The Epic Refill Reference Guide: Rollerball, Gel and Ballpoints

Lots of pens available these days accept either a “Parker-Style” G2 refills, a Pilot G2 refill (adds to the confusion for sure) and the Pilot Hi-Tec C style refills.  I thought I’d try to come up with a list of refills that fit into these categories. This is by no means a definitive list but should provide you with lots of options for your favorite non-fountain pens.

parker style refills

There are so many potential options for a “Parker-style” refill (which annoyingly enough is also referred to as a G2 though it is not necessarily compatible with a PILOT G2 style pen). The G2 refill is 98mm long and approx 5.8mm diameter on the main barrel.

Birmingham Pen Co inline ad

Parker Style Refills

Here’s a list of most (but probably not all) of the Parker-style refills:

  • Diplomat EasyFLOW Ballpoint Pen Refill
  • Faber-Castell Ballpoint Pen Refill
  • Faber-Castell Scribero Gel Ink Roller Refill
  • Fisher Space Pen Refill, PR Series- Colors (Bold, Medium, Fine)
  • Fisher Space Pen – Universal Ballpoint Refill
  • Foray (Office Depot) Ballpoint Refill for Parker (Medium)
  • Itoya Aquaroller Refill (0.7 and 1.0mm)
  • Kaweco Soul G2 Refill 1.0mm
  • Kaweco Sport Roller Ball Pen Refill
  • Moleskine Ballpoint Refill
  • Moleskine Gel Refill (0.5 and 0.7 mm)
  • Moleskine Roller Gel Fluorescent Refills
  • Monteverde Ceramic Gel Refill (Broad)
  • Monteverde Needle Point Refill (Fine)
  • Monteverde Soft Roll- Colored inks (Medium)
  • Monteverde Soft Roll- (Superbroad, Medium, Ultrafine)
  • OHTO Needlepoint Ballpoint Pen Refill PS-807NP
  • OHTO PS-205NP Extra-Fine 0.5mm Ballpoint Pen Refill
  • Parafernalia Ballpoint Pen Refill NO LOGO
  • Parker Ballpoint Pen Refill (Broad, Medium, Fine)
  • Parker GEL Ballpoint Pen Refill (Medium)
  • Parker Quinkflow Ballpoint Pen Refill (Medium, Fine)
  • Pelikan Giant Ballpoint Pen Refill 337 (Broad, Fine, Medium)
  • Pentel KFLT8 Ballpoint Pen Refill
  • Platignum Standard Ballpoint Pen Refill
  • Premec Parker-Style G2 Gel Refill (0.4, 0.5 and 0.7 mm)
  • Retro 51 Tornado Roller Ball Refills (REF5P) (Made by Schmidt)
  • Schmidt 9000M EasyFlow Pen Refill
  • Schmidt P8126 Capless Rollerball (Fine)
  • Schmidt P8900 Super Bowl Refill (Fine)
  • Schmidt P900 B Ballpoint Pen Refill (Broad, Medium, Fine)
  • Schmidt P950M Megaline Pressurized Ballpoint Pen Refill (Medium)
  • Schneider Express 735 Pen Refill (Broad, Medium, Fine)
  • Schneider Slider 755 Pen Refill (Extra-Broad, Medium)
  • STABILO EASYgel Refill
  • Stabilo Ballpoint Refill
  • Tombow BR-ZLM Ballpoint Pen Refill
  • Visconti Ballpoint Pen Refill AA49 1.4 (Broad)
  • Visconti Gel Refill (Broad, Medium, Fine)

Retro 1951 + Pentel EnerGel Refill Hacking

Mike Rohde of Sketchnoting fame hacked a Pentel Energel refill (normally a Pilot G-2 sized refill) to fit into his Retro 51 by trimming the end of the refill to be the right size. If you’re willing to experiment, other refills might also survive this sort of hack. I’ve hacked the end off a few refills in my time to make them fit as well. Just grab a craft or utility knife or a sturdy pair of scissors, line up the old refill and the new refill and snip. Voila.

If you love a particular sort of pen refill, you can also lengthen a refill that’s too short by adding a bit of plastic tubing to the end of the barrel. The fine folks at Karas Kustoms provide a length of plastic tubing with their Render K, RETRAKT and BOLT pens that could be used with other brands as well or you could snip off a section of an empty plastic refill to length a new refill to fit.

The best source I found for ALL the Parker-style refills was Cult Pens in the UK. They stock over 30 different styles of Parker-style refills.  Another option is Refill Finder.


European International Rollerball / Pilot G-2 style refills

G2/Schmidt/Euro Rollerball (and similar) Refills:

The Euro G2-style refill (very similar to the Pilot G2 but not always the same because of the plastic housing around the metal tip shaft). In some pens with enough clearance, they can be interchanged but of your pen has tight interior clearance, some Japanese refills (highlighted in orange) will not be interchangeable with the European counterparts.

Also described as the Schmidt/Euro Rollerball refill size are about 110mm long:

  • Caran d’Ache Fibre Tip Refill
  • Caran d’Ache Rollerball Refill
  • Faber-Castell Rollerball Pen Refill
  • Faber-Castell Fineliner Pen Refill
  • FORAY (Office Depot) Pen Refill For Schmidt Rollerball
  • Kaweco “soul” refill G2
  • Kaweco G2 Gel Roller Pen Refill
  • Hi-Tec-C Cavalier refill
  • Monteverde Fineliner Refill G52
  • Monteverde Ceramic Rollerball Refill W22
  • Monteverde Spring-Loaded Tip Fineliner Refill G62
  • OHTO Ceramic Rollerball Pen Refill
  • OHTO F-300 Fude Refill Black
  • Pentel LR7 Energel
  • Pilot Frixion Erasable Gel
  • Pilot Juice (removed from plastic retractable pen)
  • Pilot G2
  • Pilot LP2RF Gel Refill (Juice refill code)
  • Premec Roller Refill (0.5mm and 0.7mm)
  • Schmidt Capless Rollerball 8126 and 8127 (shorter models can work with an extension hack)
  • Schmidt 6040 FineLiner refill
  • Schmidt 888 Safety Rollingball Ceramic Plastic refill
  • Schmidt 5888 Safety RollingBall Ceramic Metal Tube refill
  • Schmidt 5285 Safety Rolling Tube Needlepoint Tip
  • Schneider Topball 850 Pen Refill
  • Schneider Topliner 970 Pen Refill
  • Sheaffer Fineliner Refill
  • Visconti Rollerball Pen Refill AA40 0.7
  • Zebra JT refill
  • Zebra Sarasa Clip refill (removed from plastic retractable pen)

Using a spring around the tip of the refill will help to stabilize these. Use either the spring provided by your pen manufacturer or steal one from a retractable plastic pen body to get the perfect fit.

Cult Pens has a great selection of these refills in their “Euro Refills” section.


HI Tec C style refills

Pilot Hi-Tec C Refills:

The Pilot Hi-Tec C style refills list doesn’t look as extensive as the other refill styles but the Hi-Tec C line has a huge assortment of color options and tip widths to provide quite a variety. The Pilot Hi-Tec C refills can be purchased individually or liberated from any Pilot Hi-Tec C pen including the Maica line.

  • Pilot Hi-Tec C (available in 0.25, 0.3, 0.4, 0.5)
  • Pilot G-Tec C (same as the Hi-Tec C but renamed for the American/European market)
  • Uni-ball Signo UM-100 Gel
  • Uni-ball Signo DX UM-151 Gel
  • Uni-ball Signo Broad UM-153 Gel

I’ve found that the Uni-Ball Signo refills may need to be trimmed slightly to fit but they work great. Just use scissors, a craft knife or blade to shorten the length to match the original length. I liberate Signo refills from plastic pens found around my office as well as occasionally purchasing proper refills.


D1 Refills:

D1 style refills

Then there’s the D1 sized refills. These are the super slender and used in multi-pens and mini pens. The Sharbo-X is a great example as is the Retro 51 Tornado Touch.

The D-1 mini refills are about 66-67mm long and there are quite a few refill styles to fit into these pens:

  • Acme Black 4FP Four-Function Pen Ballpoint Pen Refill
  • Acme Highlighter 4FP Four-Function Pen Multi Functional Pen Refill
  • Aurora Mini Medium Point Ballpoint Pen Refill
  • Caran D’ache Ecridor XS Mini Refill
  • Cross Matrix Ballpoint Pen Refill
  • Cross Micro Ballpoint Pen Refill
  • Kaweco D1 Soul Ballpoint Refill
  • Monteverde Soft Roll Ballpoint Pen Refill – D1 (628)
  • Ohto R-4C7NP Needle-Point Ballpoint Pen Refill
  • Parker Mini Ballpoint Refills
  • Parker Vector 3-in-1 Ballpoint Refills
  • Pelikan 38 Ballpoint Refills
  • Pilot BRF-8M Ballpoint Pen Refill
  • Platinum BSP-60 Series
  • Platinum BSP-100
  • Retro 1951 D-1 Ballpoint Refill
  • Rotring Tikky 3-in-1 2-Color Ballpoint Refills
  • Tombow VS Ballpoint Pen Refill – D1
  • Uni SXR-200 Jetstream Ballpoint Multi Pen Refill (0.5 and 0.7mm)
  • Zebra 4C-0.7 Ballpoint Pen Refill
  • Zebra Sharbo X Ballpoint Multi Pen Refill Component – D1
  • Zebra Sharbo X Gel Ink Multi Pen Refill Component (0.4 and 0.5mm) – D1

Another option to consider:

Tofty on Shapeways creates 3D printed sleeves for many proprietary refills that allow you to use a D1 refill instead of the harder to find Lamy, Diplomat, Caran d’Ache and others. He will also work to make a custom 3D printed sleeve to meet your needs if you email him directly. I’ve ordered several pieces from him and they work really well and have allowed me to use the Zebra Sharbo-X extra fine gel refills in my Fisher Space Pens. This is 21st century pen hacking at its finest!


