Stuff you have fixed today

[Dr.Al]

A last straw occurred today. I mentioned a while ago that there's a plastic bit in the Pentel Graphgear 1000 pencils that is the weak joint in an otherwise excellent pencil (I particularly like the retracting tip that goes inside the body when the pocket clip is lifted). My ninth one broke today (albeit at a different joint to usual, but still the same plastic piece). I decided it was time to bite the bullet and have a go at making my own. I'd been quite nervous about making the two threads (one of which was something like M7.7×0.5 and the other M7.1×0.5!), but I took my time (turning the chuck by hand) and I made sure that I drilled the 5.8 mm through hole last so I wasn't cutting a thread on a really thin-walled part.

I've still got at least three (maybe more) of the other broken pencils that I put in a drawer somewhere in case I ever got round to doing this (and doing it successfully), so I'll have a go at making a few more soon. I've got a detail drawing showing all the dimensions so that should help with the repeated manufacture.

All being well, the new collar should last far longer than the plastic ones do.

 

[Seadog]

Beautiful job. But do you need to make any more? Swap that part between pens as they run out.

 

[Maker]

M7.1×0.5!

0.5 factorial pitch? That is a bizarre thread.

 

[Dr.Al]

Beautiful job. But do you need to make any more? Swap that part between pens as they run out.

I keep two in the garage (a 0.7mm lead & a 0.9mm lead), two at work (a 0.5 & a 0.7) and two on my home office desk (same as work). At the moment they're all okay (I've replaced the ones that broke), but I'd like to fix the already-broken ones so I have spares ready for when the next lot fail (which they will).

 

[Seadog]

OK, excuse accepted

 

[minimutly]

Today I cut some scrap steel to make something my jag xf rear silencer could hang from. Sorry, no pics, I was in a hurry. Made a temporary repair, hard to weld anything to thinned out steel, still mostly rust.
Dipped both ends in waste oil so it lasts a year or so, give me time to find a new or good used one.

 

[The_Yellow_Ardvark]

Got this old box the other day.

The contents.
Nice weight set.

The box was sanded down, sealed and 5 coats of Brown Button polish.

The glas was "difficult" to cut. All I had was some old stuff.

The weighst were cleaned. Not polished. Then a dusting of french chalk. This stops finger grease sticking toi them.

All done. Original felts were saved as well.

 

[Dr.Al]

A last straw occurred today. I mentioned a while ago that there's a plastic bit in the Pentel Graphgear 1000 pencils that is the weak joint in an otherwise excellent pencil (I particularly like the retracting tip that goes inside the body when the pocket clip is lifted). My ninth one broke today (albeit at a different joint to usual, but still the same plastic piece). I decided it was time to bite the bullet and have a go at making my own. I'd been quite nervous about making the two threads (one of which was something like M7.7×0.5 and the other M7.1×0.5!), but I took my time (turning the chuck by hand) and I made sure that I drilled the 5.8 mm through hole last so I wasn't cutting a thread on a really thin-walled part.

View attachment 335559

View attachment 335560

I've still got at least three (maybe more) of the other broken pencils that I put in a drawer somewhere in case I ever got round to doing this (and doing it successfully), so I'll have a go at making a few more soon. I've got a detail drawing showing all the dimensions so that should help with the repeated manufacture.

All being well, the new collar should last far longer than the plastic ones do.

I did a bit of a production run last night and have now repaired all five of the broken pencils (the earlier broken ones got chucked in the bin unfortunately - it was only after the fourth or fifth one broke that I started saving them):

Also one spare piece for when the next one breaks (I've got quite a few of these pencils in various different places).

It's not as obvious which size is which as it was when they had coloured plastic inserts, but there is definitely a difference in colour to the translucent grippy bits (the second one from the bottom is 0.9 mm while the others are 0.7 mm). I guess I could always put a bit of Dykem blue on the shafts (under the grip) of the 0.7 mm ones and some black marker on the shaft of any 0.5 mm ones I repair. For now I'll just leave it as-is and see whether it ever catches me out.

I'm not sure how many unbroken pencils I've got around (at a guess I'd say 6) so I'm pondering another session on the lathe and pre-emptively fixing all the rest. I've got plenty of 10 mm brass bar and it's a lot quicker to make them in batches than one at a time.

 

[Seadog]

Nice little job for CNC. Churn out a few hundred and offer them for sale. See how long it takes for the manufacturer to cotton on. Maybe they wouldn't bother as it would make the product too reliable.

 

[Dr.Al]

Nice little job for CNC. Churn out a few hundred and offer them for sale. See how long it takes for the manufacturer to cotton on. Maybe they wouldn't bother as it would make the product too reliable.

Now if only I had a CNC lathe!

 

[selectedgrub]

Beautiful things.

 

[awemawson]

Nice job !

At £26 each (Pentel tell me) you've a small fortune tied up in those

 

[bricol]

Nice job !

At £26 each (Pentel tell me) you've a small fortune tied up in those

I'm beginning to think the £1 papermate propelling pencil I bought from WHSmith when at Uni in Sheffield in 1990, and still use, was worth the extravagance as a skint student!

 

[Dr.Al]

Nice job !

At £26 each (Pentel tell me) you've a small fortune tied up in those

That's the recommended retail price. The ones I've bought have been about £7 each and they're (with the exception of the plastic bit) much better in terms of ruggedness (and weight - I like a heavy pen/pencil) than the cheap ones. I've tried the cheap plastic ones a few times but they rarely last more than a few weeks - I seem to give pencils a hard life! Clumsy? Me? Surely not!

I dread to think how much I've spent on 0.7 mm pencil leads over the last 20 years though: I spend most of my life (both work time and hobby time) with a pencil in my hand so I go through leads very quickly.

 

[bricol]

That's the recommended retail price. The ones I've bought have been about £7 each and they're (with the exception of the plastic bit) much better in terms of ruggedness (and weight - I like a heavy pen/pencil) than the cheap ones. I've tried the cheap plastic ones a few times but they rarely last more than a few weeks - I seem to give pencils a hard life! Clumsy? Me? Surely not!

I dread to think how much I've spent on 0.7 mm pencil leads over the last 20 years though: I spend most of my life (both work time and hobby time) with a pencil in my hand so I go through leads very quickly.

I'd have to admit that the thousands of pounds a few employers have spent on CAD software and suitable hardware to run it, have reduced the need to use my Papermate pencil quite so much

 

[redlig]

I'd have to admit that the thousands of pounds a few employers have spent on CAD software and suitable hardware to run it, have reduced the need to use my Papermate pencil quite so much

Having said that you might have the last laugh when E prices go through the roof and they cannot afford to run CAD or the excess requirements of an all E world causes supply failures. Just looking on the bright side AGAIN, as is my wont.

 

[MattF]

with a pencil in my hand so I go through leads very quickly.

Look on the positive side. You do have lead in your pencil.

 

[Brad93]

Making worn things like new again this week.

 

[bricol]

Having said that you might have the last laugh when E prices go through the roof and they cannot afford to run CAD or the excess requirements of an all E world causes supply failures. Just looking on the bright side AGAIN, as is my wont.

As long as you, the public, keep buying food and drink in cans, I think my Papermate pencil will remain under-used

On the Greta side of things, I think we either have already, or are about to, source all our (worldwide) energy from renewable sources

Although, I haven't asked about the timescale involved in the renewing - after all, fossil fuels will renew, slowly . . .

 

[Bki26]

Managed to weld up the jaw on the 16-68mm spanner after breaking it, totally wasn't using it for the wrong purpose

Not a pretty job but would rather leave the weld proud for more strength as it wasn't the nicest to weld.