Introduction: Mont Black (Mont Blanc Hack) - Fitting the New Mont Blanc Pen Refills Into Pilot G2 Pens

By thirtythreedown.com/

A few years ago my dad offered my brother and I Mont Blanc fountain pens for Christmas. I had heard of this brand before and I knew they were supposedly very expensive - so much so in fact that they don't list their prices on their main website, usually not a good sign - but I had never really believed they were actually worth it.

It didn't take long for me to realize I was very, very wrong.

After that I started to write with fountain pens in general and that one in particular more and more again, but I always wondered if the Mont Blanc pens actually were such a quality jump from basic pens the way their fountain pens were from the vast bulk of foutain pens. It took this Instructable by Kingant to make me realize I could actually give it a shot without having to give away a kidney to afford one to try out, so I went off to the local retailer to get some refills, brought them home...

And realized they didn't fit. The sneaky Mont Blanc team had changed the shape of their refills (or maybe I had just picked a different model by mistake) ! Either way, I realized there was still hope - and went to work !

Step 1: What You'll Need

For this little hack, you really won't need much ! Here goes :
  • A Pilot G-2 pen. As it happens, it also works with PIlot G-Knocks ! About 2€ ;
  • A Mont Blanc high capacity refill - from 6€ up ;
  • An X-acto blade, because teeth just won't do ;
  • A cutting mat, so you don't chop up that desk of yours ;
  • A ruler to measure your cuts
All good ? Moving on to step 1 !

Step 2: Comparing Refills

Taking out the cartridge from the Pilot and uncapping the Mont Blanc refill, you'll notice right away some differences : the Mont Blanc refill is slender around the tip, and shorter than the Pilot cartridge. If you try and put it in the pen right now, it'll fall right all the way down to the tip of the pen, and of course the mechanism to push it in and out will not be able to reach.

Gladly enough, the refill comes with everything you need to make it work - a nice, rigid plastic cap. Thank you Mont Blanc !

Step 3: Measure Twice, Cut Once !

Time to chop the cap in little bits ! Armed with your X-acto blade, you're going to !
  • Cut away the top part of the cap - you won't need it.
  • Cut a first piece, about 7 to 8 millimeters long ;
  • Cut a second piece, about 10 to 12 millimeters long.
We won't need the leftover piece of plastic right away, but you can hold on to it in case you lose one of the other parts !

It's usually a good idea to cut these parts a bit longer than needed, and shave them down to the right size later - for example, cutting a 12 millimeters piece and then shaving it down to 11 or 12 depending on your needs.
Also, be careful as you cut away the cap - the piece you'll be cutting might just fly out across the room and you'll end up looking for it ! Makes up for a few frustrating moments.

If you've got all your little bits and pieces, you're ready to move on to the next step !

Step 4: Tip Stopper

Now that the cutting is done, take the smaller bit and slide it on to the tip of the refill until it stops : that's your tip stopper, preventing the cartridge from falling through.

Step 5: Top Filler

Slide the longer bit inside the body of the pen and make it slide all the way down to the mechanism so you can push the cartridge in and out with a click.

Step 6: Putting It All Back Together !

The next step, just like the previous two, is pretty straightforward : just put the pen back together like you would normally after putting in a normal refill - you should be done ! If the pen is stuck with the tip pointing out, the top filler bit is probably a bit too long : shave it down to the correct size a little at a time, see if it works, stop when it does !

Thanks to Kingant once again for an awesome Instructables, without which I'd never have given this a shot. Perfect example of how we all stand on the shoulders of giants. Happy writing !