Big thank you to my pal Dan for giving me a list as a starting point. Thanks to The Pen Place in Kansas City for letting me try out lots of refills. The rest of my info came from Jet Pens, Cult Pens and Refill Finder.

Monteverde is modifying some of their refills to fit pens with more proprietary sizes like Lamy. Lamy is the most finicky of all the pens. If you have good alternatives for refills for Lamy rollerball and ballpoint pens, let me know.

Don’t forget to check your local office supply or pen store (even those big box shops) and play around with the pens and refills you have. You’d be surprised what might work.

I’m working on a handy printable pocket guide of all these pen refill options but I want to make sure I haven’t left anything out or gotten anything wrong. So let me know which of these refills work for you and which don’t.


Note: I have not tried EVERY refill with every pen so your results might vary. Please leave notes in the comments about your favorite pen and refill combination for other readers. Thanks!

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271 comments / Add your comment below

  1. Ahhhh, that explains so much. I have a Staples brand version of Dr.Grip and could not find the right refill. This post is genius. Thank you!

    1. Greetings, could someone please direct me to where I could find a 95 mm (3.75 “) refill for my favorite Waterman twist fine ballpoint pen? It is of 1981/82 vintage. Thank you for your help!

  2. Favorite pen hack: Pilot G2 refill in a Kaweco Rollerball pen – the ultimate pocket pen for Pilot G2 fans.

  3. I was only thinking the other day there needs to be a reference out there such as this. Thanks for putting in the hard work to create it Ana – just fantastic.

  4. You are so my favourite. I’ve been struggling to find a pen to go with the magenta Pilot style refills I bought on impulse, but gave up when I kept buying pens the wrong size for them. Now I know which size it is, it’ll be a lot easier to narrow down my hunt. I hope. Thanks!

  5. Pilot G2s and RT V5s fit Lamy Safari and Tipos, as well as the Monteverde Artista, Acme Studio, and Libelle Sienna rollerballs. Fisher Space pen refills fit Zebra F-701. My favorite hack is a Uniball Signo .38mm refill in a Retro 51 Tornado.

      1. Steve, I think its the same refill in both models. I’m pretty sure I’ve swapped between the two pen bodies in the past.

        1. When I compare the two, the stick version is longer than the retractable and the section between the pen tip and the tank is shorter. When you use the Signo .38 refill (whichever one it is) is there any cutting or trimming involved (maybe a question for Carl)? The Uni-ball Signo is my all time favorite pen and I would love to get it into a nicer pen body than the plastic one it comes in, and I’ve always liked the looks of the Retro 51 Tornado, so I will be thrilled if this hack works. I would just like to know for sure before I order the Retro 51 (since I don’t have one handy).

          1. Hi Steve, did you end up trying this? I too would be keen to know if it works before I buy a tornado!

          2. You might need to trim the refill slightly with a sturdy pair of scissors or a knife but it should work. I chop down refills all the time. Its a $2 gamble!

  6. Thanks for the informative post! Since reading this I’ve modified a purple Pentel LR7 refill for my Retro51 – I had to tape the Schmidt end piece to it so it would retract correctly. I also bought 2 Schmidt Fineliner refills (hadn’t been able to find fineliners since Monteverde stopped making them) and put them in a Faber-Castell pen and a Parker Frontier. The latter is now a budget-priced Parker 5th technology of sorts. It also required some scotch tape padding around the barrel and end, as the normal Parker rollerball refill is quite a different shape.

      1. the ohto probably does but it is over $10 for one on amazon, plus shipping!

        pilot, would have to try it, but the final tip has to be very very thin
        ”needlepoint” they call it

        wle

  7. I was doing some experimenting with the P8126 for a friend trying to find compatible pens and discovered it fits Lamy rollerball pens, like the Al Star

    For Lamy rollerballs, the Schmidt P8126 (Tornado refill) will fit with a spacer as a replacement for the M62/63 and seems to work fine for the M66 for the Lamy retractable pens. The longer Schmidt 8126 is the same length as the M66 so it might work as a drop-in replacement, but the longer 8126 is still shorter than the M62/63 so a spacer would still be needed.

    The Schmidt 8126/P8126 is a way better refill than the M62/63 and M66.

    1. Just wanted to post a quick update about the Schmidt P8126 and Lamy rollerballs. The Schmidt P8126 will NOT for the Lamy 2000 rollerball. The P8126 is too fat. Any Pilot G2 sized refill will also fit Lamy Rollerballs, again using a spacer to fill in the backspace.

  8. Have I missed something, or do the words “Parker Rollerball” never appear in the article? From refillfinder.com it appears that Sheaffer rollerball refills are the same size, but little else, without using a spacer.

    1. You are correct. I don’t think I listed Parker Rollerballs in the refill guide. I’ll try to remedy that at some point. The Parker Rollerball refill seems to be a very specific size according to their web site. Very unfortunate.

      1. A medium refill came with the Parker Rollerball. The line produced while writing was way too wide for me, so I purchased an official refill, which Parker called “Fine.” Even that line was too thick for my liking, so I bought Pilot VBall XFine refills (I had been using VBall throw-aways), anticipating that I would need a spacer & a bit of tape toward the bottom of the refill to assure a tighter fit. It’s worked even better than I had thought! Without any spacer at all, with simply an inch or so of tape (I used clear) wrapped near the bottom of the refill, things are snug, rattle-free, and the extra fine line allows for even small printing. Excellent!

        1. Update: after 2 weeks of use, the tape I put toward the bottom still kept things snug, but the cartridge moved and so a spacer was needed. I used part of the cap that came with the Parker refill, i.e., I trimmed about 2-3mm off the open end of the cap. It fit very well onto the end of the VBall refill and I will just need to transfer that spacer to any other VBall refill that I use.

  9. Mont Blanc refills are about 122mm long. is there a standardized name for them like for the D1 refills? i’d like to try some other rollerball refills in my starwalker and meisterstuck series. Please help

      1. I know Mont Blanc refills have some threads near the tip of the refill to screw the refill into the pen. Pilot G2, Pilot Juice, Schmidt 888 and the other rollerball & Pilot G2 refills listed in the article are shorter than Mont Blanc refills but are the same size in every other way but they do not have the threads. Normally I would say cut a spacer to fill in the backspace and you would be good to go, but I don’t know how well the non-Mont Blanc style refills would work with out the threading.

        An easy and cheap way to experiment would be to pick a pack of Pilot G2 refills (because they are readily available almost everywhere and are cheap) and see if they would be useable in your pens without the refills having the threading. As far as making a spacer, small plastic tubing is ideal, IMO, (like the back part of cheap ballpoint pen refill) though anything that could be cut down to fit should work.

      2. I checked some reviews on amazon that are both verified and negative. More than one person complaining that they are dry when they arrive

    1. The Uni Power Tank refills might be a good substitute. The Power Tank pens are pressurized for extreme writing conditions and look to be a standard European/Pilot G-2 size. At $1.65 per refill, its probably a safe gamble to try one and see if it works. Please drop me a line if it works and I’ll add it to the refill list.

  10. I’m a convert to really bold point gel pens I have a few nice Waterman ballpoint pens and would like to convert them to gel bold pens. I think that Monteverde is making a fine point gel refill that will work in a Waterman ballpoint pen. Anyone know of a bold point refill or a hack of another type so I can rescue my nice Waterman ballpoints?

    Thanks Everyone
    Roger

  11. visualising Wayne & Garth bowing “Not Worthy”
    so much good info from you and your followers
    makes the reuse, repurpose, recycle concept so real 🙂

  12. FYI–I have a Zebra Tele-scopic pen and want several black refills for as low a price as I can get. I think the pen comes with a 1.00 (medium) point. Refills are 2 5/8″ long and come in black, red or blue ink, and .07 (fine) point or medium point. These slim refills fit multi color pens, too. Many places sell the Zebra brand 4C 2-pack of fine point–Amazon, eBay, zebrapen.com. They fit Zebra’s Tele-scopic, Styluspen, and Twist. I searched “mini pen refill” on eBay and found those, plus listings for 5- or 10-piece lots of generic medium point refills, and for Zebra fine point refills.

