I'm Curious, How Many Of Us Have Kaigelu 316's?

[kidde]

I've not posted on this for a bit. After installing Richard's finials you will have a new pen! The balance becomes near perfect and it will no longer feel as a Kaigelu 316.

Richard, I'm glad you stuck with this. I know it can't be profitable, but you allow us to turn a poorly balanced heavy pen into an amazing writing instrument. Thank you.

 

Paul

[katerchen]

So just for fun, here's me balancing the factory stock barrel on my finger. That top piece must be made of solid metal.

 

http://i.imgur.com/7iucx4x.jpg

[alc3261]

So just for fun, here's me balancing the factory stock barrel on my finger. That top piece must be made of solid metal.

 

http://i.imgur.com/7iucx4x.jpg

It is.

[Flounder]

That photo has to be the best illustration of the kind of difference swapping out the stock finial makes.

[richardandtracy]

Yep, the finials I make lower the CG of the whole pen to below that of the Duofold. It's not that much lower, so the overall feel is almost identical.

 

As for making a profit..

In strictly money terms I'm making a small profit of possibly 25p per finial after taking into account the failures, mould materials, wrong resins I've tried & Paypal fees. Balanced against this is the half hour per finial it takes to mould, turn & polish. So, with an hourly rate of 50p/hr(75USCents), I'm doing it because I want other people to enjoy their K316's rather than because I want to be a millionaire!

 

Regards,

 

Richard

[garyc]

Richard,

 

your efforts are very much appreciated - I was wondering how you could even be covering your costs for this (given the test mouldings, waste etc.), let alone begin to compensate you for the time spent.

 

Anyway, I have ordered a 3rd 316 to complete my set, a white/black. One thing I was wondering whether anyone else has noticed a gap (about 1mm) between the thread on the barrel and the step up to the polished part. My charcoal has it, but not the amber. It just looks a bit unsightly, that's all. In all other respects, the pen is perfect, particularly it now has a new, improved lightweight finial.

 

Gary

Edited March 17, 2015 by garyc

[alc3261]

Finials received!!

[richardandtracy]

... One thing I was wondering whether anyone else has noticed a gap (about 1mm) between the thread on the barrel and the step up to the polished part. My charcoal has it, but not the amber. It just looks a bit unsightly, that's all. In all other respects, the pen is perfect, particularly it now has a new, improved lightweight finial.

 

Gary

I have it on my most recent amber one, but not on any of the other 3 I have, and it is also on my eldest daughter's amber one. Both of these are new in the last 18 months, though my white/black stripe (new a year or so ago) doesn't have it.

 

It is, I think, a groove to let the thread cutting tool run out into before crashing into the shoulder. The technical term for it is a 'Thread Undercut'. I don't think it's required either. It is good engineering practice to put one in when threading up to a shoulder, and at work we have had a fair bit of grief caused by a designer who never put one in, even when needed. In this case the cap goes on OK without it, so I don't think it's needed.

 

Regards,

 

Richard.

[richardandtracy]

Adrienne, glad you got the finials OK.

 

Regards,

 

Richard

[Chris]

I have had a Kaigelu 316 for a while now; it has been long enough for me to enjoy the look of the pen and writing smoothness of the nib, though I don't have one of the magic finials.

 

However, a problem has come to light. I was getting blue stains on my forefinger from where the pen rests and I traced this to a leak around the gold trim (now a little less gold through tarnish). The pen was retired for a while as a result.

 

Then, whilst fiddling, I found that screwing the converter in pushed the nib holder (is that right? The bit that fits inside the section and has the nib fitted into or onto it) out from the section a little. Well, I eased it forward a but more, wiped a smear of sac adhesive around it and then pushed it firmly back in place.

 

I hope this will fix the pesky little leak and allow me to enjoy using this nice pen again.

[Flounder]

Chris, what you are describing sounds a lot like my first 316 (see this thread). My second 316's feed sleeve is not loose in the barrel, and looks to be a slightly different design (first sits slightly proud of the section lip, second sits flush).

 

Did you notice if the sleeve was smooth, but the inside of the section was threaded (like mine was)? I've been wondering if they meant to use a threaded sleeve in the first place.

[Chris]

Chris, what you are describing sounds a lot like my first 316 (see this thread). My second 316's feed sleeve is not loose in the barrel, and looks to be a slightly different design (first sits slightly proud of the section lip, second sits flush).

 

Did you notice if the sleeve was smooth, but the inside of the section was threaded (like mine was)? I've been wondering if they meant to use a threaded sleeve in the first place.

