> I see a void in the market for a dependable clicker that can sell for less than $50.


I agree.  I refuse to buy any more of the comfort click pens.  In fact, it looks like PSI now calls them the "POWER PEN".  It may be different, but it looks mechanically the same.


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## navycop (Feb 29, 2012)

el_d said:


> seamus7227 said:
> 
> 
> > Lupe made me a long click pen from CSUSA or LauLau and i have been using it for almost a solid year and havent a problem at all! I have been thru the click pens and so far this kit has withstood the test, and I'm not gentle.
> ...



I'm with Lupe on this one. I like doing the one barrel pens. It avoids the out of round problem when you have too many variables.


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## seamus7227 (Feb 29, 2012)

here is my pen after some serious use, clicker works flawlessly! But I'm not gentle on my pens, so the Blk Ti plating is wearing off on the clip from alot of desk use..But notice the nib picture, less wear, so overall a solid kit!
















Sent from my Epic using Forum Runner


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## Rick_G (Feb 29, 2012)

el_d said:


> My Favorite......



I've had 2 out of 4 of these fail.  Traced it to a refill problem.  Played with a couple different refills and gave it to the wife.  It's been working fine for a little over a year, until it went through the laundry last week.  Wood swelled and cracked badly.  Heck of a thing to get apart but click mechanism still seems to work so I'll rebuild it for her.


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## BSea (Feb 29, 2012)

Well, as long as we're showing clickers, I might as well show the tru-quarter premier clicker.

I made this for my Dad who's from Montana.  It has the Montana state quarter & the Glacier park quarter.  I would never have invested this much in a blank to give my Dad if I wasn't happy with the click mechanism.







I also made my pith pen using a clicker.


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## el_d (Feb 29, 2012)

Nice.  Love the coins. There's not ALOT of room there. 



BSea said:


> Well, as long as we're showing clickers, I might as well show the tru-quarter premier clicker.
> 
> I made this for my Dad who's from Montana.  It has the Montana state quarter & the Glacier park quarter.  I would never have invested this much in a blank to give my Dad if I wasn't happy with the click mechanism.
> 
> ...


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## Ted iin Michigan (Feb 29, 2012)

My favorite click pen is the Vertex. I really like the smooth click mechanism. It's my daily user (chrome dressed in Zircote). I have lots of stories to tell about how I sold a pen after somebody noticed me using that one. But the best one was in a jewelry store near Christmas. I used the pen to sign a credit card thingy. "Nice pen". "Thanks - I make them." "Really?" "Here, try the click. Isn't that smooth?". "Hey, Suzie come look at this!" Sold 7 pens there, that day. Not all Vertex, not all wood, but each one a good sale. Paid for LOML's Christmas present.


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## Brooks803 (Feb 29, 2012)

The long click was my fav until I started making my own kitless clicks:
http://www.penturners.org/photos/index.php?n=20223http://www.penturners.org/photos/index.php?n=20285 








The click mech is silkly smooth and QUIET. It's 100% metal so it won't break like the cheap plastic ones. The only spring is the one on the refill. You can adapt it in whatever fashion you want.


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## Glenn McCullough (Feb 29, 2012)

I steer all my customers to twist and if they insist on a click, I tell them I will stand behind the click for a year, but for life if they switch to a twist or capping model. I will not be wasting my time fixing clicks forever. As you can tell, I have had no good luck with htem at all!!


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## Smitty37 (Feb 29, 2012)

*Hmmmm*



BSea said:


> Chasper said:
> 
> 
> > I see a void in the market for a dependable clicker that can sell for less than $50.
> ...


 I thought the Power Click Pen was based on the Slimline Pro.


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## BSea (Feb 29, 2012)

Smitty37 said:


> BSea said:
> 
> 
> > Chasper said:
> ...


You're probably right.  I pretty much gave up on making them after the 1st 2.  And I just forgot what model it was.  either way, I had no luck with the plastic mechanism.


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## redwd707 (Mar 2, 2012)

Brooks803 said:


> The long click was my fav until I started making my own kitless clicks:
> 
> 
> 
> ...


 Wow! I like those. Too cool.
In response to the OP, CSUSA long clicker is the only click I'll do anymore.


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## cwolfs69 (Mar 2, 2012)

great look john, where would you get the mechanism from or do you make that yourself also.


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## redwd707 (Mar 2, 2012)

Not mine, just quoting Brooks803's post. They really are imressive though, right?
Im curious about the mech as well.....

editmy mistake, he's Jon too)


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## seamus7227 (Mar 2, 2012)

yep, i would like to know as well! those are sweet pens Jonathon!


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## hewunch (Mar 2, 2012)

He got the mech from Richard Greenwald. I just got some in and I am hoping for some shop time this afternoon


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## Brooks803 (Mar 2, 2012)

hewunch said:


> He got the mech from Richard Greenwald. I just got some in and I am hoping for some shop time this afternoon


 

thanks Hans, yes I get them from Richard Greenwald (google the name to get his site....I can't find my link). I'm hoping to finally get some shop time after this weekend!


