Registered: Sep 1999
Location: LA, Boston, MO. its different every 6 months
Posts: 56

ok guys, i did this this weekend. i drilled out the center of a deluxe stylus and added a very small pen refill. you can get the really small refill (diameter .09 inches) from a super walmart. they are made by rose art for their 3-in-1 pen that has mechanical pencil, red, and black ink. the refills come in a 3 pack with 2 black and 1 red for approx $1.97. and you get to keep your reset pin in tact on the stylus, all you lose is the screwdriver. oh yeah, you get more choice than just 'black' for this super deluxe stylus.

ill document more of this later on the web, but thought i would share my results with those of you that dont want to pay $20 for a stylus with ink pen and reset pin.

unscrew both ends of the deluxe stylus so that the stylus is now in 3 parts: end with tip and reset pin to be referred to as 'tip', metal shaft to be referred to as 'body', and the screwdriver end to be referred to as 'head'. take out one of the rose art ink refills, and insert the reset pen into the open end of the refill. pull it back out, and you probably will note that no ink is all over the reset pin. if there is any ink, try another refill, or keep cleaning off the reset pin till no more ink comes out.

the pen refills are .09 inches in diameter, so you need to drill out just a bit more than that from the body. i did this by using a 3/16 collar on a lathe in the machine shop at school, and drilling out with a #43 (i think) drill (.093 diameter) to make sure i was on dead center. if you have a complete set of metric drills, one of them is .0905, which should hold the refill in better. now assemble the body and tip, and insert the refill into the newly drilled hole keeping the ball point tip of the refill exposed.

now all thats left is the head with the philips head screwdriver in it. youll need a vice, vice grips, lathe with 3 jaw chuck, and a #41 (i think) drill bit (aka diameter of .97). put the metal screwdriver part of the head in the vice, and buffer the sharp teeth of the vice grips with some paper towel or something, and then yank off the plastic head. since the plastic isnt brittle, youll have no problem yanking it off.

the diameter of the screwdriver is about .078 inches, and since the refill is .09, youll need to drill out from the center of the head with a 3-jaw chuck on the lathe. i used a .097 drill bit. make sure not to tighten the head too much in the chuck, since it deforms easily.

now you can assemble your new stlyus. at a minimal cost. heres how the cost breaks down:

2x $1.97 for refills
1x $15.95 for 5 pack deluxe stylii
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$3.98 per super deluxe stylus. plus, you can chose whatever color you want!

ill make a web site documenting this when i get the chance. if you have any questions, post them here. sorry if its a little unclear.

Registered: Dec 1999
Location: Connecticut USA
Posts: 2682

Can you clarify a couple of things?

First, is the pen point is at the "head" or "tip" end of the stylus?

Second, what is holding the pen refill in the body? Is it a tight friction fit or is the refill loose whereby it can fall out?

Lastly, when you pull the screwdriver tip out of the "head", does the threaded area get deformed or damaged?

All in all, it sounds like a fairly ingenious way to make an inexpensive combo stylus. I might just try it myself.

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MarkEagle - Ice is nice!

Registered: Sep 1999
Location: LA, Boston, MO. its different every 6 months
Posts: 56

> First, is the pen point is at the "head" or "tip" end of the stylus?

the pen point is at the head of the stylus

>Second, what is holding the pen refill in the body? Is it a tight friction fit or is the refill loose whereby it can fall out?

it is a friction fit, tho it can be a little loose. a small piece of tape around the refill will tighten it up enough. if you use the metric drill at .0905, itll be a nice snug fit i think, tho ive not tried it.

>Lastly, when you pull the screwdriver tip out of the "head", does the threaded area get deformed or damaged?

the threaded area doesnt get damaged any that i could tell.

sorry if its all a little confusing.