Uni ZENTO Signature Model: the Dive Companion?

I replied too quickly, as I said I can’t swap the middle part but I can at least give you an approximation by putting the wooden grip on a black body:

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I just added a final touch to the clip. Now have a Zento with no plastic[1]


  1. Except the refill, obviously. And the copious amounts of epoxy glue. Oh well :unamused_face: ↩︎

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Beautiful work! Do you take commissions? Lol

This is a nice look. I in fact do have a metal lathe so I may try my hand at something similar, maybe acrylic or wood.

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Let me think… A non-reproducible procedure with a high risk of damaging the original components, which are difficult to source reliably? Seems like a sound business plan to me :zany_face:

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That would be great! If you do so maybe we should start a new “Zento mods” thread… I feel somewhat guilty for having hijacked @drifand‘s thread :flushed_face:

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Yeah. So far, we have suggested that you should apply heat, extreme cold, and excessive force. However, we are also not donating our Zentos to the cause. :joy:

While I’m at it, the Zento 3-colour model has arrived:

Construction-wise, the cap is very similar to the single-colour model with the only obvious difference being the parallel surfaces that line up with the hexagonal end of the body.

The cap is slightly wider than the original one so you can use it on the single-colour pen but not the other way. The cap appears to be anodised instead of painted (the colour doesn’t have the same texture and it extends on the inside).

The front is different, the brass nose cone is gone and it’s now a single piece with the plastic grip, which attaches to the chromed part inside by a thread.

Obviously the main differences will be in the rear part, but like its sibling it has proven impossible to disassemble so far…

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And here’s the complete[1] Zento Signature 3 kit.

The mechanism uses the same center part and sliders (and I assume, springs) as other Uni 3-colour pens (the knurled ring is crimped to it so the thread on that part is unused). The selector is different, with a complicated profile to create half stops between refills. The hexagonal end clips to the selector and attaches the whole mechanism to the body. The magnetic ring covers the junction and makes it seem as if there’s only one part. As in the single colour Zento, the rear part is mostly plastic.


  1. Well, almost: I didn’t remove the magnetic ring from the nose part and the magnet from the cap ↩︎

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