Omas 360 disassembly

[StephenBrown]

Hey there,

Has anyone ever disassembled an original Omas 360 (the triangular one)? I'd love to get the nib and feed out, but they won't budge when I apply force, and I don't want to overdo it.

Any input is appreciated!

Stephen

[dannzeman]

Stephen,

The nib/feed unit thread into the section and you'll need a tool to remove it. I made one myself with a Dremel:
uploadfromtaptalk1368109225458.jpg

It's a bit crude, but it works great.

[jacksterp]

That tool looks downright frightening. But if it works...

Is that a Kershaw Leek in the background?

[StephenBrown]

Stephen,

The nib/feed unit thread into the section and you'll need a tool to remove it. I made one myself with a Dremel:

Yeah, I was afraid it was tool time when I saw those little holes. So, I suppose I really need to get a Dremel. Thanks for the input!

[KrazyIvan]

Dan, that looks very similar to my Widgy pry bar. I have the 3" http://www.countycomm.com/barfamily.html

[dannzeman]

Is that a Kershaw Leek in the background?

It is indeed. Good eye!

[earthdawn]

Stephen ... you have a pic?

See mine, pic below, was bought used and had the holes and they were chewed up as someone tried unscrewing it. Now heres the rub, it was a pull out. It needed to be soaked in hot water and the nib alone came straight out and then the feed was able to be pulled out as well.
Also, the end of the feed was a little crewed up, how I dont know! but i sent it to Greg Minuskin to fix it.
I wanted the nib and feed out so I could align it slightly off about 15 degrees as the triangular shape was forcing me to write at an angle I don't write at. By doing so it allows me to know hold the pen how I naturally hold it with the nib position where it suits me best. See the LAST picture for exactly what I mean.

[hari317]

Hey there,

Has anyone ever disassembled an original Omas 360 (the triangular one)? I'd love to get the nib and feed out, but they won't budge when I apply force, and I don't want to overdo it.

Any input is appreciated!

Stephen

Safer to pull the nib and feed out with the aid of a rubber strip. Some Omas case feeders(the threaded sleeve) are notorious for being fragile and it is better to leave them inside the pen. BTW why do you want to remove the nib unit? just curious.

[StephenBrown]

Thanks for the input, everyone!

I'd like to remove the nib and feed so that I can lubricate the piston.

[hari317]

Thanks for the input, everyone!

I'd like to remove the nib and feed so that I can lubricate the piston.

OK. It is simple to remove the piston unit itself to do this without touching the nib.

[earthdawn]

Thanks for the input, everyone!

I'd like to remove the nib and feed so that I can lubricate the piston.

OK. It is simple to remove the piston unit itself to do this without touching the nib.

I'm all ears !

I looked and stared for quite a but and could not figure it out..

[hari317]

I'm all ears !

I looked and stared for quite a but and could not figure it out..

Pls do this only if you are mechanically adept and are willing to take the risk.

Do you see two tiny holes on the knob?

There is a steel cross pin driven in there. You have to drive that pin out with a 0.5mm drift, I use the shank of a PCB drill bit for this held in a pin vise. Push and take care that your vise does not mar the piston knob as the pin is driven out. alternatively use a watch bracelet resizing tool of the type used to resize "split pin" watch bracelets.

Once the pin is out, put it away safely as it is very small and can get lost.

Now just unscrew the knob, it will come off the pen. The piston shaft can then be pulled out.

HTH.

[KrazyIvan]

I don't have an Omas 360... yet. It has been on my want list for a long time. I narrowly missed out on an eBay auction a few months ago that ended while I was distracted at work. The person who won it got it for $114 IIRC. This information is good to know for future reference.

[StephenBrown]

That's right, Ivan: you need one of these pens (not that you don't know ). The first time someone gave me one of these pens to try out, I thought the triangular shape had to be extremely uncomfortable, but I was wrong: it's lovely to use!

Anyway, I have managed to pull out the nib and feed, lube the piston from the inside, re-inserted nib and feed, and found out that all of a sudden, there was a large gap between the nib and feed (yes, they were inserted correctly ), which seriously hampered ink flow. So, not only did I finally manage to get the nib and feed out, I also undertook my first daring attempt at heat setting a feed (it's ebonite), and now the pen works wonderfully: the piston moves like it's newly installed, and ink flow is great (neither too dry nor too wet). So again, thanks for the help, everyone!

[vates]

I'm all ears !

I looked and stared for quite a but and could not figure it out..

Pls do this only if you are mechanically adept and are willing to take the risk.

Do you see two tiny holes on the knob?

There is a steel cross pin driven in there. You have to drive that pin out with a 0.5mm drift, I use the shank of a PCB drill bit for this held in a pin vise. Push and take care that your vise does not mar the piston knob as the pin is driven out. alternatively use a watch bracelet resizing tool of the type used to resize "split pin" watch bracelets.

Once the pin is out, put it away safely as it is very small and can get lost.

Now just unscrew the knob, it will come off the pen. The piston shaft can then be pulled out.

HTH.

Hello Hari,

Could you please be more specific on this procedure?
I've found the hole but can't figure out how the metal rod is removed. Can't just push it out. Shall I push it not straight but with certain angle?

A quick hand-drawn picture will help a lot.

Thanks!

[arkiemarkchicago]

It's an old thread, but I used it for reference since my recently acquired OMAS Vintage 360 Smoky Black/Grey had a really sticky piston. I didn't have the tool to unscrew the nib so I figured I would attempt to take out the piston from the blind cap. Let me just say, this was an absolutely PAIN!!! I got the brass pin out (via watch tool), disassembled the piston, silicone greased the barrel, but getting the whole thing back together again was terribly difficult. Long and short- the difficulty lay in getting the pin to align with the internal barrel pin holes. It look over two hours to get it back together. NEVER AGAIN. (Serious moments of me wanting to throw the pen against the wall out of frustration...)

I would suggest that if you did want to take the 360 apart, the best way would be from the nib side. The exact OMAS tool is hard to come by, but if your nib isn't easy to pull out (mine felt stuck when I tried), try making your own out of a small butterfly clip. I took the smallest clip size, bent the prongs, and sized the tips down with some metal files. Relatively easy to make and gives you the option to take apart and put back together again and again without the hassle of dealing with the piston side.

My one caveat of advice would be to unscrew the nib GENTLY. Mine would not give so I ran some heat on it via a hair dryer (again, GENTLY). It finally gave way after a bit and allowed full access to the barrel for cleaning/lubricating.

OMAS Tool 01.jpgOMAS Tool 02.jpg

I'm all ears !

I looked and stared for quite a but and could not figure it out..

Pls do this only if you are mechanically adept and are willing to take the risk.

Do you see two tiny holes on the knob?

There is a steel cross pin driven in there. You have to drive that pin out with a 0.5mm drift, I use the shank of a PCB drill bit for this held in a pin vise. Push and take care that your vise does not mar the piston knob as the pin is driven out. alternatively use a watch bracelet resizing tool of the type used to resize "split pin" watch bracelets.

Once the pin is out, put it away safely as it is very small and can get lost.

Now just unscrew the knob, it will come off the pen. The piston shaft can then be pulled out.

HTH.

Hello Hari,

Could you please be more specific on this procedure?
I've found the hole but can't figure out how the metal rod is removed. Can't just push it out. Shall I push it not straight but with certain angle?

A quick hand-drawn picture will help a lot.

Thanks!