# Pen Tip Rattle.  Big Deal????



## hump3366 (May 9, 2012)

I have a customer who is complaining that when tapping a pen on her pad a paper the pen rattles in the blank.  Slimline and Funline pens.  I assume the transmission is in too far???  This does not rattle when the pen tip is deployed.  My solution is to not tap the pen on anything.  I just thought this and it was not vocalized.  Is she too picky or do I need to step up the preciseness of my completed product.  

Thanks in advance.


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## ed4copies (May 9, 2012)

Hi Stephen!!

Welcome to IAP!!!

Let's analyze this.  The cross refill threads into the transmission.  The transmission is held firmly by the "7mm brass" tube.  So, what HAS to be happening is the refill is "swaying" enough to hit the sides of the pen end cone (nib?).  When it is extended, the writing part of the refill fits tightly enough that it does not allow this "travel" to the sides of the "nose cone".

So, perhaps a different (stiffer) refill may not sway????  Or, yes you COULD modify the brass tube to have a guide, (a wood dowel with a small hole in the center) lower in the tube that had a small hole that would just fit the refill, keeping it from swaying.

Personally, I would call this normal, but if the customer goes through enough pens, the dowel idea might be worth trying.

FWIW,

And good luck!!!!

Ed


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## TerryDowning (May 9, 2012)

switch them to a roller ball?:biggrin:

Provide a drum stick for tapping??


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## arioux (May 9, 2012)

If the pen rattle when tapped on a pad, i suspect more the center band to be loose and hitting the transmission.  Make sure the too parts fit "flush" on the centerband and that it is skeezed tight.  Tolerence on the "funline" is very weak and centerband could be larger than the transmission.


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## jd99 (May 10, 2012)

Hey Doc.... My pen rattles when I do this........

Well then don't do that.................


:biggrin:


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## seamus7227 (May 10, 2012)

i think if you were dealing with something other than a "bottom of the barrel" pen(and no offense, but lets be honest about it, they are cheap), then i would say this should be looked at a little better. I think Ed provided a good solution to the problem, but then IMO is it really worth spending the time fixing that problem? I guess you have to look at what you sold it for. If it was under $30, i would be hard pressed not to say "you get what you pay for". Again, these are just my opinions and reasons why i dont waste my time with pens of that caliber.


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## ed4copies (May 10, 2012)

seamus7227 said:


> i think if you were dealing with something other than a "bottom of the barrel" pen(and no offense, but lets be honest about it, they are cheap), then i would say this should be looked at a little better. I think Ed provided a good solution to the problem, but then IMO is it really worth spending the time fixing that problem? I guess you have to look at what you sold it for. If it was under $30, i would be hard pressed not to say "you get what you pay for". Again, these are just my opinions and reasons why i dont waste my time with pens of that caliber.




This is not meant to be argumentative.

You SOLD him a hand made pen, with advantages over the BIC.  

If you now tell him he bought the dregs of your line, you are LIKELY to LOSE a customer.  He will go back to BIC.
(Which MAY be OK with you, if he is going to be a "perpetual complainer".)


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## sbell111 (May 11, 2012)

Cross-based kits generally don't use springs, but if you did put a small spring on the refill, it would keep enough tension on it that it wouldn't rattle around.


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## timhoman0351 (Jul 4, 2012)

A dab of silicone on center band and or at cone end .Coat a toothpick with a wax and plug the cone to apply a small dab of silicone on the inside. Or maybe use a tiny O" ring ?


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