17 comments

Hi, what pen are you planning on using the Parker style refill in?

It's a Montblanc Rollerball Pen. The original refills look like this https://www.montblanc.com/en-us/2-rollerball-refills-royal-blue---medium-MB128232VG.html

Hi,
While the Parker G2 style refills will fit into a MB Rollerball pen, as the G2 refill is overall shorter and narrower, with a longer neck that's the same diameter as the MB refill; the issue is the way the MB rollerball refill is secured into the pen via the threaded collar close to the tip.
This means that there can be a cavity behind the refill in all the Mont Blanc pens and that it would likely be different for the different pen models. It may also be tapered.
This makes it impossible for me to design an adapter without having the specific pen to hand.
However you should be able to do it through trial and error, using only a piece of ~6mm wooden or plastic dowel and a spring.
The dowel just needs to be trimmed to length so it can keep the refill from falling into the tail of the pen and the spring goes onto the rifill neck to keep it from coming forward.

Thank you. Would it be possible to get the STL for free so that I may test fit and FDM suitability, and pay once I know it's working?

Things are not as they once were since the last time I bought Tritium, but I used to use https://www.mixglo.com/
Sellers on ebay for the Gardner Tritium Max Beta lights and sellers on specialist forums like Candle Power Forums and Budget Light Forums. It depends where you are, as the US has much greater restrictions on Tritium vials than most of the rest of the world.

Hi James, where are you based?

I am based in Upstate New York. Around the Buffalo / Rochester area.

While I don't have much recent experience with US 3D Printing companies; I would suggest uploading the model files to places like Sculpteo, Xometry or JLC3DP and seeing what their quote is. Most of the SLS powders or SLA resin materials should be suitable. Unfortunately it's always going to be an expensive option. If you have a fiend with a printer....it will take an hour or so to print and need less than a dollar of material.

Thank you for the suggestions. When it comes to materials, I know you mentioned SLA and SLS as processes, but are there any particular resins or compounds that you think are better for the adapters over another.

I would just suggest whatever the cheapest option is. Back when I was ordering adapters from Shapeways; their standard white SLS option was perfectly suitable for the adapters. I'm assuming PA12 is the modern equivalent. As for SLA resins; it's a bit more complicated, as there are so many resin options they could choose from, but the printers aren't clear on exactly what type they're offering.

Hi scbaxter,
Thanks, link reinstated: https://cults3d.com/en/3d-model/tool/lamy-m16-to-parker-g2-refill-adapter

Hi CHEEKYHANG,
I can have a look at this for you. I need to find my old files, which I'll have a go at this weekend.
What diameter would you like the central hole to be and where is it likely to be used?
Cheers,
Tofty

Thank you kindly. Same diameter or 1mm smaller? The more plastic the better to sturdy it up a bit I think.

Did the version you used to own have slots in the very ends of the bead or just the slots in the sides and the holes in the top?

For visual reference I show both types in the first post of this thread: https://forum.multitool.org/index.php?topic=39388.0

I found your post on the Tritium Facebook page, which answered my previous question. I've created the slightly larger pedal bead, for use with 3x11mm vials, that can be found along with my other pedal beads here: https://cults3d.com/en/3d-model/jewelry/tritium-pedal-lantern
I made the bead slightly thicker everywhere so it should be a bit more robust than your previous version.
Let me know if you have any questions or feedback.
Cheers,
Tofty

Hey, sorry about the slow reply! Correct, no slots. Thank you so much!! This looks perfect! Now I just need to figure out the best way to get these printed now shapeways have closed shop. You rock! I'm so glad I managed to track you down.

Another question for you - what material would you recommend? I'm looking on Facfox - I'm totally clueless. SLA clear resin?

Yes their SLA Clear Resin looks like a good choice.

The issue with replacing the Montblanc Ballpoint refill with the Parker G2 is that I get the impression that Montblanc specifically designed their ballpoint refill so that this can't be easily done.

The stats for the Montblanc BP are:
98.0mm overall length,
6mm body diameter,
2.35mm neck tip diameter,
and around 29mm neck length.

The G2:
98.3mm overall length,
5.75mm body diameter,
2.55mm neck tip diameter,
and around 23mm neck length.

The narrower tip diameter of the Montblanc refills might have been chosen so that the G2 tip may not be able to pass through the tip of Montblack pens without being drilled out and the longer neck means the pens, if the pen has a clicky action, will have a longer spring or a spring that can be held further into the pen from the tip. When used with a G2 refill; the spring may become fully compressed before the refill can protrude far enough out of the pen tip to cycle the click mechanism, or interfere with some other form of mechanism.

The Montblanc BP refill also has a hole in the middle of it's base, and the pen may have a pin which interfaces with it, to further prevent the use of other refills.

There isn't any form of adapter I can really suggest, other than one which helps solve the base hole one.
I don't have a Montblanc pen I can test this on, so it will have to up to you to see where any interface issue would be between the pen and G2 refill.