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## Tage (Mar 3, 2012)

The only three clicks I've made have been from PSI.  The Power pen and the Slimline Pro clicks people seem to like, but they are a PIA to assemble.  If the upper barrel gets shortened even the tiniest bit when barrel trimming, the clicker doesn't work right.  
I really like the Gatsby click.  Have had several out in the wild for over a year now and still going strong.  I would imagine the Sierra click would yield the same results.


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## Smitty37 (Mar 3, 2012)

*MAYBE*



Tage said:


> The only three clicks I've made have been from PSI. The Power pen and the Slimline Pro clicks people seem to like, but they are a PIA to assemble. If the upper barrel gets shortened even the tiniest bit when barrel trimming, the clicker doesn't work right.
> I really like the Gatsby click. Have had several out in the wild for over a year now and still going strong. I would imagine the Sierra click would yield the same results.


 I don't think you can go to the bank on Sierra and Gatsby being the same.  Externally they probably are but the internals including the click mechanisms can and may well be different.  There is a fairly recent change to the Sierra where it was given a new design click mechanism and the new model will no longer accept the unibal refill like the older model did.


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## McBryde (Mar 3, 2012)

Good looking clickers Bob, and I second the Lau Lau clickers.

Emerson


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## Lenny (Mar 3, 2012)

When this question is asked from time to time, I know the majority usually say the long click and this thread seems to prove that to be true. For me, I have never been able to get too excited about the look of it!  The clicker just looks out of place or out of proportion, or something.

Jonathon's pens, OTOH, look very promising!


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## Brooks803 (Mar 3, 2012)

Lenny said:


> When this question is asked from time to time, I know the majority usually say the long click and this thread seems to prove that to be true. For me, I have never been able to get too excited about the look of it!  The clicker just looks out of place or out of proportion, or something.
> 
> Jonathon's pens, OTOH, look very promising!


 
Thanks Lenny, these open the doors to creativity. I was on the long click fan bus for a while but I also am not a fan of the look. I was able to do a small mod though and for me it helped alot. Let me see if I can find a pic:

Ah...here we are:



 

 

It's just a cigar nib, but it makes a hell of a difference in the feel of it.


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## crabcreekind (Mar 4, 2012)

DRAT said:


> Friends,
> 
> I want to make my dotor a click pen, one that will hold up to many clicks each hour.
> 
> ...



The Long Click from CSUSA holds up very well, i use one of them everyday. And i am one of those people that sits in class ans frantically clicks their pen. Never had a problem with it.


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## crabcreekind (Mar 4, 2012)

Brooks803 said:


> Lenny said:
> 
> 
> > When this question is asked from time to time, I know the majority usually say the long click and this thread seems to prove that to be true. For me, I have never been able to get too excited about the look of it!  The clicker just looks out of place or out of proportion, or something.
> ...



Sweet! I have noticed since the nib that comes with the long click has a straight drop off edge that the barrel has to be a perfect fit. But with your mod your wouldnt have to do that..TY


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## jzerger (Mar 4, 2012)

*Compson click*

I made a couple of Compson click pens (PSI) and my wife loves hers...uses it daily.  Relatively new so may not hold up in the long run.
Anyone else know anything about this one.
john


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## BSea (Mar 4, 2012)

crabcreekind said:


> I have noticed since the nib that comes with the long click has a straight drop off edge that the barrel has to be a perfect fit. But with your mod your wouldnt have to do that..TY


It's true that the way the long click is designed, a less than perfect fit is noticed easily.  However, since the nib is a screw on, you can insert the threaded nib bushing & test fit the nib.  Then if you need to remove, or build up the blank, just unthread the nib & use your 60° centers.  Just like turning between centers.  Just be sure not to use too much pressure, and cover the threads with blue tape if you need to build up with CA.  Doing this, you can get a perfect fit every time.  But you need to have the 60° centers.  I have yet to try Jonathon's cigar nib mod.  I don't know why, I have everything I need to make one this way.

I'm also not a fan of the long straight barrel.  That's why I normally use a fake centerband, or some sort of segmenting.  Doing a fake centerband is a great easy segmenting project.


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## thetalbott4 (Mar 4, 2012)

Yet another long click vote. Use it in construction estimating and its far outlasted the others Ive tried over the years.


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## Brooks803 (Mar 4, 2012)

BSea said:


> crabcreekind said:
> 
> 
> > I have noticed since the nib that comes with the long click has a straight drop off edge that the barrel has to be a perfect fit. But with your mod your wouldnt have to do that..TY
> ...


 
The best part is that the threads are the same so it's just a matter of swapping out parts. One thing you have to do is turn off that lip on your nib coupler bc it'll keep the cigar nib from threading on flush to the barrel. The other area you have to pay attention to is the stock nib is slightly longer than the cigar nib. You have to figure out a way to keep the lengths identical or else you'll have the tip of the refill sticking out slightly. The way I take care of it is to use those 10" 3/8 tubes and cut it just over 1/8" longer than the stock tube. That'll make up the differece and give a lil play room for when you square up the blank. Like James mentioned, you don't have to worry as much about the fit on the nib bc of the taper on the backside of a cigar nib. I still use the long click bushing bc it matches perfect with meeting that backside taper and gives it a clean look.

The biggest problem is finding matching platings for something other than chrome.


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