The trick is that Tornado refills have this odd little cap on top to make them retractable.
Step 1: Remove the Tornado refill top any way you can. (I just pulled it off with pliers)
Step 2: Cut the G2 refll to 3.3/8" (8.5852cm) (I came to these measurements through trial and error).
Step 3: Tape the Tornado refill top to the G2 refill and voila, works perfectly. The taping doesn't even have to be that precise or careful. I just pulled off some Scotch tape and done (please note, that I've found that it works better if you put the refill into the body of the pen first to make sure that the retracting mechanism latches to the refill properly) :)
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- Hacking a Pilot Hi-Tec-C Refill into a Retro 51 (uses Pilot Hi-Tec-C)
- Retro 51 Tornado refill hack (uses Pilot Precise V5 RT)
I like it! I had forgotten what refills I used for my hack so I Googled to find my post again and discovered yours. Pilot G2s are my favorite disposable pen, so I think I'll give this a try. And seriously, why are the Retro cartridges so bad?
ReplyDeleteThank for commenting and, really, I should be thanking you for your original post! My favorite refills are also the G2s and of course since this Retro pen wasn't the last pen I ever bought, I'm still trying to hack the G2s into all my pens. Again, thank you for stopping by and for making your original post. And yes, I can't understand why the Retro refills are soooo bad either!
DeleteHi, just got my Tornado based on your instructions to hack it with the G2. What about the spring? My first attempt doesn't seem to be working. It's not retracting. Thanks for the tips!
ReplyDeleteA little more trial and error and I got it. It doesn't retract smoothly. I have to press the tip onto the page to get it to retract, but it will do for now. Again, thanks for the tips!! Great hack! Love my G2 3.5 refill :)
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