Printable View
Hey folks,
Just got an xlnt condition all black Phileas, all is swell except that the clip is just a bit loose. A little play, both in gripping against the cap and a tiny bit side-to-side. Any tips on how to effect repair? I've used a micro-LED light to look inside, but outside of a round metal piece in the end of the cap, I can't see any way to adjust it.
Any hints appreciated...
Being a little sloppy in the clip is part of the Phil/Kult personality. Do you have another to compare it to?
The typical clip wiggles back and forth about 1/8" - 3 mm at the clip end. It feels loose but not bad for a spring clip on an inexpensive pen.
There is a flat metal spring that is bent to slide into tabs on the underside of the clip, and is attached inside the cap. It looks a bit like a mini j-bar. The clip can be slid off that spring, and the spring tightened by bending. But it's difficult to get it back together without bending the spring back and ending up with it looser again.
This will be either my 5th or 6th in current possession right now, and I've probably had as many more in the past. Never had a loose clip before. Thanks for the info, I will look into maybe doing some dis-assembly.Quote:
Originally Posted by broadoblique
If you want to pull off the clip, I raise the pointed (sprung) end and slide back to the end of the cap. To reinstall, you have to hold the spring up, sprung up from the cap body, and slide the clip back on. This is where you can bend the spring loose again.
These pictures may help. Quality could be better, but I think you can see the in one the clip starting to come off, and in the other the grey spring on the cap and the tabs on the underside of the clip.
Attachment 11249Attachment 11250
If you drop a capped Phil/Kult and it lands on the cap end, the clip will voluntarily jump off the pen. I've done it a couple of times (fortunately not in years - probably next time I get the chance)
Sorry - just had to do a full quote: THANKS! That is precisely what I needed to see.Quote:
Originally Posted by broadoblique
I forgot to mention (it's been a while):
It's possible that the tab portion of the clip has spread, the narrow pointed end above the spring has bent narrower, or the slot in the plastic end has grown wider from wear. Squeezing the tabs a bit, but not so much they won't fit over the spring, may help looseness, as will spreading the end to better fill the slot. Common sense will tell you which way to go. The assembly is made more difficult by bent or spread tabs.
Good luck!
Bingo! I totally owe you, broadoblique! It popped off almost scarily easy, and your second comment, about slightly crimping the tab portion together is what did the trick. I figured that from the fact that there was some side-to-side play. After carefully pressing the sides a bit together, I held the metal clip raised up by wedging an 1/8" piece of toothpick in it. Once the tabs had slid far enough under the clip, I pulled out the piece of toothpick and slid the clip forward into place. It is solid now.
Thank you so very much!
Take it easy on the FPN guys. I'm esteroids over there. The reason I'm now posting such things here is that on FPN I would post a very similar response for help and it would be lost among replies admitting to never having had a Phileas but giving instruction regardless, or those giving opinions without even knowing what a spring clip is. There are some very interesting and knowledgeable posters over there whose contributions are ignored or misunderstood in favor of misconceived pen myth.
I think FPN is a fine forum. Experiences and opinions by newcomers to fountain pens is very valuable and interesting to others fairly new. On the whole they are probably more important and have a larger audience. But they aren't what I'm looking for.
Ha, just to be clear: I've had an account there for a long time, and I 1/2 expected Force to chime in right away. I was just tweaking them a bit, nothing serious. If it came off that way, I'll offer up an apology, but I think the Phileas cult over there are all good mates, and was just having a bit of fun. Anyway, I posted a link back to this in case any of them want to see the process. Clips on *all* pens can be a real challenge!
I tried to remove a Kultur clip. I lifted the bottom end of the clip up as far as it would move away from the cap. Then I pushed down toward the cap top. It wouldn't budge. I must be doing something wrong here.
We may be talking about different bottom ends. I lift the end at the black cap - right at the spring. I am pulling the clip straight away from the cap. The idea is to pull the pointed end of the clip out of its slot in the black cap, giving it clearance to slide off the spring. Check the first picture above.
Thank you. Now I get it. Because of using donor pens to replace pieces on other pens I was left with a frosted purple Kultur, a fine Phileas nib and a cracked Phileas section. I put the Phileas nib into the Kultur translucent section, replaced the chrome trim ring with the golden one from the cracked Phileas section, and got a cheap Phileas cap and replaced the chrome clip on the Kultur with the golden one from the Phileas. End result is a Kultur with a fine Phileas nib and gold tone accents. A softer look. I will try to take some pictures.
Sounds like a nice pen. This cap pictured, being clear, is of course from a Kultur. I too swapped out the trim and nib to gold. For good measure I threw in a Phileas brass tube.Attachment 11932
Good job! I like that. Customizing the pens is entertaining.
Thank you broadoblique for detailed info!
Without drifting off topic, I would love to know which nib you used as a replacement, and if you had to also change the feed.Quote:
Originally Posted by broadoblique
You can get the nib and feed from the L'etalon and put it into the Phileas/Kultur.