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View Full Version : Disappointing ! - Acme Rollerball Split Barrel



Bdez
March 29th, 2014, 06:54 PM
Hi All

I’d always wanted a Acme Rollerball “Networked” style but given it’s several years since it went out of production it seemed a remote chance – until I found a Californian gift shop online that amazingly still had two of them – which I duly purchased and shipped to Australia.

Like the several other Acme pens I have, I fitted the Schmidt 5888 Broad rollerball refill and tried to screw the front section back on to find that both were very very tight. In trying to screw both front sections on, the chrome cap at the non-writing end popped out which merely required it to be pushed back in. I hadn’t screwed the end in that hard and it never even got to the last 3-4 thread turns.

Strange because the Schmidt refill has always worked in other Acme’s (more than 10 of them) with no trouble or fuss. I thought maybe they had been sitting around for what must be 5 years and that the front section thread might be a bit corroded or similar. So, I cut down a Pilot G2 refill by 3 mm which fitted the “networked” fine.

Later when fiddling with the pen I felt a flaw in the non-writing end of the metal barrel and upon closer inspection there is a 15mm odd split in the metal barrel – in both pens! I’m not really sure whether the split occurred before I got the pens or as I tried to screw the front sections on – I think it is the later.

Emailed Acme however they were relatively unhelpful.

Does anyone have a method of “repairing” this sort of damage or am I stuck with the problem. It isn’t affecting the writing of the pen but is annoying and disappointing every time I see it.

Should I consider a thin smear of superglue to at least arrest any further splitting??

Attached is the pen itself along with two photos of the affected area.

Any help or insights appreciated.