Retro 51 Refill Option: Zebra Sarasa Refills?

[Intensity]

I've read that it's possible to fit a Pilot G2 refill in a Retro 51 with a bit of trimming at the end of the tube and swapping the cap from stock Retro 51 refill. I wonder if a Zebra Sarasa refill will work similarly -- has anyone tried it? Zebra Sarasa ink has great archival properties and comes in lots of colors.

 

I was considering Uni 600 series Jetstream Parker-style refill, but it only comes in black. I'm looking for something more like Blue-black or thereabout.

 

My first Retro 51 pen is on the way ("Buzz"), looking around for water and fade-resistant refills.

Edited December 4, 2019 by Intensity

[BlueJ]

I have an older (mid-1990s) Retro 51 rollerball pen that can use unmodified Pilot G2 gel refills without issues. The tip of the G2 refill projects about 1-2 mm further out than the original Retro 51 refill but this does not cause any problems in writing with or capping the pen.

Edited December 5, 2019 by BlueJ

[MisterSheaffer]

I can confirm that both the Pilot G-2 and Zebra JF gel refills fit modified into Retro 51 rollerballs.

Edited December 5, 2019 by MisterSheaffer

[Intensity]

I can confirm that both the Pilot G-2 and Zebra Sarasa gel refills fit unmodified into Retro 51 rollerballs.

 

Most excellent news -- thank you!! I have some nice maroon color Zebra Sarasa pens as well as dark green and brown from my recent trip to Japan. I had really wanted to get dark teal and blue-gray, but those colors were sold out at the store I bought them from.

Edited December 5, 2019 by Intensity

[MisterSheaffer]

 

Most excellent news -- thank you!! I have some nice maroon color Zebra Sarasa pens as well as dark green and brown from my recent trip to Japan. I had really wanted to get dark teal and blue-gray, but those colors were sold out at the store I bought them from.

I would like to make a correction. I meant to write the Zebra JF gel refill fit into the Retro51. I just tested both the Pilot G-2 and Zebra JF refills about a couple weeks ago. I have yet to try the Sarasa refill in them.

 

I haven't tried these yet, but I've read the Uni-Ball Signo 207, Uni-Ball Jetstream and Pentel EnerGel also fit although you may need to trim the refill.

 

Again, sorry for the mix up.

[Intensity]

Edit: just checked a Zebra Sarasa refill against a Pilot G2 refill -- they are VERY similar. The same diameter for the plastic container tube and the same length for the part on which the spring is inserted. So if G2 fit a Retro 51 with possible bit of trimming and adding a parker-style cap at the end, then Sarasa should be the same, I think. I'll test when my Retro 51 pen arrives.

Edited December 5, 2019 by Intensity

[twin63]

The Sarasa is my favorite gel refill, but I had never thought about trying it in my Retro 51’s. I trimmed a Sarasa refill to the same length as the Retro 51 refill and it worked fine. I didn’t add an end cap, so that may not be necessary, but I did have to use the spring from the Sarasa refill since there is a sleeve that comes down farther on the tip that prohibits the thinner spring from the Retro 51 refill from fitting (you could probably trim it but it’s easier just to swap springs).

 

Thanks for starting this thread. I like the Retro 51 refills, but prefer the Sarasa whenever I’m able to use it.

[Intensity]

Excellent - glad to read that it does work! I also love Sarasa ink, and it's apparently one of the most archival inks in terms of fade and water resistance and such. I'll be ordering Blue-Gray and Dark Blue for my Retro 51.

 

In regards to the end cap, I got the idea from this tutorial for using Pilot G-2 refills in Retro 51:

http://geekandgirliestuff.blogspot.com/2015/12/retro-51-pen-with-g2-pen-refill-hack.html

 

The guide says "The trick is that Tornado refills have this odd little cap on top to make them retractable. ... So whatever hack has to include that tip in order to make the pen retractable."

 

Is your Retro 51's retracting mechanism working with the Sarasa refill?

[twin63]

Is your Retro 51's retracting mechanism working with the Sarasa refill?

 

Yes, it seems to be working fine - no binding or other issues. Just to compare, I trimmed the refill to the correct length with the end cap from the Retro 51 refill added. I didn’t attach the cap with tape...just dropped it in then added the Sarasa refill and spring. This worked as well. I suspect, since the Tornado uses a twist mechanism, that there is a post that pushes against the end of the refill and there is enough surface area, with or without the cap, to allow it to function properly.

 

Time will tell how reliable it is, but it appears to work like it should

[Intensity]

Thanks once again for more testing. When my Retro 51 Tornado "Buzz" arrives, I'll try to fit one of the Sarasa refills I have on hand.

[Intensity]

My Retro 51 Tornado "Buzz" is here - love the pen, super nice with amazing attention to detail for the price I paid. The stock refill skipped a lot I took it out almost right away.

 

I've experimented with one of my Zebra Sarasa refills in Green-Black. A kind of teal-blue-black. First I've cut the refill to the right length without using the cap. The twist mechanism for retracting and extension was not working quite right. I've cut it down further--pretty much to the ink level, past the clear sealing gel--and covered up the cut end with teflon plumbers tape to prevent drying out. Then I've added the end-cap from default Parker-style refill. The retracting and extending mechanism works properly now. I've had to use the spring from the Sarasa pen. Also, thanks for the suggestion of not using tape to connect the end cap with the refill. Using the tape made the retraction rather sticky and unreliable. After dropping in the end cap and then inserting sealed with teflon tape refill worked perfectly. Using new Sarasa refills will be easy: I'll just cut those to the same length and will cover up the end with fresh teflon tape, reusing the same spring and Parker style end cap.