    Schmidt makes a fine point refill: the barrel says 628 F. The model numbers are 62811 (black ink), 62812 (blue ink), 62813 (red.) I could not find this model on any site but eBay. That listing says it fits: Aldo Domani®, Aurora®, Bexley®, Bossert & Erhard®, Colibri®, Delta®, Diplomat®, Elysee®, Faber-Castell®, Inoxcrom®, Jean Pierre Lepine®, Krone®, Marlen®, Montegrappa®, Monteverde®, Nettuno®, Omas®, Pelikan®, Retro 51®, Rotring®, Sensa®, Stipula®, Visconti®, Yafa®”

    Some websites say the Schmidt 635M (on the barrel of the refill) replaces 62811, but the M means medium point. People on Amazon were frustrated at ordering the pen and getting medium point (wanting fine) or ordering the refills and getting fine point (wanting medium.)

    Anyway, it was a long surf to find this out. Hope you add it to your guide and that it helps others.

    1. Searching for replacement parts for a Schmidt MDR 6,
      (Multisystem mechanism MDR 6, 3-system twist mechanism with D refill, lead adapter for leads 0.5 mm and DataPen refill including eraser), my pen has a marking indicator insignia on the outside, it says S3.

      Thank you so much for the info you provided 2 years ago! I’ve been searching all morning for this answer. I had previously thought that the SCHMIDT-MINE 635M replaced the SCHMIDT-MINE 628, now I know it differentiates the fine tip(628) vs medium tip(635M). Now, if only I can find the SCHMIDT-MINE 628 DATA pen refill so I can have a stylus on my TRI pen. The search continues!!

      1. Any D1 refill should work as a replacement for the MDR6. If you visit the JetPens web site or RefillFinder.com and search for D1 you should have a wide selection of options to choose from ranging from a Jetstream ballpoint to a Zebra gel point to a standard ballpoint refill. Even a local office supply store should have a D1 refill available.

  13. I picked up a Franklin Covey retractable ballpoint refill at Staples to try in my Parker Jotter. Fits perfectly, writes smoothly and lays down a nice dark line. I wasn’t expecting much but have been very impressed.

    1. A followup on this refill. It looks great, but doesn’t start up right away, so that’s a little irritating.

    1. Twist at the metal cone just above the tip of the pen. It should untwist so that you can remove the refill. If its sticking, try using a rubber band around the metal part to give you a little grip.

  14. Hello,

    I have a lot of Parker rollerballs and love using their green refills as I do a lot of compliance review work in my job. I had a stock of 20 and am down to my final two but have now established that Parker no longer make green RB refills.

    Can anyone suggest a workable alternate to try in the Parker RBs I have?

    Many thanks.

    1. Check out the Refill Finder guide by size. I suspect its probably a Parker sized refill and I believe Monetverde makes a green ballpoint refill but double check the site for size compatibility. Best of luck!

    2. While I was unable to locate any green refills, it looks like Monteverde has been making refills for Parker Rollerballs. Is this the size and shape you use? These are available in blue, black or blue/black and are labelled “fine point”.

  15. I have another sort of dilemma: I came upon some Sanford No 51413 refills and liked them. Now I’m looking for pens that I could use these with and can’t find any resources the would match a certain refill with the proper pen. Would anybody be able to help me with that?

  16. Any suggestions for a larger, nice pen that fits G2 refill? I dig the Schmidt P8126, but the Retro 51 is a little short for my meat-hook hands. And Karaskustoms is out of stock on INK color that I like (blue). Are you aware of anything else larger than Retro 51 that is compatible with the P8126 that has pretty good build quality? I guess my budget is </= $100 (saving my Semolians for my next grail fp…).

  17. My favorite refill hack is Cross Selectip Gel refills in a Mont Blanc 163 “Classique” Rollerball. Just put a few rounds of tape around the end of the refill to fill the gap in the barrel and a “next best thing to a fountain pen” writing experience awaits. The Cross Gel inks are far superior and write much smoother than the MB Rollerball refills, last about 5-20 times as long (no ink dry-out) and are less than half the price online. Sure you can pop the endcap of a MB Rollerball refill with pliers and syringe-fill with fountain pen ink, but why go to the bother when you can get a superior writing experience with less effort?

    I’ve also had luck using UniBall Signo and Jetstream refills, but I like the Cross ink and writing experience much more. If there’s a better refill out there, please let me know.

  18. Coming at it from a different perspective: I love the Jetstream Uniball retractable pens in 0.7 and would love to put this refill in a nicer pen. I’ve got one in an Acme right now and it’s okay, but I’d like to put it in something else, too. Any ideas on what it will fit without any modifications?

      1. Ana, you’re awesome! I’ve used Jet Pens many times, but I didn’t know they had this feature. Thanks sooooo much!

  19. Thanks for the listing you saved us plenty of time searching compatible refills. Couple of questions: 1) Other than the monteverde capless gel refills is there any other gel or hybrid refill or hack to fit into a montblanc ballpoint? 2) Is there a way to get bolder lines and richer colors in D1 refills?

  20. Sheaffer VFM Ballpoint Hack
    When my Blaze Orange VFM ball point arrived, it had a blue refill in it and I prefer a black ink version. I did not wanting to pay a premium for the Sheaffer refill, so I tried a spare Parker style G2 standard refill [Schmdit]. Low and behold it worked, though the refill was slightly more exposed at the tip and thus looked esthetically incorrect. I removed the refill and using a craft knife removed a millimeter or so from the plastic top and it now fits and looks correct. The Parker style is also available from many makers, versions, colours and types of ink and gels.

  21. Have you heard anything about a good alternative for a Lamy Safari rollerball refill? I bought my fiancé one for her birthday and she has already burnt through the one that came with it. If she keeps this pace up, it will end up being more expensive than my ink collection (might take a few years), so a cheaper option would be life saving! Great guide by the way!

    1. I think Monteverde makes a Lamy compatible refill.

      The Lamy refill is supposedly a proprietary refill. However, The refill is the same size & shape as a Pilot G2, except the Lamy is longer. If you cut a small piece of plastic tubing to fill in the backspace, any Pilot G2 refill work. (Any small plastic tubing will work, cut it so the G2-size refill is the same length as the Lamy refill). If she prefers a rollerball refill, I would look at the Monteverde W22. It’s one of the nicest rollerball refills I’ve used. The Signo 207 and Pentel EnerGel will also fit.

      Self-pimping here (again), but I have a blog post about this. http://www.pensandplanes.com/blog/pen-hacks

      1. Thanks so much for jumping in here. I personally haven’t used and of the Lamy refills but I suspected they could take other refills with a little creative hacking.

  22. I’ve got a Sheaffer Levenger Connaisseur Seas rollerball, and have been looking for different refills than the standard Sheaffer, as I don’t think they are as good as other rollerballs I’ve used.

    The Pilot G2 fits, with slight modifications; you have to trim plastic off the section just below the metal tip, and lower where the larger plastic part of the tip holder fits into the main ink barrel.

    Then I came across a very through 2014 article on The Wirecutter that says the best pen of any kind is the uni-ball Jetstream. Most of the rollerball refill reviews I found were years older, not including the latest options. So I picked up a Jetstream RT refill 1.0mm and it fits without any modification. The big thing for me is the writing itself is far better than anything else I’ve ever used. The tip does stick out a little farther than the standard Sheaffer but it’s not a deal breaker for me, by far. This info should apply to all the Connaisseur variations that Sheaffer made from roughly 1986 to 2000.

    As a side note, I learned the Seas Connaisseur can easily be converted to fountain pen use with any of the standard Sheaffer Connaisseur nibs, the original Connaisseur Seas nib, a Sheaffer No Nonsense nib, or Sheaffer Balance II nib. All you have to do is remove the spring at the bottom of the barrel and screw the nib and Sheaffer cartridge or converter in.

  23. So how do you get the Karas Kustoms retrakts to hold refills like Energel, Jetstream, Signo? Is the best way to plug the end? Or cut and use the spacer?

    1. The easiest way would probably be to cut the refill and use the spacer. The plug from the end of a Pilot G2 works great to plug the hole but even this method may require some trimming to prevent the tip of the refill from sticking out the front of the barrel

  24. Nicely put together post – this refill guide is very welcome and most useful. From my experience, some careful browsing is required also. I have a Rotring Rapid Pro ballpoint. I don’t care for the supplied oil-based ballpoint refill and I wanted to try the Schmidt P8126 capless gel refill in it as I reckoned it would be smoother. The length of the ‘standard’ Parker G” refill seems to be consistent at 98mm with a diameter of 5.8 – 6.0 mm. As there is a limited range of refills to be found locally (Galway, Ireland), I have to order replacements via the web. I only discovered after it was delivered that it is too big to actually fit the Rotring – the supplied refill is the standard 5.8 mm. but the Schmidt is 7mm! It appears that the only pen the Schmidt P8126 refill will fit is the retro 51 series.

