It’s been so long since I purchased the USUS ‘pi’ lever pen, and the ‘i’ magnetic pen. Dead official links spell bad news… I have a feeling the lack of promotion, publicity etc did them no favors.
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Please pardon my ignorance since I’m new here but the Schmidt DSM2006 is a push mechanism to propel the lead. My Tombow Mano is a twist mechanical pencil mechanism (as is the ballpoint; a twist to the right extends the ink and a twist to the left retracts it). The small cap twists; you cannot push it.
So I don’t see how the Schmidt would work in the Tombow Mano.
But what do I know?
cheers,
elliot
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Elliot
You’re right that the Schmidt is a push mechanism. It is certainly not obvious how that would be compatible with the Mano’s twist button. There is a little adapter inside the Mano that pushes down on the refill when you twist the button. When the refill is replaced by a Schmidt style mechanism, this action knocks the top of the mechanism and feeds the lead out. This is actually quite common - some MontBlanc pencils have a similar mechanism as well.
Since I’m traveling, I can’t take photos to show you, but here’s one I found online that shows the Tombow mechanism.
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Thanks @popossum!
As I said, what do I know?
I’m kinda surprised the Tombow USA VP didn’t suggest that in the first place since the Schmidt is plentiful, available and reasonable. But that’s good knowing that I would have a back up plan in case mine goes south.
cheers,
elliot
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Hey Elliot,
potentially a stupid question - but are the internals between the v472 BP and MP interchangeable? Not sure if you’ve disassembled yours, but assuming I had a ballpoint v472, could I remove the mechanism and slap in a mechanical pencil (Schmidt or otherwise)?
Thanks!
Hey Stu!
Thanks for asking; no stupid questions. I have not disassembled either the BP or MP. I fear I would eff things up and have them inoperable. Plus that would make me a complete idiot.
To date I have not had to add any leads but I did have to change out the cartridge in the BP. Easy peasy and no hassles.
There’s probably an answer out there but I unfortunately don’t have it.
I wish you lots of luck in finding a V472. They are out there, some more expensive than others. There’s one on The Bay right now that has a low starting bid (don’t know if there’s a reserve) and ends in two days -
Do you feel lucky?
cheers,
elliot
You read my mind. I actually already dm’d the seller of that listing earlier today, asking if we could come to an agreement (we can) - but I’m really only interested in it if I can turn it into a pencil later.
Thanks for the response - I’ll scour the archives a little more. Cheers!
Hi Stu,
Yeah, I had that one on my radar just to see what the market was for these puppies (no, I’m not going to buy it; I’ve got one, and the MP). And I’m never going to sell mine.
But, my (very un)educated guess would be that you can’t convert the BP to a MP. If it was possible Tombow would have mentioned it. (Or maybe they didn’t!?)
cheers,
elliot
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I don’t believe the v472 can be converted to a mechanical pencil, the way the Mano can be converted.
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From all I’d read thus far, it is only the Mano from the La Nave series that can be converted from BP to MP and vice-versa.
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