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Thread: removal of broken clip from Swan cap.

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    Default removal of broken clip from Swan cap.

    This was how I bought the pen some year or so back, and in my ignorance assumed the remains of the clip would be easy to remove, even if finding a correct replacement might take a while. But the best laid plans of mice and men etc. ........
    The pen is a good example of a Swan model 3320, one of those with metal threads on the section - no idea of date of manufacture - but possibly late 1940s - colour is a deep dark blue - nice pen with a broad nib that has some flex.
    The Pen Manual suggest when broken as this one is, the remnants have to be removed from the inside. This means removing the inner cap, but before I butcher the cap entirely, does anyone please have any tips to help. thanks.
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    Default Re: removal of broken clip from Swan cap.

    Clip is most likely held in place by the inner cap. You want to clean out the inner cap as much as possible then remove the inner cap with a puller. Heat and lots of it helps. extract the remainder of the clip, insert the new clip and slide the inner cap back into place using an appropriate pusher.

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    PaulS (March 25th, 2017)

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    Default Re: removal of broken clip from Swan cap.

    Marvellous - thanks very much for that help ............ the only professional puller I presently have is for P51 caps, and the diameter of the collet on that is too large to enter the Swan cap. Am wondering if an appropriate diameter tap - screwed down into the inner cap - could then be used to exert enough hold to pull out the inner cap.

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    Default Re: removal of broken clip from Swan cap.

    just to up-date on this one, although regret to say there's not been any physical progress ............... there is indeed an inner 'plastic' sleeve to the cap, and in turn this sleeve has its own very thin inner metal sleeve - quite why the apparent need for these two materials I'm not sure.
    Like pen caps on some other brands, this plastic inner sleeve serves the purpose of stopping the front of the section from advancing too far inside the cap - the barrel is screwed into the cap, and after 1.1/2 - 2 turns the section hits the sleeve and you're home and dry, period. At least there's never any chance of damaging the nib.

    Unfortunately, there is an added complication insofar as................ beyond the inner sleeve, and up high just below where the prongs of the clip enter the cap, there is a metal dead end - almost a plug like structure covering the entire inside diameter of the cap. Assuming you've removed the inner sleeve there remains this dummy end to the inside of the cap - in other words nothing of the clip can be seen from inside the cap.

    I've used the hair dryer but failed to move the inner plastic sleeve, and the tap didn't make for any movement - probably not enough perseverance, although appreciate the mechanics of why and how it should move - although the metal dummy end will need more thought.
    So I'm going to play safe for the time being, and before any more shoving or pulling will wait until I can buy/find/scrounge a Swan cap with an intrusion cap which I will cut down it's length just to see what lies behind. Obviously a method used by some, as there are many such dissected barrels and caps in The Pen Manual - will relate further episodes if and when I make progress.
    Sorry if this seems unduly slow and cowardly by some, but I don't want to butcher a decent pen cap until I know what the correct procedure is.

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    Default Re: removal of broken clip from Swan cap.

    by chance I found a Swan 3261 this morning - oxidised as can be seen and without a nib - but obviously cheap and almost identical to my good Swan, with damaged clip, that I want to repair............... most of these ball-ended clip Swans are very similar in proportions and clips are identical in size on many of the pens. I assume most are from late 1930s - late 1940s, and most carry the model No. located at the terminal end of the barrel - it's usually a four digit No.
    Spent some time screwing a tap into the inner cap and heating with the hair dryer, then pulling - and it doesn't work - nothing shifts.
    I've cut the cap down it's length, and you can see why - as far as the clip is concerned - there wouldn't be any advantage in removing internal parts, even if it were possible to extract anything ............ there's no access to the clip mounting from within the cap. The inner sleeve within the cap, as far as I can see, acts solely as a 'stop' to the front of the section and ensures the nib doesn't shunt into the end of the cap, even if the threads were to fail.
    Obviously when they're made, these one-piece caps are drilled with a two stage bit, the forward part of which creates the narrow part of the cavity. To what extent of the Swan range this methodology of cap construction holds good I've no idea, but may well run to a several models, where intrusion clips are used, during the 1930 - 40 period.

    The clip on this gash pen is reasonable, and I've carefully prized it out from its mounting recess so that either I have a spare or will try to mount it in the good pen, provided I can remove the broken stub of the original clip. When you have a complete clip or at least most of one, it's easy to lever it out using a screwdriver - doesn't seem to be a difficulty removing them. How the factory create the rectangular hold in the first place I can't thing - perhaps they used a square drill

    The bottom line with caps using intrusion clips is that provided leverage can be used to extract the broken remains you're o.k., but difficulty looms if you have only a stub left.
    So, need to now work out how to remedy my better pen such that I can replace with today's clip.

    Sorry this is a bit long winded but just wanted to make the point that on these intrusion clip Swans there's no access to the clip from inside the cap, and there doesn't appear to be any inner sleeve to remove anyway.
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    Default Re: removal of broken clip from Swan cap.

    Excellent.

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    Default Re: removal of broken clip from Swan cap.

    well, the devil is in the detail they say ............ after an hour or so I managed to remove the remains of the clip from the good pen which now has the replacement clip and doesn't look too bad, but it wasn't the sort of job I'd wish on anyone and although it's a reasonable fit I know it isn't as good as an original example would be.
    Unfortunately, the replacement clip taken from the old pen, required a slightly larger cavity than existed in the good pen, which took me another hour or two - I managed to make the hole bigger but in the process made it very slightly oversize - all of which was the result of not replacing like for like. In fact the remains of the damaged clip was a design of intrusion clip not shown in the Pen Repair Manual, and obviously required a smaller hole than did the replacement. So, moral of the story is make sure you have an identical part for the replacement - seems obvious, but there are occasions rarely when it may not be possible to know for certain, until part way into the repair.
    I suspect that had today been fifty years ago, and contemporary with the life of a Swan 3320, a replacement cap would have been the obvious answer. Removing difficult remains of prongs is not really a commercially viable job, but then I guess professionals would have a box of spare caps to suit.
    This 3320 is a very deep dark blue, not a black as it appears in the picture.
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    Last edited by PaulS; March 31st, 2017 at 03:26 PM.

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