You all know that Pilot G2 gel refills have a cap on the end, right? The Uni-Ball Signo 207 doesn't, but the G2 does. I knew this, too. Unfortunately, I wasn't paying attention. So, when I was measuring a G2 refill in my brand new F-701, I discovered it was a little tight. I removed the refill, but the cap stayed. Shaking it didn't remove it,and using a sharp probe to try to fish it out only drove it in deeper.
Maybe I could remove the clicker end. Put it in the freezer for over a quarter hour, and it turned a little bit, but not much. Then I thought about attaching a tiny self-adapting screw to the end of one of those small screwdrivers. Used a bit of superglue. Inserted this rig into the barrel, tighten the screw, and tried to remove. Nope. Screwdriver came loose. Unscrewed the screw, and tried shaking again. No look.
At this point I had a wild idea. What If I inserted the screw inside a nylon string, tightened, and pulled? Nothing to loose at this point. Found a bit of nylon string similar to what's use in brick laying, singed the ends, ran the screw through the string close to one in, put it back into the pen, and tightened. Pulled the cord. I felt resistance, but the cord came loose. Decided to try it again, all while thinking about whether I should quietly get another and not mention this to my wife. Once more ran the screw through the string. Once more inserted it into the pen and screwed it into the gel pen cap. This time it held, but the screw came loose just as the cap lodged into the threads. The cap was now far enough out that I tried to skewer the plastic with the probe. Back into the barrel it went.
One more time. Put the screw and string back into the barrel. Tightened the screw a bit more this time. Pulled.
The cap popped out, still attached to the screw.
Inserted the proper F series refill, put the end back on, and tried it. Amazingly, everything still works.
Had to do one more thing. Fished an empty G2 refill from the trash. Easily pried out the cap. Inserted it into the refill I'd just tried, and assembled the G2 pen. It works, too.
Lesson from all this: Pay more attention to what I'm doing.
Maybe I could remove the clicker end. Put it in the freezer for over a quarter hour, and it turned a little bit, but not much. Then I thought about attaching a tiny self-adapting screw to the end of one of those small screwdrivers. Used a bit of superglue. Inserted this rig into the barrel, tighten the screw, and tried to remove. Nope. Screwdriver came loose. Unscrewed the screw, and tried shaking again. No look.
At this point I had a wild idea. What If I inserted the screw inside a nylon string, tightened, and pulled? Nothing to loose at this point. Found a bit of nylon string similar to what's use in brick laying, singed the ends, ran the screw through the string close to one in, put it back into the pen, and tightened. Pulled the cord. I felt resistance, but the cord came loose. Decided to try it again, all while thinking about whether I should quietly get another and not mention this to my wife. Once more ran the screw through the string. Once more inserted it into the pen and screwed it into the gel pen cap. This time it held, but the screw came loose just as the cap lodged into the threads. The cap was now far enough out that I tried to skewer the plastic with the probe. Back into the barrel it went.
One more time. Put the screw and string back into the barrel. Tightened the screw a bit more this time. Pulled.
The cap popped out, still attached to the screw.
Inserted the proper F series refill, put the end back on, and tried it. Amazingly, everything still works.
Had to do one more thing. Fished an empty G2 refill from the trash. Easily pried out the cap. Inserted it into the refill I'd just tried, and assembled the G2 pen. It works, too.
Lesson from all this: Pay more attention to what I'm doing.
