sierra click pen click assembly

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salty

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Location
hayes, VA United States
Does anyone have a source for replacement clickers for the sierra click pen. The insert is easy enough to unscrew from the inside and replace but I can't find a clicker except from a new kit.
 
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First off ... Hi Neil !! . And a Warm Welcome to IAP !! :) :)

Not sure what you mean by "the insert", so I have to run off now and examine a Sierra Click.
 
magpens said:
First off ... Hi Neil !! . And a Warm Welcome to IAP !! :) :)

Not sure what you mean by "the insert", so I have to run off now and examine a Sierra Click.
Click to expand...
magpens said:
First off ... Hi Neil !! . And a Warm Welcome to IAP !! :) :)

Not sure what you mean by "the insert", so I have to run off now and examine a Sierra Click.
Click to expand...
magpens said:
First off ... Hi Neil !! . And a Warm Welcome to IAP !! :) :)

Not sure what you mean by "the insert", so I have to run off now and examine a Sierra Click.
Click to expand...
salty said:
Does anyone have a source for replacement clickers for the sierra click pen. The insert is easy enough to unscrew from the inside and replace but I can't find a clicker except from a new kit.
Click to expand...
the clicker comes preassembled in the cap but you can unscrew it from the inside to replace . That is the part I'm looking for. Otherwise you have to use one from a pen kit to repair one.
 
I haven't seen any clicker insert parts. You might try contacting Berea hardwoods (www.bereahardwoods.com). They might have one around, or send you a new clicker rather than using one from another of you kits, as they distribute the Sierra's.

I've had good results contacting distributors for hard to find parts.

Good luck,

Paul
 
@salty

There is a complication, just as I thought. . And that is this .... there is more than one version of the Sierra Button Click.

The ... www.BereaHardwoods.com ... website listing currently refers to the introduction of a new version. .

www.bereahardwoods.com

Sierra® Button Click Ballpoint Pen - Chrome

Check out the deal on Sierra® Button Click Ballpoint Pen - Chrome at Pen Kit Making Supplies Berea HardWoods
www.bereahardwoods.com

And ... these two versions are both distinct from the newest introduction (late 2019), namely, the Sierra "Super" Button Click, which is a different kettle of fish, having a different barrel length, and having a Schmidt SKM-88 click mechanism for the first time. . I won't say anything more about the "Super".

The "original" Sierra Button Click (which I started buying in about 2010) had a metal extension piece (about a cm. long) which goes in at the top end of the refill, and you have to get that extension piece in the right way up. . With this model, if you unscrew the pushbutton (from the top) you will see a black threaded plastic internal plunger.

A later Sierra Button Click (probably the new version referred to currently on the website) does not have the metal extension piece, as I assume.
With this model, if you unscrew the pushbutton (from the top) you will see a white threaded plastic internal plunger.

The two push buttons, for the two versions, are threaded differently and are not interchangeable, even though they have the same outer diameter.

I believe it is also true to say that, apart from having differently threaded pushbuttons, the two versions that I am talking about (both of which I have in my possession) have different internal working parts. . I do not know which version you are concerned with in your opening post above.

So, Salty, your search for "replacement clickers" may not be a simple matter, as I see things. . You will certainly need to identify which version that you are dealing with. . And, you will probably need some expert help.

I suggest that you make a phone call to Berea, and talk to the head guy, whose name is Joe, I think.
 
magpens said:
@salty

There is a complication, just as I thought. . And that is this .... there is more than one version of the Sierra Button Click.

The ... www.BereaHardwoods.com ... website listing currently refers to the introduction of a new version. .

www.bereahardwoods.com

Sierra® Button Click Ballpoint Pen - Chrome

Check out the deal on Sierra® Button Click Ballpoint Pen - Chrome at Pen Kit Making Supplies Berea HardWoods
www.bereahardwoods.com

And ... these two versions are both distinct from the newest introduction (late 2019), namely, the Sierra "Super" Button Click, which is a different kettle of fish, having a different barrel length, and having a Schmidt SKM-88 click mechanism for the first time. . I won't say anything more about the "Super".

The "original" Sierra Button Click (which I started buying in about 2010) had a metal extension piece (about a cm. long) which goes in at the top end of the refill, and you have to get that extension piece in the right way up. . With this model, if you unscrew the pushbutton (from the top) you will see a black threaded plastic internal plunger.

