Nakayama
September 7th, 2016, 12:00 PM
So today I was cleaning my beloved Custom74 when all of a sudden this happened. The finial simply broke off, leaving the cap in pieces (as seen in photos 1 & 2). It was not subjected to any form of trauma, no falls, nothing.
If anybody else had or shall I say "will have" this problem and doesn't want to send it somewhere to get fixed, I've put together a rudimentary DIY tutorial.
To minimize confusion, the parts have been numbered in order, from top to bottom. This is the exact layering of the cap.
1 - the finial/cap end
2 - the little decorative ring (it kinda works as a separator)
3 - the clip with its insertion ring
4 - the actual top end of the cap
5 - the metal part that's used to secure the finial/cap end (you can see the broken piece in the middle)
6 - the inner cap that protects the nib from drying out
Ok, first of all, clean the surfaces of the broken parts. And I mean, really clean them. Then try and see if there is any piece missing. In my case, there wasn't so I could rotate it until the two broken surfaces lined up perfectly (as you can see from the photos, the crack is asymmetrical and this really makes things easier, since there's only one way of lining them up).
Put the metal part (5) the right way up inside the cap. If you press on it from the cap end, it will undoubtedly fall, so I secured it with the inner cap (6) and for added security, threaded in the pen body+section, just to push it as far into the cap as it can go and make sure it will not move. I took out the nib and feed just to make sure no glue can damage them.
With this arrangement, I assembled everything except the cap end (1) and little ring (2). I used 2 pieces of electrical tape to secure the clip (3) in place. I used electrical tape because I'm sure it will not leave glue traces, at least the one I have.
Place the little ring (2) on top - don't worry about aligning it just yet, it will align once you place the cap end (1) in its final position.
Apply some glue on the broken surface of (5) since you'll be manipulating the cap end (1) - since I have the smoke version, you can't really see if the glue whitens the plastic it comes in contact with. I used a cyanoacrylate gel, 2 drops were sufficient.
Now you kinda' have to hurry; gently place (1) on top of the cap assembly 2+3+4+5+6+pen body/section and rotate it until you align the broken surfaces. After that, I double checked the alignment and placed a longer piece of electrical tape as shown in the photos, putting quite a bit of tension in it.
I honestly doubt it will hold up to a greater clip travel, for instance clipping it on your thick jeans pocket or whatever. I'm not going to go into detail about the clip design and law of the lever with the fixed hinge and tension points within the cap, but I hope this helps somebody.
Cheers
https://s21.postimg.org/bc6rzetqb/IMG_0269_cr2_1200_adn_s.jpg (https://postimg.org/image/bc6rzetqb/) https://s21.postimg.org/rbu0wpf5v/IMG_0272_cr2_1200_adn_s.jpg (https://postimg.org/image/rbu0wpf5v/) https://s21.postimg.org/63gcfa0oz/IMG_0273_cr2_1200_adn_s.jpg (https://postimg.org/image/63gcfa0oz/) https://s21.postimg.org/m2yzytwqr/IMG_0274_cr2_1200_adn_s.jpg (https://postimg.org/image/m2yzytwqr/) https://s21.postimg.org/qddnuf1tv/IMG_0275_cr2_1200_adn_s.jpg (https://postimg.org/image/qddnuf1tv/)
If anybody else had or shall I say "will have" this problem and doesn't want to send it somewhere to get fixed, I've put together a rudimentary DIY tutorial.
To minimize confusion, the parts have been numbered in order, from top to bottom. This is the exact layering of the cap.
1 - the finial/cap end
2 - the little decorative ring (it kinda works as a separator)
3 - the clip with its insertion ring
4 - the actual top end of the cap
5 - the metal part that's used to secure the finial/cap end (you can see the broken piece in the middle)
6 - the inner cap that protects the nib from drying out
Ok, first of all, clean the surfaces of the broken parts. And I mean, really clean them. Then try and see if there is any piece missing. In my case, there wasn't so I could rotate it until the two broken surfaces lined up perfectly (as you can see from the photos, the crack is asymmetrical and this really makes things easier, since there's only one way of lining them up).
Put the metal part (5) the right way up inside the cap. If you press on it from the cap end, it will undoubtedly fall, so I secured it with the inner cap (6) and for added security, threaded in the pen body+section, just to push it as far into the cap as it can go and make sure it will not move. I took out the nib and feed just to make sure no glue can damage them.
With this arrangement, I assembled everything except the cap end (1) and little ring (2). I used 2 pieces of electrical tape to secure the clip (3) in place. I used electrical tape because I'm sure it will not leave glue traces, at least the one I have.
Place the little ring (2) on top - don't worry about aligning it just yet, it will align once you place the cap end (1) in its final position.
Apply some glue on the broken surface of (5) since you'll be manipulating the cap end (1) - since I have the smoke version, you can't really see if the glue whitens the plastic it comes in contact with. I used a cyanoacrylate gel, 2 drops were sufficient.
Now you kinda' have to hurry; gently place (1) on top of the cap assembly 2+3+4+5+6+pen body/section and rotate it until you align the broken surfaces. After that, I double checked the alignment and placed a longer piece of electrical tape as shown in the photos, putting quite a bit of tension in it.
I honestly doubt it will hold up to a greater clip travel, for instance clipping it on your thick jeans pocket or whatever. I'm not going to go into detail about the clip design and law of the lever with the fixed hinge and tension points within the cap, but I hope this helps somebody.
Cheers
https://s21.postimg.org/bc6rzetqb/IMG_0269_cr2_1200_adn_s.jpg (https://postimg.org/image/bc6rzetqb/) https://s21.postimg.org/rbu0wpf5v/IMG_0272_cr2_1200_adn_s.jpg (https://postimg.org/image/rbu0wpf5v/) https://s21.postimg.org/63gcfa0oz/IMG_0273_cr2_1200_adn_s.jpg (https://postimg.org/image/63gcfa0oz/) https://s21.postimg.org/m2yzytwqr/IMG_0274_cr2_1200_adn_s.jpg (https://postimg.org/image/m2yzytwqr/) https://s21.postimg.org/qddnuf1tv/IMG_0275_cr2_1200_adn_s.jpg (https://postimg.org/image/qddnuf1tv/)