How to: Make your rep Mont Blanc pen take genuine refill

[Rolexman]

Dear all,

Recently I purchased a beautifull MB Starwalker from Narikaa (as reviewed HERE). Because the rep insert was black and I prefer blue I bought a gen refill. But it didn't fit.....

After a first investigation I noticed the overal length of both refills were the same but there is a difference in tip length and screw pattern. The gen refill didn't fit the holder piece (don't know what to call it). It just couldn't be screwed down. So my initial thought was that I needed to switch the crew piece from the rep to the gen, but after I removed the entire tip of the gen refill with a plier I came to the conlusion that it could be screwed in without any problems.

So what was the problem? The tip! The tip on de rep in remarkeably thinner than the gen. So the holding piece was adapted to this thin refill tip. The hole was too narrow to get the gen tip through so I decided to do a mod.

I drilled out the hole with a Dremel and the two pieces shown on the pic. After some trial and error the gen insert fits nice and snug

It worked perfect on Narikaa's Starwalker. Don't know about other models or MBs from other dealers?......

Rep on top. See the difference in tip thickness?

I first used the cone to open up the hole some what. Then drilled out the inner part. Be carefull not to damage the screw thread inside the holder piece. Only insert the drill max 1 cm.

Gen refill fitted.

Edited December 9, 2007 by Rolexman

[hyster]

Good info there, thanks for that.

[Victoria]

I drilled out the hole with a Dremel and the two pieces shown on the pic. After some trial and error the gen insert fits nice and snug

Very useful! I don't have any kinds of drills here, but maybe I can improvise as I am to receive my Starwalkers from Narikaa shortly. I prefer black ink always, but eventually it'll run out.

Thanks Rolexman!

[LordRasta]

@Rolexman

What size drill bit did you use? Also is there a size on that cone bit? I want to do these same mods, I have that pen on the way.

[Guest avitt]

Thanks for the tip, Rolexman.

What size drill bit did you use? Also is there a size on that cone bit? I want to do these same mods, I have that pen on the way.

....I thought that I had posted the size a while back...did a little search on RWG1, and found the post, from Aug. 2005. Here's the text:

"I've got three Starwalkers...one from Paul and two from the Ladies St. Market in Kowloon. They are all the same. The tip of the pen is just slightly too small for a MB refill to pass through. Here is the fix: Get yourself a #39 wire guage drill bit (.0995"/2.53mm). A couple of turns by hand will ream out the tip of the pen just enough to accept MB Starwalker or Rollerball refills. I used a Vermont American bit from OSH. "

[Rolexman]

Thanks for the tip, Rolexman.

....I thought that I had posted the size a while back...did a little search on RWG1, and found the post, from Aug. 2005. Here's the text:

"I've got three Starwalkers...one from Paul and two from the Ladies St. Market in Kowloon. They are all the same. The tip of the pen is just slightly too small for a MB refill to pass through. Here is the fix: Get yourself a #39 wire guage drill bit (.0995"/2.53mm). A couple of turns by hand will ream out the tip of the pen just enough to accept MB Starwalker or Rollerball refills. I used a Vermont American bit from OSH. "

After I opened up the hole with the cone*, I used a drill bit that exactly fitted the hole. Then I just wiggled it all the way around a bit. I had the Dremel at approxamitley 2000 RPM. This way you won't grind away too much too fast. When it's gone it's gone... better do it slow and step by step. Use trial and error.

* It was standard with my Dremel. It really doesn't matter which one you use. As long as the tip fits the hole and the bottom doensn't.

Edited December 9, 2007 by Rolexman

[KB]

What I find surprising is that the rep refill is still being made that slight bit different from the gen after all this time (I can remember this same discussion from over 2 years ago), in a way it seems a bit like the 1:1 Sub it just ain't gonna happen.

Ken

[ryaku]

Thanks mate, very useful topic.