A later Sierra Button Click (probably the new version referred to currently on the website) does not have the metal extension piece, as I assume.
With this model, if you unscrew the pushbutton (from the top) you will see a white threaded plastic internal plunger.

The two push buttons, for the two versions, are threaded differently and are not interchangeable, even though they have the same outer diameter.

I believe it is also true to say that, apart from having differently threaded pushbuttons, the two versions that I am talking about (both of which I have in my possession) have different internal working parts. . I do not know which version you are concerned with in your opening post above.

So, Salty, your search for "replacement clickers" may not be a simple matter, as I see things. . You will certainly need to identify which version that you are dealing with. . And, you will probably need some expert help.

I suggest that you make a phone call to Berea, and talk to the head guy, whose name is Joe, I think.
Click to expand...
thanks, I do have the pens with the white click part. so I did email Berea and ask about buying replacement parts.
 
Berea responded and said they do not sell replacement parts for the sierra button click " because there are too many models, platings and the clicker could be easily cross threaded ." Sad because the part would not be removed unless it was broken in the first place and the clicker itself has no plating. Something to think about when spending lots of time making a pen !
 
" because there are too many models, platings and the clicker could be easily cross threaded ." ..........

Sounds like a stock answer to put you off .

A phone call to the right person ..... still worth a try ..... might produce more than your emailed question.
 
None of the names you know (Berea, CSUSA, PSI, etc) actually MAKE pen parts.
They buy them from overseas manufacturers. The kits are shipped to the USA as kits, exactly as you see them, when you purchase.
So, in order to have a part, the vendor must destroy a kit--so the "cost" of the part is actually the cost of the kit.
In this case, there is the additional problem of the kit you need being discontinued. Even if Berea WANTS to give you the part,
it is not available to them, unless they have old kits laying around, which is certainly NOT the plan, when you buy kits for resale.

Hope that helps you understand the problem. If a piece breaks while the customer is using the pen, it is time for a new pen! Or, you need to purchase the exact same kit and use the parts you need--bill the customer for the repair.

IF you give "lifetime warranties" (as I did), factor in the cost of an occasional replacement kit to the original selling price. $2 per pen should more than pay for all the kits you will need to fix customer breaks--it happened to me less than 1 pen in 200 (so I collected $400 to replace one kit)

FWIW,
Ed
 
Without prejudice, and without trying to inhibit any other responses or contributions, I will just say that .......

Ed makes very good points, and of course, as always, he has the knowledge and experience that add weight as well as "pointedness" to his points.

Thank you, Ed. . Your contributions, particularly on subjects like this one, are invaluable.
 
salty said:
Thanks All. My simple solution to this is not to use a pen kit I can not repair.
Click to expand...
Trouble with that philosophy is that you could end up making far fewer pens than you would like to be making .....
..... ALMOST CERTAINLY a smaller VARIETY of pens.

It would seem to be a "fact of life", as per what Ed has so completely stated, that vendors (on this side of the Pacific) just do not stock "spare parts" .

In some cases, a vendor MIGHT provide spare parts upon request, simply in honor to a valued relationship with you, his customer. . But it would seem quite clear, based on your actual experience as told to us, that we cannot count on that happening.

It seems to me, as suggested by Ed, wise for us (as the pen makers) to fund our own "repair insurance policy" by keeping a small number of kits on hand from which we can draw spare parts as needed. . His method of "supporting" such an emergency inventory seems quite reasonable to me, although it does complicate our end of the process of dealing with contingencies. . Not many of us like complicating our lives in that way.

Unfortunate as it is for us, we are subject to the "whims" of forces that we can in no way control, understand or anticipate.

It happens that we get disappointed when a pen kit or a blank that we have grown to like and use gets "obsoleted" on the "other side".

Thanks again to Ed for making us well aware of this "fact of life".
 
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There is no way for you to know if a pen is going to be redesigned or some fundamental change will be made. When the pen is introduced, the manufacturer does not know what you, the penmaker will find objectionable--and you will assert loudly that that problem should be fixed--which they will do, changing the design and, subsequently, some of the parts.

EVERY major manufacturer has done this at one time or another.