      1. Hey there – late to the party but I just wanted to reply for posterity that the Schmidt P8126 refill does not fit the Kaweco Sport Rollerball. At least not as of 2019.

        The barrel of this particular Schmidt refill doesn’t taper towards the end (see: official Kaweco refill’s shape), so it can’t fit through the tip section of the pen.

        1. Good to know. The list isn’t definitive as pen models change but there are enough similarities that I try to give people a place to start.

    1. If your pen takes a standard D1 refill, there are Jetstream options available. If your pen takes a standard G2/Euro style rollerball refill then you may be able to get a standard refill to fit. Finally, if your pen takes a Parker-style refill, you may be able to cut down a full-length G2/Euro style refill to fit. Without knowing what specific pen you have, that’s the best I can do. Most of the Jetstream refills on JetPens are under $2 so it might worth taking a chance and seeing if you can figure out how to get one to fit. Good luck and happy pen hacking!

    2. The Cross Click can take a Jetstream refill with some modifications. Use a sharp pocketknife or Xacto to trim the “collar” or “shoulder” off the refill. Then trim the refill to the appropriate length.

      The Cross Edge is a retractable rollerball and will take any Signo/Sarasa/G2 gel refill, as well as an unmodified Jetstream refill.

  25. awesome post. Im a totally new pen obsessed ”noob”.

    Is it possible for example to put 0.5mm uni jet stream refills in the uni jet stream 0.7mm pen and visa versa? i dislike the jet stream 0.5 mm pen(barrel) colours but love the 0.7 mm Ones! now i already own a 0.5mm pen and i want to be able to exchange the refills

    1. On JetPens, you can click on “compatible products” under the description tab on the product page and determine which line of refills will fit into your pen. Once determined (multi-pen or regular refill), then the 0.5 and 0.7mm should be interchangeable. Hope that helps!

  26. Sheaffer 300 ballpoint refill
    I recently received this beautiful black lacquer pen as a gift. I love the heft, shape, and the gorgeous looks of it; however, the standard sheaffer refills have a very paltry ink flow, even the broad point. I noted above that someone was able to fit a parker style refill into his Sheaffer ballpoint, but I have tried this and the parker refill simply will not fit inside of the 300, simply due to the more narrow tunnel that won’t accommodate the fat “shoulder” of the parker refill. Which gel refills would fit the Sheaffer 300 ballpoint? Thanks.

  27. Super comprehensive write-up. I don’t suppose you’ve had any experience trying to find a refill hack for a Graf von Faber Castell Intuition rollerball. It seems this model requires a refill with an unusually long neck. I’m open to adding a spring to the butt of the refill, if that’s what it takes.

    1. You might be able to add a bit of tubing or a straw to the end of a refill to fill it out a bit. I might pop over to my local pen shop and see if they have any of those pens or refills in stock so I can take a closer look this week.

      1. Ana, thanks for the feedback. Just to clarify: The issue is not the overall length. I can use a spring to fill some of it. The issue is the length of the neck of the required refill, which seems a bit longer than your average Schmidt, Caran D’ache or Pilot.

  28. A good refill for Lamy Safari and Al-Star pens is the Jetstream refill. If you can find the capped Jetstream (not the thin stick type one, but the one that looks like a proper capped pen), this refill is best because it has a little plastic extender on top, which you can pull out and stick into the normal clicky Jetsream refills afterwards. This extender is the perfect fit for the Lamy pens mentioned above. If you can’t find this Jetstream, then all you do is take a spring from any ballpoint pen (the wider ones, like the Jetstream springs, are perfect), put it into the Lamy barrel first, and then add the Jetstream refill – the spring takes the place of the extender, and will compress to provide a perfect fit for the pen. By using a spring, you can then put even G-2 refills etc into a Lamy Safari or Al-Star. I’ve been doing this for years with no problems at all.

  29. Fantastic reference! Thank you!

    Anyone have any suggestion for a multi-refill pack that comes close to a Pilot G-2 (or uni ball Signo) in feel?

    I bought a Jetsream multi and the inks are terrible. They don’t flow well, and writing is rough.

    I bought a Zebra multi and its inks are a lot better. No stutters. But not as smooth and great as the Pilot or uni =(

    I just bought another Zebra for the extra inks that come in the package. I’ll jam those in the Jetsream, for now.

    Anyone with a favorite multi/ink combo, or suggestions for refills? I’m all ears =)

  30. Thanks for this list!

    My favorite hack (and favorite carry pen) is a Zebra f701 with the f402 click assembly mod (replaces the plastic part from the f701 with the all metal of the f402.) Then take out the ballpoint refill it comes with, remove the little “stopper” from the end and stick that into a Zebra g301 gel refill. You also have to remove the rubber thing from inside the tip of the f701 to make the gel refill fit. Then you have a great looking, all metal pen with gel ink, that writes well. My favorite!

  31. I am searching for a refill to put in my cross slim gel rolling ball. I received the Darth Vader version for Christmas and would love to put it to use, but I can’t tolerate the 0.7mm crayon sized standard refill. I prefer a 0.5 or 0.38 but have yet to find anything that will fit or that I can modify to fit. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

    1. It looks like the Cross Slim Gel takes a 4.375″ (11.11cm) refill that is similar, but not exact, to a G2/Euro Rollerball which is 4.39″ (11.15cm) but has a little bit of a taper towards the tip. There appears to be more plastic on the end of most G2 refills that you might be able to sand down to fit into your Darth Vader pen to get it to fit.

      Also, the Schmidt long 8126 refill is a little shorter at 4.25″ (10.8cm) and you might be able to add the extra length with a little bit of plastic tubing, bit of rubber, or a spring on the end to make up the difference. I referred to Goldspot Pens’ Refill Finder for the refill size guide. Both the Schmidt and the G2/Euro Rollerball sizes will give you a lot more options for finer tips.

      Though finding 0.38mm tips in Euro pen refills can be a bit of a challenge. I often hack refills out of my Pilot Juice, Energel Needletip and other super fine pens and then retro fit them to go into things like Karas Kustoms Render Ks, Retro 51s and Fisher Space Pens for the same reason you’re looking for an alternative refill for the Cross. I cover them with tape, springs and anything else I can find to bulk them up. Sometimes it works, sometimes I make a mess. But its usually an experiment that costs less than $2 so its a gamble I’m usually willing to take.

      1. Thank you so much for your guidance. I am a newbie when it comes to hacking refills. I’ve had success on a couple but haven’t tried many. I will begin my search based on your help and hopefully get something to work.

  32. I currently own a retro 1951 tornado rollerball and have successfully been able to cut a uni-ball signo 207 ultra micro 0.38 refill to fit. I just simply lined up the stock refill and cut to match the length. The only issue I am still working on is the spring. I had to stretch the one that came in the uni-ball and it loses strength over time causing a noticeable “tip wiggle” when writing. I can stretch it back out and the tip will stay solid for a while.

  33. Hi! I use a Visconti Van Gogh pen, with Parker GEL Ballpoint Pen Refills. I love the smooth feel but unfortunately, I am a student in exam season, so I’ve been going through at least two refills a week with essays and revision and whatnot. Does anybody have any recommendations for refills that last slightly longer or should I just write shorter essays?

    Thanks!

  34. Can you tell me the brand of the “needle”-pointed refill at the top of the G2 photo (above the Schmidt)?

    1. I’ve hunted and hunted through my stash to find which refill that was. I think it may have been a Pentel of some sort but I cannot confirm this. I’ll keep looking.

      1. I keep trying to track down that refill but I’m not sure. It might be a hacked Energel needle point.

  35. I would like to find a refill for my Cross select tip and Monte blanc Meisterstuck ball point that is as good quality as the uni-ball Signo Bold 207, do you have any recommendations?

    1. Closest to 207 for MB BP is Uni-ball Jetstream 101 (DIY compatible). Casemate retractable gel from Walmart isn’t as good but cheap and DIY compatible (all worked with my Rouge Et Noir & Noblesse Oblige BP).

      P.S. MB Solitaire BP (25th Anniv) will take a trimmed down 207/307 refill directly (same mod for Waterman RB pens).

  36. Hi, I am looking for a refill for my pen I believe it’s a Rollerball pen refill the only identifying information is “paraphernalia 710” on the cartridge & “paraphernalia” with no number on the pen barrel. Can you help me?

  37. The zebra style of refils seem to be a family all of their own… I’m keen to get the F701 all metal zebra, but I hear their ink is inferior to many other pens. Wondered if there were better alternatives to Zebra refils?

    1. I have modified a Zebra-701 and Zebra-402 to work with Fisher pressurized ballpoint refills. The opening of the pen body typically requires some slight modifications, but you can find detailed guides on google on how to do it.

