Is it possible to remove the sleeve which is inside the barrel of the Expert II? I tried to do it and almost ruined my new pen.

The brass sleeve adds more weight to the pen but the whole pen is not well balanced IMO. Much top heavy and I have problem writing with it for more than ~15 min. Otherwise, I like the pen, its size and writing performance. It would be sin not to use it frequently.

I have successfully removed similar sleeve from the Phileas (actually 3 of them) and it hasn't been too difficult. All you have to do is to unscrew the blind cap, insert something like old style thin metal BP refill and push the round side of the refill, pressing the sleeve down. Because the sleeve is stucked you have to push hard (but carefully) and once the sleeve starts to move it drops out easily. Just be careful not to damage (too much of) plastic barrel of the Phileas. Now I can use non-WM carts with my Phileas(es).

But the sleeve in the Expert II is attached to the top of the barrel ( the part with the small metal ring). I tried various techniques (not all of them are for sensitive hearts) but nothing worked. It seemed that it could not be unscrewed. Oddly enough, I couldn't find a single resource on the Web regarding this issue.

I thought some of the good people here could give the definitive answer to my question. TIA

Cheers!

bump

Anyone?

Hi,

I cannot say for sure about the Expert II as I don't have one here just now to dismantle so I may be wrong but as far as I have seen and can remember it is put together in the same way as the original version and comes apart in the same way as both the Phileas and original Expert, unscrew blind cap, then tap out the sleeve using a plastic rod as a drift and a light hammer, the only problem being that you will need to cut off the top of the sleeve just below the locating flats to put it back into the barrel to retain the blind cap whilst still allowing you to use different cartridges.

Cheers, John