Finished a Steampunk pen ages ago and im still not happy with it (one last try)

[Pastor of Muppets]

I ordered a Steampunk pen kit from Axminster and it arrived in good time and looked lovely. I took the pre scuffed tube and a lovely piece of Wenge and glued it in nicely with gorilla glue. Got into the shop today and mounted it on to the mandrel and turned it down to the bushings sanded and finished it and was really happy with how it looked.
So I took the parts and assembled the pen as per the instructions and it looks lovely (well I think it does).
But....



If you look at the bolt action part with the nib retracted it sits halfway up the the slide and when the nib is out it doesn’t protrude far enough (again in my opinion)
Now to me this seems like the blank is too long but it’s as long as the tube.
Where have I gone wrong?

 

[Pastor of Muppets]

Huzzah it worked!
If only the pen did!

 

[flexi]

Personaly i would check to see if there is any swarf in the nib hole first...unscrew the copper nib remove the refill and try it in the nib.....if its tight, you may have just caught it/ squezed it on assembly....next try another refill to see if thats at fault...then check the body length of the blank it should be 47mm

 

[Bammer]

Flexi has made a lot of these I believe. Take a measurement of the tube length, just to make sure you haven't shortened it somehow, that's the usual reason for the nib not retracting.

 

[Pastor of Muppets]

Blank is bob on 47mm.
refill is moving freely through the nib.
So if the blank isn't too long could the refill be to short? (I have some Beaufort Ink refills in the shop I can try tomorrow)

 

[flexi]

Hi thats all it can be i think...a short refill....but how??
98mm for the refill

 

[Bammer]

Spring ? you did put the spring in the right end ? I know it sounds odd but who knows

 

[Pastor of Muppets]

Spring ? you did put the spring in the right end ? I know it sounds odd but who knows

Just checked the PSI instructions and yes the spring is over the refill like in the pictures. :book:

 

[Bammer]

Is the refill seated correctly in the mechanism. Getting harder to think of what the issue could be

 

[Dalboy]

If you unscrew the nib end and push on the refill does the lever then travel to the top of the slot or does it stop where it is in the first photo

 

[Penpal]

It may correct with a spacer to the refill.

Peter.

 

[Pastor of Muppets]

[MENTION=626]flexi[/MENTION] could you do me a favour mate could you unscrew your nib and take a pic of the threads for me please? mine seem really really short.
It's all fully disassembled now and waiting to go back together tomorrow very carefully

 

[flexi]

Hi i hope this helps

 

[wm460]

Not into steampunk but I do like those kits.

 

[Pastor of Muppets]

[MENTION=626]flexi[/MENTION] yeah your threads are twice the length of mine as is the spring. [MENTION=735]Phil Dart[/MENTION] came to my rescue yet again today and sent me a couple of spare springs and I have a few of his lovely refills! I will attempt reassembly soon and update!

 

[flexi]

We got there in the end....lets hope....eh