  38. This may already be commented, but the G2 style refills can fit in Lamy pens for the Lamy M63 refill. The G2 style is the same shape, but just a touch shorter. All you need is something to put in the back of the pen to keep the refill from going back up in the pen. Another pen spring cut a little up would work or even just some rolled up paper cut to the size would work. Just thought I would throw that out there to help other people save some money since those Lamy refills are $5 a pop!

    1. I found a Pilot Juice Up 04 for my Lamy Swift perfectly, though why Signo and Energel refills won’t fit is a complete mystery.

  39. I have this Bettoni pen that I received as a promotional item. https://www.amazon.com/Bettoni-Rollerball-Pen-PROMOTIONAL-CUSTOMIZED/dp/B01GHAYP52/ref=sr_1_8?s=office-products&ie=UTF8&qid=1475790113&sr=1-8&keywords=bettoni+pen. Unfortunately, there is no model number that I can post.

    Came with a Hauser 777 cartridge. I was able to replace it with a Schmidt 888. Problem is they run out quickly and I’m really not a fan of roller ball pens. Any suggestions on a refill that I could get for this that is a ballpoint pen?

  40. Amazing information here. Thank you.
    I lost the spring for my pen that uses a Schmidt ceramic roller 888 F. Do you happen to know how I figure out what size spring I need to make my pen work again?

    1. Itoya gel refills are good. That’s what maxmadco.com puts in their new pens. They are cheap on Ebay. Just make sure you get the gel and not the aqua roller refills.

      1. Ana,

        I’m interested in the utility you mentioned to Jeff.

        I’ve started a comprehensive spreadsheet of pen models and compatible refill models. I’m recording refill/pen compatibility that I’ve personally verified, someone else has (specifically) verified, and manufacturer specified compatibility. Hoping for two counts on individual testimonies.

        I hope to expand on your excellent work here. Focusing on sub-$50, without modifications. Appreciate any advice / info / resources you can recommend.

        I’ve got several models/refills I have personally confirmed, thanks (cough) to this site and Pen Addict.

  41. Hi! I am new to pen collecting and am actually starting by buying gifts for friends first 🙂 . That being said,I have already purchased a Waterman Carene rollerball for one friend and am considering purchasing a Visconti Rembrandt rollerball for another friend today. The latter friend is an elderly woman who is not going to want to hunt down Visconti refills online. I am trying to find (and probably purchase several) other more accessible options. Am I to understand (please be patient with me; all of this is so new and almost overwhelming to me 🙂 that the Pilot G2 rollerball refills will also fit the Visconti Rembrandt (I know they fit the Waterman Carene rollerballs)? What ballpoint refills will also fit both pens? Thanks!

    1. According to the listing on the Monteverde packaging for their standard metal tube rollerball G2/Euro-style refills:

      “Fits most of the world’s finest capped rollerball pens. This refill is compatible with brands such as : ACME, Aurora, Bexley, Delta, Diplomat, Faber Castell, Hauser, Inoxcrom, Itoya, Krone, Marlen, Montegrappa, Monteverde, Omas, Pelikan, Retro 51, Rotring, Stipula, Waterman and Visconti.”

      So, I feel fairly confidant that ANY of the G2/Euro refills listed should work for Waterman Carene and the Visconti Rembrandt.Some manufacturers might try to insist that you only use their refills but its bullocks. If another refill fits and writes better, more smoothly or in a color or fineness or boldness preferred by your friend, then buy them in a gross. I hope that helps. Happy writing!

      1. Thank you so much, Ana! I appreciate it. Now, what ballpoint refills would also fit these same pens (in case they want to switch up)?

        Thanks!

        1. For whatever reason I’ve never figured out, rollerball pens only ever hold refills with rollerball ink but the best solution I’ve found is a gentleman on Shapeways who has started making refill converters that will accept D1 refills which are the most common ballpoint refills for any pen. He 3D prints the converter tube and then you can slide a standard D1 ballpoint refill into it (available at any Staples, Office Depot or big box store) then when the refill runs out, pull the refill out and put a new one in. I’ve purchased a couple from him for other pen configurations so I can vouch that the products work. I keep meaning to write a post about these. Very clever. Otherwise, I’d recommend just sticking with the rollerball refills.

          1. After reading your experience with Shapeways adapters, I wrapped some gaffer tape to fatten up a mini D1 refill and inserted it just enough for proper length into a juice box drinking straw. (My personal option was to use a dollar store “Studio” brand gel refill that matched the mini D1 diameter.)

            It fitted my Montblanc ballpoint pen Noblesse Oblige with additional tape to stop the spring.

            Following the positive result from this experiment, I assumed cutting an existing refill would create a reusable adapter for most brands.

          2. Tape was my first solution too. The Shapeways adpaters are a good long term solution. Best $5 I ever spent.

  42. I’m hoping someone can shed light on this issue. I recently inherited some Levenger Rotring pens. I have two mechanical pencils, two ballpoint pens (though one is missing the ink), and one fountain pen with an “EF” sticker on the bottom. I love pens and stationery, but I am admittedly unknowledgeable as to what refills I could use with them. From my own cursory research, it seems as if these pens are no longer made. They look like this: http://bit.ly/2flpet6 (Not my image.) They do not say “600” anywhere on them. (Side note: I know these are valuable from what I see people selling them for on the internet, but I am not interested in selling them as they were a family member’s who passed away.) Thank you for your help!!

      1. These are standard Rotring 600 pens and pencils which were just rebranded by Levenger. For the fountain pen, use standard international short ink cartridges. An international ink converter could be used if you prefer bottled ink. The ballpoint pens take the widely available Parker G2 style refill, which are available using conventional ballpoint ink or gel ink. The mechanical pencils will take any standard leads – just make sure you purchase the correct lead diameter for the pencil (for example 0.5mm, 0.7mm, etc). Rather late with this post, but I hope it helps!

  43. Old-Model Kaweco “Sport” ballpoint pen:-
    Refills for this pen are no longer available (at least in the UK).
    the original refill, which was manufacted to DIN 16554, has a “ridge” around the refill, about a third of the way up, something that the modern version does not have, and without which the refill will not work.
    Does anyone know of a refill that will fit and work in the pen, or that can be”modified”?

    1. Mike, I’ll look into this and see what I can find out. I believe that Kaweco uses Schmidt refills so I just have to find the correct replacement.

    2. If the ridge is used to stop the spring, then just find any refills that fit into the pen and wrap a few rounds of electrical tape in place of the ridge. Trim the refill down if necessary.

  44. Have a Visconti Kaleido Voyager rollerball; was looking for a .5mm refill, and discovered that one from a Pilot precise v5 RT works fine.

  45. I’m not very into pens, but I bought my wife one for work. I’ve been on a mission to find a cartridge refill for the pen, with a smaller line size/tip size.

    I believe she’s using a .7mm and I’m looking for a .38mm or even smaller if possible. But it has to fit a d1 cross type pen. Also needs to be an black ink pen, not gel.

    Any suggestions? Would love to purchase one asap.

    Thanks for your time

    1. The size/numbering system between gel pens and ballpoint and rollerball/ink get a little confusing. As far as I know, there are not any rollerball or liquid ink options available in D1 refills but you might try a needlepoint ballpoint as an alternative for the finest available D1 refill. The OHTO Needlepoint is listed as a 0.5 but writes very fine as does the Uni Jetstream and the Zebra Emulsion which are also listed as 0.5 as well. The only way to get a finer refill for D1 is to go to a gel and get the Zebra JSB series Gel D1 refills which are available in an 0.4mm size. For D1 pens, they are my favorite refills but I understand if you are using your pen for carbons they might not be suitable. They also churn through ink quickly so most people end up needing to purchase them in quantities but I find its the best of both worlds — fine lines in a pen that only accepts a D1. I hope that helps!

  46. I am looking for a modestly up-scale pen that fits HI-Tec-C 0.25 or Uni-Signo 0.28 refills. Any ideas?

    Also are there uef nib replacements sold anywhere for Platinum fountain pens?

  47. Note on the Schmidt p8126 & easy FLOW 9000: the easy FLOW is enough thinner than the Schmidt for some compatibility issues.

  48. I was able to fit a Montblanc Fineliner refill into my Waterman Charleston. Looks like the MB roller is the same sized cartridge too.

    You’ll need to file off about 2 mm from the rear of the MB cartridge. The plastic is very soft and this can be done with a household nail file.

    1. Caran D’Ache offers a refill called the Goliath. It’s a ballpoint refill available in fine, medium or broad and is touted to write up to 600 pages from one refill.

      I am digging around my house to find my 849 to verify that other standard Parker-style refills will also fit. It looks like a normal Parker-style refill so chances are pretty good that most Parker-style refills should fit but I can’t guarantee it. I’ll keep you posted.

      1. I would love to know if I could get some kind of rollerball or Schmidt refill in my 849. I love this pen but I’m not a big ballpoint fan.

        1. Thanks, do let me know! I love the pen and have tons of refills in varieties. Don’t mind spending money on the pen want to save on the refills.

          Thanks!