 

Thank you, I had not seen that earlier thread. Indeed, that is exactly what happened. As I screwed the converter in, the sleeve came out a bit. I didn't notice whether there were any threads inside the section as I didn't let the sleeve come out more than 3mm (feared the nib falling out) but what I saw of the sleeve was perfectly smooth.

 

I guess my earlier attachment of the converter and its use must have shifted something previously inside the section, leading to the irritating leak and blue forefinger. It didn't do this when I first had the pen.

 

I hope my little dribble of sac cement has sealed it back in place and will stop the leak as I like the pen and want to use it more. But to me leaks are unacceptable in any pen. That is not some sort of snooty position statement, simply a fact of life. I can't be seen with ink-stained fingers during the day (though I'll get mucky in the evenings with this and other hobbies )

 

I'll let you know how my impromptu repair works out.

[richardandtracy]

That should seal it.

 

However, it may be worth investigating if there is a crack in the housing anywhere. The ink must be getting outside the housing, and there are only likely to be two ways it can get there - a crack or the c/c is not sealing against the housing spigot. The former is a little bit of a problem as there are lots of different size housings, so it would be a better bet to glue it up. If the c/c isn't sealing around the spigot, a bit of silicone grease could help.

 

Regards,

 

Richard.

[Chris]

Thanks Richard,

 

I've just inked the pen with Cross black - a mistake as it now writes as dryly as the Sahara on anything less absorbent than newsprint. Flow with other inks used to be great. So, after a rinse and refill with something else I'll see whether my bit of gluing has worked or whether I need to investigate further.

[whereisandy]

Just a word of warning to those replacing the original finials with the new ones from Richard -- don't use too much force in trying to get the finial off. I dipped my barrel in boiling water for about 1 minute and used my padded pliers to grasp the finial while twisting the body. The finial came out but I ended up with a cracked barrel.

 

I plan on using epoxy to glue the new finial in place and hope that will also prevent the crack from growing anymore. Any other suggestions on what to use to repair the crack?

[richardandtracy]

Oh gawd.

Sounds as if they may have changed the glue since last year. This is the second problem I've heard of. If it proves too difficult to remove, don't try too hard. Send the pen to me & I'll fit the finials after trying gently and machining the brass one off if need be.

 

My only suggestion is CA adhesive, which should be thin enough to have capillary action to draw it into the crack.

 

Regards,

 

Richard.

[Flounder]

Blast, that's a bothersome development. Andy, is there any glue residue left on your brass finial? For comparison, here's a photo of the old stuff that releases okay. It has a sort of flexible texture.

 

http://i773.photobucket.com/albums/yy19/flounder2009/Kaigelu%20316%20Disassembly/Kaigelu316FinialRemoval2Large.jpg

[whereisandy]

The finials from the Amber and the White Vein pens came out without cracking the barrel. It was only on the Charcoal pen that the barrel cracked.

 

Flounder, the residual glue definitely was not soft nor flexible. It was hard and crusty. In addition, the gold plated ring was really hard getting off of the old finial because of the left over glue. I had to use an Xacto knife to wedge open a slight crack between the ring and finial and then used a thin bladed screwdriver to work around the ring to maneuver it off.

 

I didn't recall it being so difficult getting my other finials off. I'd like to think that Kaigelu changed the glue rather than me getting more feeble.

[jeffkoch]

<snip> I found that screwing the converter in pushed the nib holder (is that right? The bit that fits inside the section and has the nib fitted into or onto it) out from the section a little. <snip>

 

 

Chris, what you are describing sounds a lot like my first 316 (see this thread). My second 316's feed sleeve is not loose in the barrel, and looks to be a slightly different design (first sits slightly proud of the section lip, second sits flush).

 

Did you notice if the sleeve was smooth, but the inside of the section was threaded (like mine was)? I've been wondering if they meant to use a threaded sleeve in the first place.

 

Have you ever seen a source for these sleeves, other than pushing them out of K316 sections? Several Ebay sellers are now offering #6 nibs and feeds labelled as being for the Jinhao 450 and 750 pens. If these sleeves were available, it would be easy to use these to build new pens, or retrofit old pens. I've examined several 450 and 750 pens, as well as several other inexpensive Chinese pens, but the sleeves seem to be firmly glued in.

[Flounder]

Jeff, I have noticed a kit pen supply site in the UK that sells sleeves, and matching nibs & feeds. Haven't experimented with any in a K316 though.

 

http://pencrafts.co.uk/store/pen-spares/replacement-nibs-and-tips