Extending the thoughts on plating my carry pen has been through the entire cycles in our washing machine still looks great was found separate to the pocket it must have been in when put in the machine the biro shat itself inside the pen a simple wipe out new biro and its great. With regard to fills and refills I have read so much twadle about how awful the original fill is in a kit how bad they are to write with etc never had one problem after I make the pen I love the fine line.
Three main tests I apply to Slimlines 1. I use a brass holder to hold the brass while I ruff it up if its too tight I throw that brass away. 2. I check the winding mechanism by winding it in either direction the set it fully extended and always press it in this position I chuck away faulty mechanisms a small number over literally thousands of good ones. 3. Using a cheap tapered reamer to provide a smooth entry when pressing the top and tip of each kit. I forgot I always check the biro if it writes well or not I have jars of refills I bought several hundred nearly 30 yrs ago no main failures to this day other than four that I can recdall.
Anyone who puts a huge mark up on a Slimline then says they are cheap kits yes they are cheap, not a doddle to make properly and never made to last forever. Now a days there are upmarket coatings. The only Slimline that passed through me that was ugly as sin after some years was owned by my son who works in major Air Conditioning for huge construction jobs drops it continually from great heights etc, still using it after several years.
If you oversell or overmarket cheap kits it can bite you back IMHO. No one has ever come back with a faulty Slimline to me.
Peter.
