Sunday, May 12, 2013

Hallmark And Cross Pens

 
On the left are the Hallmark Porous/felt tip pens. Only one of the four work and that is because the other three are all missing the part that holds the refill. Be careful when buying these type of Hallmark pens on eBay or any other place. Make sure that all three parts are there. They are all nice additions to my collection but I would prefer them to all work. The first three are walnut and the forth one is made of an unknown wood but does look the best. Another problem is that the parts are not interchangeable.  Maybe this is why Hallmark stopped making them. The refills are almost impossible to fine so stick with the Hallmark ball point pens. The two on the right are my new Cross pens. I do like the new Cross Classic Century Pen. The grips on the barrel make this a great pen to use and it is about time Cross put a grip on their pens. The other is a Cross Metropolis Plum Ballpoint pen. This has turned out to be my new best pen. A complicated pen with great style. Grip in black with the plum cap and point. A must for anybody who likes to use ball point pens. Add all these pens to your collection. Posted by Picasa

12 comments:

  1. George, I just figured out how to adapt a Pentel G2 .5mm refill into my newly eBay acquired soft tip/rollerball Walnut pen w/cap (far right in your pic). The soft tip felt refill went dry and I tried using a bunch of different rollerball refills but they wouldn't work as-is.

    I used the black plastic nib of an existing Hallmark soft tip refill as the spacer for the G2 refill. I pulled out the nib & felt tip from the metal barrel then I removed the felt tip from the nib (with tweezers & pliers, it was easy). I then drilled out the nib in a vise, I started with a small drill bit (1/16"), then finally up to the size that let the G2 shaft tip barely slide in. The next thing to do was to cut down the back of the nib (with razor blade) to allow the G2 tip protrude far enough down the nib to expose properly to write. You don't have to alter the pen in any way. The nib will be reusable when you want to use future refills.

    The next thing you'll need to make is a stopper at the top of the pen so the refill does not fall back into the barrel every time you try to write. I use a plastic tube cap that came off one of my Rollerball refills. Using a razor blade, I kept cutting it down till I had taken the gap out so the two parts of the barrel just barely screw back together tightly. I actually prefer Pentel Precise V5 refills but I will need to make another nib to make it fit properly, it's slightly different than the G2. The stopper length is approx. .35" (8.5mm) and the nib was cut down to approx.: 22mm (5.5mm)

    It was easy and is now an excellent daily writer. You just need a a pair of pliers, tweezers, an old soft tip refill, a vise to hold the nib when drilling, 1/16", 5/64" & 3/32" drill bit and a sharp razor blade. It took me 10 mins to do the first one. I have photo's if you would like to see. I hope this is useful info.

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    1. Correction: I meant to say Pilot G2 not Pentel.

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  2. Thanks for the info. I will give it a try. They were great pens and there is no reason why they can not continue to be great pens.

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  3. Your absolutely correct, it would be a shame not to make these pens useful.

    I sent you an email with pics.

    Also, the dark wood version in the photo above could be what Hallmark called Cordia wood (also known as bocote). They also advertised a rosewood version both can be quite similar.

    Here's a newspaper clipping of a old Hallmark pen ad: http://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=861&dat=19761214&id=tDwcAAAAIBAJ&sjid=xVoEAAAAIBAJ&pg=3036,3095076

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  4. You may be right about the Cordia wood. What made me mad is that the parts can not be switched. I have four pens but only one works.

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    1. George: There's a very simple solution for your 3 pens that don't work.

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    2. George: There's a very simple solution for your 3 pens that don't work.

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    3. I'd like to know as well how one would go about getting these working. If you can help please email at joeyh100@gmail.com

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  5. This is nice blog for cross pen.If you want to buy cross pen in Delhi for corporate gifts.click www.crosspenn.com to order online cross pens and more different cross pen available.

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  6. mrmacgee,If I sent you the parts can you make a roller refill that can work? I do not have the tools.

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  7. Lets hear it, or email me at moose@hot.rr.com.

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  8. Where can I find porous pen refills for Hallmark wooden pens?

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