Maybe one of the most famous pencil mods? It is a hybrid between the S20 and the S10, thus the name
Something that I wanted to do is polish the middle ring so that it matches the rest of the trim. However I think that the middle ring is brass and not stainless so I can’t do this.
Any opinions?
I wouldn’t worry about the center metal ring as it’s really not a major attraction to the eye. Nicely done on this mod. How many different pencils did you buy to make it then? Was it 3?
I had bought an S10 to make an S15, tried it out… and it just left me feeling like I was wasting a nice S20. I also really like the S10 as it is (I’d gotten it with a translucent amber body). I am looking to pick up a used S20 with some front damage on a cheap price… then I’ll definitely give it a go.
Thank you. I bought two, the S10 and S3. The S20 I had for a long time, I picked it up second hand for 500 yen and it was quite worn (eraser stuck on the tube, some bite marks on that tube from trying to pull it out, faded text on the middle ring). The back cap, I got it on a trashed H-585 that I got from a set, but as you can see it’s not the original H-585 cap. Who knows where it came from lol.
If buying everything new, I agree it’s a bit of a waste. I will try to sell the tips separately, there’s many people that modify the S20 for different lead diameters.
My problem with the S series pencils is that I like them all, but I have a minor gripe with all of them. S3 I’m not a fan of the full tinted plastic look (although I really like the sparkling limited edition S3, I have to get them sometime). S5 I don’t like the grip. S10 I don’t like the 0.4 colors. S20 I don’t like the back cap nor the matte trim. I would love to have a S20 with polished trim and the S30 back cap. I’m still wondering if those can be bought separately…
Looks like a Staedtler cap, but we also know Staedtler caps never stay that shiny. I think this particular cap actually came from a Pilot Legno.
Legno HLE-250K caps don’t have the stripe/indentation on the back, so I think it’s a different one.
Greetings.
I know this is an old thread but I’m trying to get the S20 apart (so I can make an S15) and having no luck.
Any advice for the newbie? Thanks!
There is glue that secures the wood-resin halves onto screw threads in the middle ring. It takes some force to ‘unscrew’ them… with a real risk that you might damage the parts. Sometimes, the ‘wrong’ half is easier to detach.
Still one of the most doable and elegant mods!
I made one of these for a while and then transitioned it back. (But I had done a 0.4 and felt guilty about disassembling the S10 0.4 
)
I’ve been tempted to do it. But I can’t stand the idea of ruining a good S20 (you can’t put the S20 grip on an S10). I am going to do it if I come across an S20 in a lot that is cheap / damaged on the front.
I can’t recall who it was that pioneered this conversion. Was it Progstu? I have a vague recollection of there being some modifying needing to be done to get the S10 section to fit on the S20 body… can you elaborate on it, Patrick?
I was trying to track that down - just who came up with the process. Our own @Gunther Posted this on his Blog on 2/10/2019.
I found an article by Unsharpen dated 9/12/2020. The earliest I saw on X were around 2020. So it looks like Gunther was a very early adapter.
The good news is - it’s not a destructive modification, so you can always revert back to original.
It depends on if you want to use the internals from the S20 (0.5 only) or the S10 (everything else). If you are happy with 0.5, you remove the grips from each and swap. If you want, lets say a 0.4mm S15, then its a bit more involved. You will need to extract the internals from the S10 and implant them into the S20 frame. I’m putting a video together over the next few days that should address that.
Ah, wait a sec. I should’ve searched on Reddit before, since this was way before Knockology.
It was KovarD.
https://www.reddit.com/r/mechanicalpencils/comments/apux5k/pilot_s15_mod_convertion_diy_guide/
EDIT: No… I was wrong. I just found an even earlier post by someone else where KovarD learns about it and asks for a writeup!
https://www.reddit.com/r/mechanicalpencils/comments/7tsdeb/pilot_s20_with_04_mod_and_grip_mod/
I’m starting to remember now… when I tried to swap in my S10 grip on S20 body, it seems to be a tight fit… and I was worried about possibly stripping the threads. But maybe that was just luck of the draw.
this is the reddit post where I found @Gunther 's Blog post - and his cute dog Kisho. It was funny (I’m a dog person) and remebered Gunther posting a picture of Kisho some time ago. Anyway - when I stumbled on his blog I recognized his dog (lol) and figured out this was Gunther’s blog.
So, I just discovered that it wasn’t KovarD. There’s a different user account on Reddit, “jalairo”, that posted about it where KovarD inquired and asked for a writeup.
https://www.reddit.com/r/mechanicalpencils/comments/7tsdeb/pilot_s20_with_04_mod_and_grip_mod/
I don’t see Gunther coming up at all back then.
That’s the oldest post I can find. Reddit search really sucks. “S15” didn’t turn up everything. There’s also “S20 mod”. But the problem is, you can’t sort by date ascending or descending.
I got to know this modification through isu from the uncomfortable chair; perhaps he was the one who came up with the idea.
Edit: I learned about this modification in September 2017 and immediately made my first (see “S15”).
Ah, wow… this sure brings back memories! “The Uncomfortable Chair.” Yep, that’s they guy who pioneered modifying the Pentel Kerry into a 2mm lead holder.
So, 2017… looks like you and jalairo caught onto it shortly after it was posted. Had you come up with “S15” to label it?
Yes! He also made many other great modifications.
That could be, but I’m not sure.