Edited December 9, 2019 by Intensity

[twin63]

Glad to hear that it worked for you. Thanks for the teflon tape tip (say that 3 times fast!). I would have never thought of that.

[Intensity]

I always have a roll of teflon tape on hand. It's very useful for lots of things, thin, super stretchy, and wraps around things of random shapes so easily, sticking to itself and not adding much of any bulk. I use it to line mouths of bottles that tend to get caps stuck on them otherwise (like my KWZ inks love getting caps stuck on them for some reason, but most others don't have this problem), wrapping bottles for safe transit, etc.

Edited December 10, 2019 by Intensity

[Misfit]

Check out this link to the Well Appointed Desk

https://www.wellappointeddesk.com/2014/06/epic-refill-guide-rollerball-gel-and-ballpoints/#comments

 

It’s fairly comprehensive.

[Intensity]

Yeah it's a good list, and I've looked at it before starting this thread, but it doesn't say anything about Zebra Sarasa refills for Retro 51 Tornado. The hint I got that it was possible was from the tutorial I've linked above that used G-2 refills with Retro 51 with some modification, and Sarasa seems to be similar enough.

[Intensity]

Ultimately I settled on a Uni-ball Signo RT1 UMN-155 Gel Pen - 0.38 mm - Blue Black refill for my Retro 51, because of the color. I had ordered and compared it with Zebra Sarasa Dark Blue. Sarasa Dark Blue is thicker (0.5mm vs 0.38mm, not much preference there) and writes a dark blue more similar to J. Herbin Bleu des Profoundeurs. The Uni Signo RT1 Blue Black writes a more vibrant and more teal-leaning color very similar to Iroshizuku Tsuki-Yo, which I much prefer.

 

The Uni RT1 refill required a bit of sanding of the plastic extension part that houses the metal writing rod portion--to reduce the diameter of a plastic step that prevented proper fit into Retro 51. I think because of the shape of these refills, even after some sanding, both the Zebra Sarasa and Uni RT1 refills stick to the bottom screw-on "section" end of Retro 51, and so the retraction is not reliable. I decided I'll tinker with it another time, since this refill is mostly for my home desk, and so lack of retraction is not important.

 

Edit: I got the retraction mechanism to work perfectly now, which required some more sanding. Not using an end-cap from original Schmidt-style refill either. Just trimmed G2-type refill and a bunch of strategic sanding to reduce diameter of plastic in the right places for the refill to not "stick" and work with retraction mechanism. If anyone wants photo tutorial of how to get Uni Signo RT1 gel refills to work with Retro 51 Tornado, let me know.

Edited December 17, 2019 by Intensity

[Ron Z]

There is a seller on Ebay that sells refills that are branded Calibri - quite a reasonable price. Right now they're listed at about $11 with shipping for 14 refills. They are identical to the Retro 51 refills, which are rebranded short Schmidt refills. I've been buying them for quite a while, and they work well with a good shelf life.

[AceNinja]

On 12/17/2019 at 5:36 AM, Intensity said:

 

 

The Uni RT1 refill required a bit of sanding of the plastic extension part that houses the metal writing rod portion--to reduce the diameter of a plastic step that prevented proper fit into Retro 51.

Hi @Intensity, did you mean sanding at this location as per the picture "Point A"?  Because I've tested a few japanese "Pilot G2" style refills - Zebra sarasa Clip, Pentel Energal, Uni Signo 307 - after trimmed to the correct length, it does fit in the Retro51.  However, the writing tip couldn't fully extend, and I think something is blocking at the cone of R51.  Maybe its what you're referring to?

 

while not fully extended doesn't really affect the functionality, aesthetically it just doesn't looks good to me.  So I'm still trying to look for ways to make it extend fully.

Edit: I forgot to attach the picture, here's the picture.

 

Edited February 1, 2023 by AceNinja
Forgot to attach picture

[Intensity]

6 hours ago, AceNinja said:

Hi @Intensity, did you mean sanding at this location as per the picture "Point A"?  Because I've tested a few japanese "Pilot G2" style refills - Zebra sarasa Clip, Pentel Energal, Uni Signo 307 - after trimmed to the correct length, it does fit in the Retro51.  However, the writing tip couldn't fully extend, and I think something is blocking at the cone of R51.  Maybe its what you're referring to?

 

while not fully extended doesn't really affect the functionality, aesthetically it just doesn't looks good to me.  So I'm still trying to look for ways to make it extend fully.

Wow that was quite some years ago.  Yes, iirc I had to sand very gradually around the outside of the plastic parts that go into the metal tip to make them fit, testing the result periodically.

[AceNinja]

9 hours ago, Intensity said:

Wow that was quite some years ago.  Yes, iirc I had to sand very gradually around the outside of the plastic parts that go into the metal tip to make them fit, testing the result periodically.

Opps i forgot to attach the picture in my post, I've edited my post.

Well, it means that there're still people interested to use Japanese gel refills in Retro51!  I found this thread from google search, its 3yrs old but I thought i would give it a shot, because it reads like the exact issue I've.