Hope that helps.
Tofty

Hi CJEANTEINFO,

I can look into this for you, I'll just need a few extra details.
Do you have an email where I can contact you privately?
What type of Montblanc pen would it be for? Ballpoint or Rollerball?
Could you send a link to the specific stylus tips you are referring to, just to avoid any misunderstanding.
Whereabouts are you based? As this will affect shipping, etc.

I will need exact dimension for the tips. If you can accurately measure them with a set of calipers, then that will really help me work out how feasible this project is likely to be. Otherwise I would need to purchase some for myself, which would of course need to be expensed.

Please let me know.
Cheers,
Tofty

Montblanc Stylus Project

Hi Tofty,

Thanks for your message! Here are the details you asked for:

The Montblanc pen model is Rollerball, and here’s the refill link for reference:
https://www.montblanc.com/fr-fr/2x-recharges-pour-rollerball-mystery-black-MB128231.html

My ePen is a BOOX Pen2 Pro:
https://shop.boox.com/collections/accessories/products/pen2-pro?variant=43504258777318

The stylus tips I’d like to use are these ones:
https://shop.boox.com/collections/accessories/products/tips-for-pen-plus-pen2-pro-triangle-pen?variant=43201861877990

I’m based in Paris, France.

Let me know if you need any additional information or measurements.

Best regards,
Cyrille

Hi Cyrille,
Thanks for the information.
I've bought some knockoff tips off ebay, as Boox wouldn't ship to my location.
Hopefully they are dimensionally close enough to the official tips to make a clear feasibility assessment.
Cheers,
Tofty

Hi Tofty,

Thanks for the update - I'm really curious to see if those knockoff tips will do the trick!
Fingers crossed for a solid feasibility test.

Cheers,
Cyrille

So, the stylus tips finally turned up. They're a bit smaller than I had assumed.
The tip is 1.6mm in diameter and 2.6mm long, while the stem is only 0.95mm in diameter and 17mm long.
It may be possible to print a solution, but it would have to be done in resin and with the neck of the adapter needing to be quite thin; it may be too fragile to be viable.
I'm currently looking at a different solution which involes modifying a Montblanc RB refill by cutting off the tip and drilling out the hole down the middle, to fit the stylus tip.
I will keep you updated as to how well that goes.

Hi JOSEPHYU2, Thanks.
The Parker rollerball was a bit of a pain in terms of shape, but I have done an adapter for the Sonnet and similar pens to take the Parker G2 refill instead. It is included with this pack: https://cults3d.com/en/3d-model/tool/pen-refill-adapter-parker-rollerball-to-d1-mini-others
Great choice with the SXR-600 refill. It's pricy but such a pleasure to write with.

Hi Mark, I did buy a Parker 5th Technology refill, but I never got one of the pens, so I wasn't able to see what other refills could be used. I felt that there wasn't much room to make an adapter for much else that the Mini D1 refill and so didn't pursue it further.

Thanks for your reply. Such an adaptor could have a large customer base. For now, I've made a cover from the nib tip for myself.

Thanks for mentioning this. I've now added it to the listing for the M16 adapters, but here is a link to specifically the Parker G2 to Lamy M16 adapter: https://cults3d.com/en/3d-model/tool/lamy-m16-to-parker-g2-refill-adapter-74eb909e5072e6b673e0

Thanks for putting this up. The Lamy Safari is great, the Lamy refills are not. Your adapter to allow the use of the Parker Jotter style refills really redeems these pens and offers a choice of affordable, available quality refills. Not a complaint, but a note: using the Parker Jotter refill requires that the hole in the grip tip must be enlarged slightly. Thanks again.

I will check my model against the Mont Blanc refill I have over the weekend. It's possible that the thread can only be correctly recreated in high resolution resin and not in laser sintered plastics.

Hi Longdilin, What printer was used and what material was the adapter printed in? Is the adapter too loose or too tight for the pen?

Hi, thanks for reminding me; I'd forgotten about that one. Not sure I ever ordered one, as I don't have any photos of it, but I've added the file for it here: https://cults3d.com/en/3d-model/tool/pen-refill-adapters-miscellaneous

Thanks very much. Appreciate your quick response!

Hi Dan, There should have only been two files; the last two are just duplicates of each other.
The first file is a single adapter, while the multi5 one is five of the adapters joined together.
This was for use with printing services where they would charge per object, so joining items together would make ordering multiple a great deal cheaper.
It shouldn't be of any use if you plan to resin print the adapter yourself.

Hope that helps,
Cheers,
Tofty

Hi,
Sorry for the slow reply.
I don't have any way currently of producing these items myself.
The Dutch side of Shapeways is supposedly back up and running, but without the old shop component. So the current solution is to purchase the 3D model from me and then upload it to Shapeways or other printing service and order it that way.
Hope that helps,
Cheers,
Tofty

Hi Link575,
Yes, I plan to upload all my old adapters eventually.
I'll aim to put the Zebra one up shortly. I'll let you know when it's up.
Cheers,
Tofty