  49. Looking to find a more upscale pen that will take a Signo 207. I’m not interested in having to modify it at all. Are there any upscale pens out there that are fully compatible?

  50. I love Monteverde Broad point ceramic gel refills for Parker style ballpoint pens. They have blue-black color too. Hard to find but I have Staples order them for me about $20 for a package of 6. Now all my Parker style ballpoint pens can use smooth broad point gel inks. Thanks for the great pen info.

    1. I only found average performance from my Montblanc version of the Monteverde gel ballpoint refill, especially disliked the small amount of ink it contained.

      So I refilled an emptied one by using a drinking straw to ‘carry’ Pilot G2 gel ink with stopper fluid inserted into the refill.

      It worked, but a messy hack job to do on a regular basis. This was just one of my many experiments.

  51. This is such a helpful resource!!! It inspired quick research on Fountain Pen Network which yielded excellent outcome!! A Pilot G2 refill fits perfectly in my Sheaffer Prelude rollerball. The pen was gifted to me years ago and I never used it cause read that Sheaffer roller ball refills aren’t the best. I just forgot about the pen until I saw this article. Thanks so much for all the info here. So cool to be able to revive useless pens!

  52. Waterman Rollerball and Pilot G2 (without its end cap) refills are compatible with the metal Lamy Swift Capless Rollerball pen.

    Since they are slightly shorter than the Lamy M66 refill, the refill tips will not stick out as far as the M66.

  53. Hi,

    I have a Graf von Faber-Castell Tamitio Rollerball Pen and wondered whether it would be able to take a ballpoint refill? If not, any other refill that anyone could suggest which is closer to a ballpoint?

    Thank you for all your help, very much appreciated.

    1. I looked into an option for you and all I found was a retro-fitted Acme that added plastic parts to a Parker-style ballpoint refill. I found it on the CultPens Euro rollerball page.

  54. Hi Ana,

    Thanks a lot for featuring my printed refill adapters as part of your Epic Refill Reference Guide.

    There has been a noticeable increase in refill adapter interest over the last month or so, leading to some very interesting discussions, which in turn has rekindled my interest in this project.
    Since then I have been expanding the range of adapters that are on offer, with over 30 different refill sizes now having adapters for them.

    I have also started making adapters for other replacement refills, not just the D1 Mini and the slightly shorter Cross Matrix.
    The plastic tubed 3mm diameter refills, often found in Japanese multi-pens are what I’ve gone with.
    There are 3 different refill lengths that I have incorporated: 88mm (Uni SXR-80), 93mm (Pilot Hi-Tec C Coleto) and 98-99mm (Uni Signo UMR-109, Pentel Sliccies XBGRN, Zebra Surari EK, etc).
    The Pilot Coleto refill will be familiar to some for it’s pleasant writing characteristics and the very fine writing tips it offers (0.3, 0.4 & 0.5mm), while the 98-99mm refills come in many varieties of ink, from oil-based, to gel, emulsion and hybrid.
    Since the bodies of these refills are plastic, the longer ones can be cut shorter to fit into adapters that could not otherwise take the longer refills.

    Some pens, such as the Lamy Safari Ballpoint, won’t accept alternative refills, due to the shape of the pen’s tip section, so I’ve also looked at printable replacement pen tips. Thus far I’ve only created 3D models for the Lamy Safari and Parker Jotter, but they have yet to be printed and tested.

    As Ana correctly stated above in the article; I’d be happy to help create custom refill adapter solutions to suit specific requirements, so long as it’s physically possible and I’m given enough information. If it’s not hugely complicated I don’t tend to charge for such design work.

    Please feel free to get in touch with me if you are interested.
    Cheers.

    1. Hello Tofty –
      I tried to send you a message via the Shapeways site, but I got an error message. So! I will make this quick and simple. My greatest desire is to be able to use Pilot Hi-Tec C Coleto Refills in a Retro 51 Tornado. Is this possible? Is it there somewhere and I missed it? Many thanks!!

      1. Amy, I am not Tofty. I just think the work he does is great. I’ll reach out and see if I can contact him on your behalf.

  55. Hi all! I’ve got a beautiful chromatic dual-color pen body that belonged to my grandfather; it takes the full-length (97mm) Fisher #SU1 refills. However, even the “fine” ballpoint refills are too broad for me. I’d like to replace the refills with something like a sliccies or hi-tec-c refill, but the plastic barrels on all the Japanese pen refills I love are a bit too wide to slip into the metal casing that holds the space pen refills.

    Any advice on how to hack this without damaging the vintage pen? Thanks!

    1. Hi Leila,
      I think the refill you are referring to is the very thin one with two narrow points along it’s body.
      This one: http://www.spacepen.com/blueinkfinepointfisheruniversalrefill.aspx

      If so, it is a longer version of the standard D1 mini refill. In fact the front section of the Fisher refill, with the tail end snapped off can be used as a D1 replacement (although the fisher refill is a tiny bit wider than a standard D1, with a 1.4mm diameter, rather than 1.3mm).
      D1 refills come in many different ink types, but if you’re looking for a fine tip then Pilot have their Hi-Tec C Slims in a 0.3 and 0.4mm tip, Ohto have a 0.5mm needlepoint. Uni SXR-200-05 0.5mm Jetstreams are highly regarded and Zebra have their 4C refills in 04 and 0.5mm, as well as their JSB gel refills 0.4 and 0.5mm.

      Most D1 refills have a hole in their tail end, so something like a cocktail stick could be used to make up the extra required length, to allow a D1 to replace the Fisher refill in your pen.
      First cut of perhaps 6mm (1/4″) off the tip of one end of the stick, so the point doesn’t reach the ink inside, then press the stick into the refill, so that it’s held tight against the stick’s tapered section.
      Then line up the Fisher refill and the lengthened D1 and trim the extra length of the stick, so that both refills are the same length.

      I don’t know how the Fisher pen retained the original refill, as the refill doesn’t have any shoulders or flanges for a spring or narrowed section within the pen to hold it in place. It most likely would be friction, but with a D1 refill’s narrower body and even narrower stick section, it may not work as intended.

  56. The Schmidt P8126 is NOT Parker compatible. I have tried the Schmidt P8126 in a number of pens that use a Parker standard ink refill and the Schmidt P8126 will NOT fit. It is too wide in the barrel.

    1. Many pens that are designed to accept Parker-compatible refills can also accept the P8126 like the Retro 51s and the Karas Kustoms pens as there is a little bit of leeway in the barrel. However, some pens are designed in such a way that the interior dimensions are too snug to take the P8126. This list is, at best, a guide and not a definitive directory.

  57. Hi I would certainly appreciate a 3d printed thread section like the one is used in every montblanc rollerball refill so I could replace that refill with a pilot g2 or with a uniball signo one. Could you make this happen?

  58. I am looking for a “Logos Ultra rolling refill 0.5 97.7” refill. Approximate total length is 4-5/16 inches. it is narrow at the point, then expands in diameter where the main ink supply is located. I think this product is of Australian origin. I can find all kinds of references to it on the internet, however have not found an actual place where I can order these. HELP !!

  59. Hi! Can you tell me what refills do Caran D’Ache’s 849 accept? I’ve been looking for smoother refills, but I’m always afraid it won’t fit properly.

    1. Caran D’ache 849s use a slight modification to the standard Parker style refill. It’s called the “Goliath”. You’re right to fear that other Parker style refills might not fit properly. The Goliath refills are flat on top and allow the click mechanism to grip the top of the refill. Standard Parker refills have a finned design for telescoping mechanisms which may not align with the Caran d’Ache mechanism. So, your only option may be the Goliath at this point.

    2. Parker refills will fit. At times some of them will be flush with the opening when retracted.
      If so, a slight trim will work, letting the point stay a bit more back in the barrel.

      1. Oh, that’s clever! I just untwist them a touch. They get a bit wiggly but then they don’t leak or poke my pocket.

  60. Hi there, great article. I have a Parker Sonnet Rollerball pen and was wondering if it was possible to modify it use a Parker gel ink refill. I’ve heard there may be adaptors etc.. for this but haven’t seen anything conclusive. Would appreciate any feedback you have.

    1. As always, I recommend checking with Tofty2 over on Shapeways. I put together a quick list of the two adapters he’s made that allow use of gel refills (D1 style) with the Parker rollerball. It’s not the Parker refills specifically but will give you an option to start with. You may want to message Tofty directly and see if it’s possible make an adapter for Parker RB to BP/gel. Here’s the link for my list :

  61. Hi Sean,
    Sorry for being slow to reply.
    Fortuitously I was recently contacted about this very same requirement and I have just finished modelling a 3D printable adapter that allows the Parker G2 ballpoint and gel refills to be used in pens designed for the Parker rollerball refills:
    My original version was specifically for the Parker Vector pen. The internal cavity of the pen’s front section allows for the adapter to have a little more material where it’s beneficial, compared to just keeping to the dimensions of the rollerball refill.
    However, since I don’t know exactly what the Parker Sonnet rollerball pen is like, I’ve created a more universal version of this adapter, which does stick closer to the rollerball refills dimensions:
    https://www.shapeways.com/product/HC8VS2R45
    (I haven’t ordered this adapter yet and cannot guarantee it’s function)

    There were adapters to achieve this very thing, made officially by Parker, for use in their “Big Red” rollerball pens. Unfortunately these adapters are rare and expensive, but also were designed to fit the Big Red pen’s internal cavity, rather than to fit into any pen which takes the Parker rollerball refill (which the Big Red pen does). These means the Parker adapter will likely not work in the pen you wish to adapt.

