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Busted Lever Spring


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#1 LedZepGirl

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Posted 25 December 2012 - 06:03 AM

As the title states, I have a tiny Peter Pan FP and the ring that holds the lever in place is broken. It was so rusty and corroded it crumbled the instant I moved the lever after cleaning out fragments of the old sac.

Where can I find another spring tiny enough to fit this pen? And how do I put it back together after I find it?

I've never dealt with this problem before.
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#2 Ron Z

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Posted 25 December 2012 - 06:00 PM

Martin Smith at Woodbin.ca sells mini J-bars that might work. Not as fancy as the two piece ones he sells, but great for maller pens. If it's too long, you can shorten it with a pair of tin snip and then smooth the edges and round the corners with a file.

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#3 Dennis Lively

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Posted 25 December 2012 - 06:47 PM

Ron, I think she is talking about the snap/keeper ring that holds the lever in place.

Zep, you can mod a standard size ring. Measure the OD of the barrel, use a piece of string or tape. Subtract a bit for the thickness of the barrel wall & trim to length. With a metal mandrel/rod of some kind use a pair of hemostats or pliers to reshape/coil the spring to the right diameter. A general 'ish' shape is all you really need, the spring should take the barrel shape on it's own when you push it in place.

#4 AndyR

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Posted 25 December 2012 - 09:36 PM

As the title states, I have a tiny Peter Pan FP and the ring that holds the lever in place is broken. It was so rusty and corroded it crumbled the instant I moved the lever after cleaning out fragments of the old sac.

Where can I find another spring tiny enough to fit this pen? And how do I put it back together after I find it?

I've never dealt with this problem before.



I have a stock of small C rings to fit a Conway Stewart Dinkie, these will probably fit your Peter Pan. If you care to send me your postal address back channel, I'll gladly put a few in the post for you to try free of charge.

If they are retained the same way as in a Dinkie, there are two ways of refitting. Slip the old lever onto the new ring, then (method 1) insert the whole assembly into the lever slot and twist through 90 degrees (with the lever vertical) so that the ring snaps back into the groove inside the barrel. It helps to clean the old muck and rust fragments out of that groove with a right angle dental pick beforehand. Method 2 is to feed a length of cotton through the lever slot then tie it to the lever/ring assembly at the end of the barrel. The whole assembly can then be pulled roughly into place so the lever emerges through the lever slot and the ring can then be seated properly by wriggling the lever to move the ring into the groove. In either case the dental pick can be used to help push the ring into position from the end of the barrel. It's not too difficult but it requires care, patience and practice! Be careful not to chip the edges of the lever cutout. Also remember that the groove is the weakest point on the barrel - it can difficult to know how much force to use so take things gradually.

Andy

#5 LedZepGirl

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Posted 26 December 2012 - 12:51 AM

Alright, here's the pen. The OD is about 1in and the lever and the remains of the old lever ring are below. I hope this gives everyone some idea of what I'm dealing with here. Also, the pen is missing its ring top tassie so I'm looking for one of those.

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#6 Dennis Lively

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Posted 26 December 2012 - 03:44 AM

Andy's Dinkie ring should fit fine. Talk to Sam at pendemonium, IIRC she has a stock of ringtop tassies on her site.

Cool little pen.

#7 Teej47

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Posted 26 December 2012 - 06:46 PM

To recreate a broken keeper ring for a lever I use a bit of guitar string; typically an unwound G (third thinnest string) carefully bent around an appropriate form. A drill bit works nicely.

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#8 LedZepGirl

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Posted 01 January 2013 - 11:17 PM

I kind of have the lever back in, but all the c-rings were to big around and had to be trimmed down and reshaped.


But.... now I'm SOL because the stupid section had to crack when when I was adjusting the nib. Don't know where I'm going to get another one of those and I'm wary about having pen turner making me a new one because they charge $$ when I only have $.Posted ImagePosted ImagePosted Image $45.00 + shipping is too much to pay for a parts pen.

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Edited by LedZepGirl, 01 January 2013 - 11:45 PM.

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#9 LedZepGirl

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Posted 20 February 2013 - 06:29 PM

So, I've found someone to make me a new section and almost two months after replacing the c-ring I've blogged about it.

Replacing a Lever Ring


This pen is turning out to be more trouble than I ever thought it would.
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