They don't even tell US, their resellers, when something is changed and often they don't change the kit name or even use a simple designation I have requested often: VERSION 2, 3, 4 etc. (I am supported in this request by the technical department of PSI)

BEFORE ExoticBlanks, I spent 15 years selling at art and craft shows--I sold THOUSANDS of pens--bought them at a good discount because I bought over 100 at a time. So, if I got 20% off, that is the equivalent of getting 20 free with every 80---far more than I needed for parts. I based all my retail pricing on the one unit price for that kit.
 
salty said:
Thanks All. My simple solution to this is not to use a pen kit I can not repair.
Click to expand...

You can minimize the chances of new parts by buying all the designs that are over 10 years old. I can't remember seeing an update for the Cigar pen in the past decade. Of course, the pen was introduced in the late 1990's.

On the other hand, another well-established and revered pen, the jr. gent ii has had several designs and many different threading combinations and yet they are ALL called the jr. gent ii---if you avoid this pen, you are depriving your customers of one of the real "heavy hitters".

Logically, if they break the pen, they should expect to pay for it--but I readily admit I never adhered to that philosophy, I repaired it as part of my customer service, using parts I had in my inventory, sometimes destroying other turned pens that could have been sold--but the cigar pens I sold cost me about $20, I sold them for at least double that, sometimes ten times that--so they paid for my attention when they chose to purchase from ME, as opposed to several other penmakers at the same show, sometimes.

You need to establish your own policies. One thing I often use as an analogy--if you purchase a vase and drop it in the parking lot--MOST stores will invite you to purchase another one. They will NOT replace it, at no charge to you (today, your credit card company may--who knows)

I hope this helps somewhat--do whatever you wish, there is NO perfect answer.
 
Thanks again for your very appropriate comments, Ed.

The very points you are making are illustrated quite explicitly by the particular pen kit currently under discussion in this thread.

I don't sell many pens, but for those that do it would seem expedient for them to take these points into account.
 
A Sierra pen kit is $6.95! Like I said before, "We've all been there. Buy a new kit. Either the new kit or the old pen becomes spare parts." The shipping is more than the whole kit! Not worth the aggravation. Disassemble the pen and re-use the tube. The blanks will be the same size.

I've got a box of partial kits with various parts missing and nice finished tubes with no kits cuz something broke. When I buy a Sierra kit for instance I look in the box and grab that nice burl or acrylic finished blank in the bag labeled Sierra/Manhattan and voila, pen done in 10 mins. The tube from the kit goes in the same bag. I'll even buy a bag of 5 tubes for my favorite pens and just turn and finish the blanks. Celtic knots, burls, acrylics etc. so I always have some nice tubes ready to go. I think a bag of tubes is less than $5. That way when somebody wants a pen I'm not risking the thing blowing up. If I get some nice wood or resin-cast some interesting acrylic I'll turn and finish 5 or 6 blanks in an afternoon.
 
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ed4copies said:
You can minimize the chances of new parts by buying all the designs that are over 10 years old. I can't remember seeing an update for the Cigar pen in the past decade. Of course, the pen was introduced in the late 1990's.

On the other hand, another well-established and revered pen, the jr. gent ii has had several designs and many different threading combinations and yet they are ALL called the jr. gent ii---if you avoid this pen, you are depriving your customers of one of the real "heavy hitters".

Logically, if they break the pen, they should expect to pay for it--but I readily admit I never adhered to that philosophy, I repaired it as part of my customer service, using parts I had in my inventory, sometimes destroying other turned pens that could have been sold--but the cigar pens I sold cost me about $20, I sold them for at least double that, sometimes ten times that--so they paid for my attention when they chose to purchase from ME, as opposed to several other penmakers at the same show, sometimes.

You need to establish your own policies. One thing I often use as an analogy--if you purchase a vase and drop it in the parking lot--MOST stores will invite you to purchase another one. They will NOT replace it, at no charge to you (today, your credit card company may--who knows)

I hope this helps somewhat--do whatever you wish, there is NO perfect answer.
Click to expand...
I remember the thread fiasco vividly. As a result I've northward of 50 Jr rollerball nib sections that fit nothing I still have in my stock. Customers would return wanting to Convert their RB to a FP. Of course if it was one of the older models of course the FP nib's I had then wouldn't fit. At times I have had to resort to taking 2pens apart in order to get one pen my customer could use both as RB and FP. Thankfully all those pens are long sold or converted (I hope) but I still have all those orphan parts.

Sent from my SM-G955U using Tapatalk
 
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