    Hope that helps.
    Cheers.

    Thanks Ana for the continued recommendations.

  62. Hi Ana!

    I was wondering if the Pilot G2 refill will fit into a skinner pen casing than the G2 pen? I prefer the 0.38 mm tip, but writing so small is rough on my hands unless the pen is very skinny, like the Uni Ball Signo DX pen. (I love the Signo DX but I find the G2 refills to be much easier to obtain.) Thanks!

    1. If you see the photos in the guide up top, the Pilot G2 refills are the bottom two refills above the G2 listing. The Uni Signo refills (though there are some other configurations) are shown with the Hi-Tec C refills and have a shorter metal end and that flange that makes them harder to swap around with a G2. There are some Signo-style refills available in a more D1 size that Tofty has made converters to hold. that you can slide them into a 3D printed holder. That might work better for you and those refills are readily available on JetPens.

  63. Hi, and thanks for the great information.
    I just bought several of the Moleskine rollerballs, and thought I could use Parker style refills as stated here, but the store owner said the refills is of the Pilot G2 style instead. Is there something different between the Moleskine pens? This one is called the plus, and on Moleskines webbpages it says it takes only “rollerpen plus” refills.

    1. Since I published this Moleskine has rebranded their pens. I suspect the new rollerballs take euro G2 refills not Pilot G2. You may want to pop out the refill and take a look at it and double check. Compare it to the images in the photos above to verify. Let me know if you have more questions.

      1. Thanks. I don’t have it with me right now, so I can’t’ measure it, but I’m somewhat confused.
        “The Pilot G2 style refill, also described as the Schmidt/Euro Rollerball refill size are about 110mm long” seems to equal Pilot G2 with Euro and Schmidt, but perhaps I misunderstands something? Sorry for the newbie questions, but where I usually buy pens, they just thought it took Pilot refills. The refill is this one:
        https://us.moleskine.com/roller-gel-refill-plus-black/p0361

        1. Now I have measured it. It’s 110 mm long, and looks like the Schmidt ones. Is it safe to presume a Pilot G2 fits too? They are not exactly the same in the pictures above but it seems it would fit by reading the text.

        2. The Pilot G2s have a slightly longer plastic flange around the tip than the one shown in the Moleskine photo. In my Refill Guide, the Pilot G2s are the bottom two refills just above the G2/Schmidt/Euro Section. Theoretically, they should fit as long as the tolerances inside the pen are not too tight. It’s usually a $2 gamble. Or if you have a retractable G2 laying around, you should be able to twist the pen apart and pull out the refill and try it out to see if it fits before going out and buying one. A refill test drive, if you will.

    2. I use a G2 refill for Pilot Frixion in my Moleskine rollerball.
      The only issue is I’m worried about the spring catching the refill’s click-mechanism’s crown.

  64. I am using Parker quink flow refill to Carn d’Ache 849.
    Nice fitting!
    In other blog, it is written that parker type refill is good to use for Caran d’Ache ballpoint, but not all parer type refills.

    1. In some cases, Parker-style refills are a bit too long to fit in the 849 because of the fins on the end. However, if you trim the plastic fins, these refills should fit just fine. The Three Staples site has a great post about how to do it.

  65. Has anyone sent you info or added on some of the refills in the SUPER cheap bulk pens you’d find in your supply closet from the Big Box stores?

  66. I’d love your opinion on which refills might fit my Lamy Safari and Rotring rollerball pens. I am currently using a Pilot G2 with a wee ball of paper in the top of the barrel for my Rotring with a similar hack (a taped-on extender for my Lamy).
    Kind Regards

    1. Tofty on Shapeways does make adapters for Lamy: for the M16, M22, M63, and M66 size refills and designed to hold either D1, Cross Matrix, Coleto or Uni UMR-109 refills respectively. For the Rotring, according to ColoradoPen.com, most standard Schmidt and Monteverde Euro/G2 should fit it. I recommend skimming through that section in the Guide to see if you find anything you prefer better than your Pilot G2.

    2. I have a Safari rollerball.
      The Ohto rollerball refill seems almost identical by dimensions although I haven’t tried it.
      I found a Staples brand retractable eraser refill that’s the same diameter so I cut lengths of that to make other refills fit. The Mont Blanc took about 1mm at the back. The Waterman took about 5mm. Both of those had the point not sticking out very far and the Waterman was surprisingly skippy. The Cross Selectip needed a 2mm ring at the front to put the point in the perfect extension and 4mm at the back. It writes like a dream with light pressure or doing carbon copy forms.

  67. I found that Uniball Signo RT refill UMN-138 (0.38mm ball) can be used to replace Schmidt 5888.
    You just need to cut off about 3mm on the UMN-138. It is easily done using a box cutter because the body is plastic. Please measure first. I like the Uniball refill because of the ultra-fine line.

  68. Hi
    I have Cross century ii rollerball gel pen and looking for a refills which are made by the companies other than Cross but will work without any modification

  69. Hi—this is a phenomenal resource and delightful rabbit-hole to explore! Thanks so much for all of the hard work, coordination, and insights.

    I am a total sucker for the Pilot V5 RT retractable gel pen…especially in blue. I adore the quick startup, smooth glide, precision for small printing, ease of flourish for flowy writing, unobstructed view of the writing space (needle-point tip), and convenience and portability of a retractable with a clip. I think the rubberized grip works well for me too—I need a little texture to hold onto.

    That said, I would love to find an elegant retractable pen to more-finely house the Pilot V5 RT refill…something metallic or lacquer or otherwise-classy, with a good fit and minimal wobble. I’m hoping to “up” my professional appearance and hopefully ultimately lose fewer (apparently-disposable) pens to those who borrow mine and can’t live without them. 🙂 Thanks in advance!!

  70. I have an Otis .925 hand made sterling silver rollerball pen that i recently rediscovered, but can’t find the refill for it. If anyone can suggest a resource, I’d be eternally grateful.

    1. I’ve looked everywhere for information on this pen and its refills. I have come up empty handed. Do you have a photo of the original refill we could use for reference?

  71. Bic worthington rollerball. Which refil is compatible for it?…. id hate to give it away…. g2 is iffy cause it doesnt fit.

    1. After some research, the official refill is the Bic Roller Ball Black (Unit #1600500 which the Bic Imprint site lists for $0.35ea). The closest I could find online was this one. It does look awfully similar to a G2 refill but maybe its a slightly different length/width?

  72. Thanks for the compendium.

    I will add that my G2 refills fit the ACME perfectly. G2 are too long for the Tombo Zoom. I cut off about 1 cm to make it match the Tombo length, then pried off the little hard plastic cap that came on the G2. When I put the back-cop on, ink came out. So, just be prepared for a little mess, maybe.

  73. Anyone know if there are any gel refills that would fit a pen that came with a Pilot RFJSGP cartridge?

  74. Thank you for this awesome reference guide! It got me to thinking, is there a reference guide that is the reverse of this where I can see all the pens that my favorite refill will fit? I have tried Cultpens but the pens they have aren’t available in the US, at least none of the ones I am interested in.

    1. Adam, your best option at the moment is on JetPens. For each refill, they provide a list of compatible products. It’s not completely comprehensive but it’s a good place to start. For example, this Dr. Grip refill is compatible with 33 pens on their site.

  75. Does anyone know of other more professional, retractable pens (other than Pilot Dr. Grip/G2 Pro) that will take the G2 size refill?

  76. Have a Jean Pierre Lepine Slim Winston Rollerball with dried out cartridge marked 609 (Jean Pierre Lepine brand). It’s about 110 mm long. Will the Schmidt 628 or 635 work? I don’t care that much about fineness of line.

  77. I am seeking (try not to laugh) a better option that can fit a Bic Round Stic pen barrel. I have a beautiful carbon fiber pen that is custom made by a fishing rod company out of a section of rod, problem is that its barrel fits.. a Bic Round Stic ballpoint. Friction fit. Like all Bic Round Stic. I can find more of the typical Bic manufactured ones which I could use to replace the finger grip, and tip assembly/ink cartridge if they were depleted, but I can’t find a solution that makes it anything other than a cheap writing implement. The ink tube will pull out of the tip assembly, but the ball point part on the front of the tip assembly is well fused (I tried removing one with steel punch to no avail). So.. if you had any advice on where to go or whether I am going about this problem all wrong, I would be so grateful :\ . Also I saw your comments about 3D printing & Tofty but I don’t really honestly even know what to ask.

