# Anyone have a problem with the Penn State Botanical pen???



## Monty

I recently experienced a problem with Penn State's new botanical pen, specifically the antique brass (this may also occur with others but my experience was with the antique brass).
Upon assembly of 2 pens, when pushing on the cap portion, there was a very small gap between the cap end and the body of the pen. This was no problem on the antique pewter, just the brass. When I measured the depth in the brass, it bottomed out at about 1.48 inch vs the pewter at 1.52inch.

Contacted Pen State and they sent 2 new caps, both of which exhibited the same problem.

On this particular pen, the finial cap and clip come preassembled. The finial will not twist off, it is pressed in. Since the part that slips over the transmission is also already in the assembled cap end, I was some what reluctant to try to disassemble the cap end by punching it out. I decided to try using a close fit transfer punch to knock the cap apart. To  my surprise, the three pieces that were pressed in together, the cap, clip and (for lack of a better word) transmission grip were not completely pressed together.
There was a gap and the clip freely rotated. Upon pressing these together and reassembling the cap, when I pushed the cap end on the pen, there was no gap and the pen worked properly.

This appears to be a quality control issue with the pen.

Has anyone else had this problem?


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## jrista

This is not an answer to your question, as I haven't bought any of these yet. I am curious, though...quality wise, with the engravings/designs in the pen, what did you think of the quality? I've had some kits, such as the dragon scale pen kit with the catseye gem in the finial, that just seemed to have atrocious quality (very soft details, visible mold seams, stuff like that). Other kits, like the Victorian Brass and Pewter rollerballs and ballpoints, have sharp details and no sign of mold seams or burrs or anything. 

I've been hesitant to buy the botanical, as I couldn't really tell from the photos what quality it was. Soft and crummy like the dragon scale kits, or sharp and detailed like the Victorian?


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## sheepdog1458

jrista said:


> This is not an answer to your question, as I haven't bought any of these yet. I am curious, though...quality wise, with the engravings/designs in the pen, what did you think of the quality? I've had some kits, such as the dragon scale pen kit with the catseye gem in the finial, that just seemed to have atrocious quality (very soft details, visible mold seams, stuff like that). Other kits, like the Victorian Brass and Pewter rollerballs and ballpoints, have sharp details and no sign of mold seams or burrs or anything.
> 
> I've been hesitant to buy the botanical, as I couldn't really tell from the photos what quality it was. Soft and crummy like the dragon scale kits, or sharp and detailed like the Victorian?


I just finished 4 of them.  I did not have any issues like Monty described.  Pieces are high quality and heavy.  I did have to mess with the transmission depth a little before I assembled top piece but that was it.


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## Monty

Other than the problem I had was I thought they were a little heavy.


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