Converting a ballpoint to mechanical pencil

General Mechanical Pencil Discussion Custom and Mods
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HI, everyone!

Did any of you tried converting their ballpoint to a mechanical pencil?
I wanted to try this since I’ve seen this clip: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uehBeBWouJk

The idea was that I had some ballpoints I liked and would’ve loved to convert them. The reality is that it’s a gamble given the small differences between the hole dimensions and different lengths between the manufacturers.

The first candidates were the Kado, Waterman Carene, Caran d’Ache and an Aurora Ipsilon. All this ballpoints I got for cheap on different occasions.

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From the start I had to dismiss the slim ballpoints, only the ones that can take a Parker style refill or have a wider body could potentially be converted…I had to exclude Waterman. The Caran d’Ache doesn’t work either, the front hole and inside of the body don’t allow the refill to be fitted.

The Aurora Ipsilon could work if the front hole is enlarged, the refill fits, the push mechanism works but the tip is unaesthetically hidden.

The Kado works too, by removing the tip spring and adding some length using the original refill as a donor.

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see: New life for an old Cross pen (as a pencil)

I converted an old Cross BP to a MP.

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this means the slims can be converted using a switch-it?

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For slim push-button pen conversions, you will need a variety of equally slim mechanical pencil components from various multi-pen systems. One of my favorites is Zebra’s Sarasa Select system, which includes 0.3, 0.5 and 0.7mm options. However, the width of the Zebra parts could still be too wide for certain brands that chose to make a cone with a longer narrow channel just behind the opening. For this, older multi-pen systems like Uni Style-fit might do the trick, but then the next challenge is finding a way to make a ‘stopper’ on the mechanism’s ‘neck’ so that it catches just right with the cone’s inner funnel and allows the tip to protrude just right. Then you’ll also need to figure out how to deal with the length of the reservoir tube…

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