  78. Hello,

    I have some old Kohinoor Nexus Art Pens – the rollerball type. I disassembled them and found that there is is fiber pipe stuck into the back of the rollerball head.

    Does anyone know where I can buy some of these fiber/felt pipes. They’re thin and about 1.5” long

    Many Thanks!

    Dan

    1. I believe that Tofty on Shapeways makes a 3D printed converter for Cross pens that would allow you to use a Zebra gel D1 refill

  79. Does anyone know why a pilot g2 and a pilot frixion g2 have a different end design? The frixions end doesnt work with some of my custom pens well.

    1. It appears that some of the Frixion refills, particularly those sold in the US market, feature a slot in the end of the refill (like a flathead screwdriver might fit in the slot). The Pilot JuiceUp refills have a similar shape. Pilot G2 refills sold in the US have a flat end. I believe the cap on the end of these slotted refills can be popped out. The end can either be covered with a piece of tape or you could use an end cap “borrowed” from a Pilot G2 refill. Hopefully, this should make the refills more interchangeable.

  80. Dear Ana,
    I started listening to the pen addict podcast in January. And unfortunately, due to the current situation I was unable to visit your website. Now, under quarantine, I was looking for some good refills. You see, I love my parker jotters. But the Indian versions have a kinda less than excellent refills. So I came across your website and this is kinda the first article I am reading. I must say, brilliant job and thank you very much. I’ll start looking for these refills as soon as the lockdown ends here.

    Loads of gratitude from here. I am looking forward to testing some good gel refills in my quintessential parker jotters. Also it’s not just jotters. Almost all parker click ball pens have the same refill, so even better for me.

    Thank you once again.

  81. As you mentioned, there are many different refills that you can choose from when needing to fill your pen. Are all pens the same size, or how do you find out which one will fit your current pen? You mentioned that you have cut some on the refills to make them fit, so is that just something that you have to do?

  82. Hi! Does anyone know if the refills from the pilot precise retractable V5 gel ink work with the pilot Dr. grip white edition pens?

  83. Great website. I’m a big time ball point pen collector and am glad I found this.
    Q – Anybody have any idea where to get refills for a Bic Citation (if anybody remember’s these)?

    Or perhaps any ideas on how to “make” your own?

    Thanks

  84. I need a good D-1 gel refill for my Sharbo and Sharbo X pens. I use 6 of them almost daily, I have 1 on each Journal and Folio that I use for everything from grocery list, to do list, maintenance and upgrades on my vehicles, maintenance and upgrades on my house, my tracking form for all the items I have ordered and are inbound and so on. So I use a lot of D-1 refills. But I can’t stand being or emulsion inks. I have been really loyal to Zebra and I love the black JSB refills and the way the gel in writes. It’s dark and flows smoothly. Other refills like ballpoint and emulsion seem to have random spots where the ball in the tip goes dry for a fraction of a second then starts wiring again. I can feel a lot a drag where it feels like is a dry tip dragging across the paper. That feeling is worse then fingernails down a chalkboard. Anyone got a link for a cheap D-1 gel refill that is what least comparable to Zebra JSB .5 or .7, or a link for the actual Zebra JSB .5-.7 refills. Even the name of comparable refill well work. But this $2.50-$3 per refill is killing me. And these sellers on eBay want $3 per refill with $20 shipping. It’s insane. They are going to put Zebra out if business singlehandedly. Good love pure unadulterated GREED! No way it cost $20 to ship 1 D-1 refill. I mean that price could get them shipping to the moon!

    1. Mike, the zebra gel D1 refills are available through JetPens. They may be a little more expensive but your shipping costs will be considerably lower.

  85. I have a 1970s Hallmark wood fibertip pen that even Hallmark quit making fibertip refills for before 1980. Does anyone know who makes a gell, fibertip or rollerball refill that would fit my wood Hallmark fiberertip pen that has been unusable for over 40 years?

    1. Would you believe, I think Vanness Pens may have a stash of refills still? Call them and check, I remember Mike saying something about having a stash of vintage refills awhile back but I could be wrong.

      If you still have a dried out refill, contact Tofty on Shapeways about making an adapter to fit the pen that will accommodate a standard rollerball, ballpoint or gel refill. Up until now, I haven’t found anyone with an expired refill who was willing to sacrifice it to Tofty to make a 3D mold for an adapter.

  86. RED pens never work! Is it just me? I’ve tried many brands of expensive red gel pens, the latest being Pilot G2 .7, and the ink never flows well. Blue and black always work great but red never works. Nobody else complains about it so it’s a major mystery. Has anyone else noticed this?

  87. Hi! Thanks for this extremely helpful post. I was browsing the shapeways site looking for a MB noblesse ballpoint compatible adapter but not sure which one to pick. Am looking at a set of monteverde soft gel refills but they seem to be smaller/shorter than the one for the MB. Would appreciate any guidance on which adapter to buy. Thanks so much!

  88. I remember I once stuck a Frixion refill in a Uni-Ball Signo 307 and it worked, does that mean that anything that takes those Signo refills will also take Frixion/Pilot G2 refills? Anyone else have any experience with this?

    1. I think there are a few different styles of Signo refills (and Frixion refills) but generally speaking the odds are pretty good.

  89. Wanted to mention that Uniball Jetstream SXR-C1 (refill for SX-210) fits the lamy studio rollerball which uses M63 without any mods. It’s a little longer than the original M63 refill but because of the O-ring and space it accommodates, it fits perfectly.

  90. Hello. I may have missed the answer in the comments, but:

    Is there an accepted hack for using a Parker/G2 refill in a pen body that normally takes a Pilot G2/Euro-format refill?

    Thanks in advance for any suggestions or an explanation as to why this is not practicable.

  91. Hi,
    I am looking for a refill for a trinity must de Cartier pen. The dimensions are 95 mm length, 3 mm diameter, 4 mm flare, 1.6 point diameter. Are there any possibilities to find something like this? Few days of searching but nothing.
    Thanks

  92. I’ve just stumbled upon this page and glad I did. Thank you Ana for all this information!

    I’m new to the pen world, but have instantly become hooked. I’ve made several purchases from Jet Pens and Van Ness, resulting in my favorite pen so far, a Rotring 600. Now to find the perfect refill for it. I’ve got a couple of Monteverde refills on the way, but ultimately I’m in search of the perfect dark green ink. Dare I ask… would it be possible to fill a Monteverde refill with fountain pen ink? Is the viscosity (consistency) different? Would it work in a gel cartridge? Robert Oster has some great ink that I’d love to have in my Rotring….

    1. That Rotring uses a standard Parker-Style G2, yes?

      I realize the Pilot G2 in an entirely different pen and refill, but I managed to cut the end off one and put it in my Kaweco Sport (sans spring), and it worked just fine! (See my other reply in the thread for the caveat about the grease-plug.)

      Pilot G2 comes in a ton of great colors. I’d bet money they have the dark green ink you want in a gel.

  93. For what it’s worth, I just cut the end off a standard Bic Clic Stic pen refill and it works just fine in my Fisher AG-7, and doesn’t catch on the internal spring upon removal. I feel like even that is a better writing experience than the standard Fisher refill.

  94. Hah!

    Just hacked a green Pentel Energel refill to fit inside my Kaweco Sport “Raw Aluminium!” It seems to fit perfectly now. I took out the spring, which the pen does not truly need unless you are using a Parker-style G2.

    Not to be too confusing (sorry!), but I also got this to work with a Pilot “G2” refill, which, as noted above, is notnotnot the same as the Parker-style G2. But I did get it to work, with a caveat.

    I had purchased a multi-pack of the Pilot G2 pens in assorted colors. There was one that was truly horrible, a greyish ink I could not ever imagine using, and that is the refill I experimented with.

    The Pilot G2 refills seem to have a “grease-plug” in the body, and a plastic cap on the end (matching the color of the ink? This one was grey . . .) once I cut the pen to fit, the only thing holding the ink in was the grease-plug, which did not leave me feeling confident. It “worked,” which means you can get any colour you can find in a Pilot G2 to work in the Kaweco Sport, but I’d be very careful with this. I think I may try a bit of rubber cement or white glue in the end of this refill before I trust it, or one like it in green, which is what I was after.

    It was nice, managing to hack a $2.00 pen I can buy in Office Depot, rather than ordering a $5.00 refill that would have to be shipped here by Amazon!

  95. I’m looking everywhere for Schmidt Mine 628 F refill. It’s for a Myerchin Writelight (lighted pen).
    The refill is fine point and it says D1 on as well as 628 F. it also says 16554 F and 801. At opposite end of pen head is a flat round disc for the positive contact to a battery.
    Does anyone know where to get these 628 F pen refills? The package says it also works with Fisher Space Pen refill #SU4F but I can’t find that either.
    Is there a way to just inject ink with a tiny hypodermic needle? There’s a hole on the disc.
    Or can I just pop off the pen head and refill it that way with any pens ink? someone help!!! 🙂

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