Gregory's Serverthink i'll figure out how to refill these old HP plotter pens.
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go in with side cutters very close to the part where the fiber tip meets the plastic. *very gently* grip the fiber tip and start to pull it out, changing the position of the side cutters as needed secure the Allen wrench in a small vise around 2-3mm from the pen. then give the ring around the pen a push, and the cap pops right off! put the fiber tip back in by just holding it with a Kim wipe and pushing it gently back in place. these are pretty dried out so i am soaking the entire plastic pen and fiber tip (with the reservoir removed) in water. we'll see if that works. @tubetime great stuff. I have two HP plotters and many dried out pens, I’ll try the technique: https://mastodon.sdf.org/@davbucci/111631510249153445  Another idea; Isn't the tip soft enough to poke a syringe through it? If so, it should be less messy and probably allow for more refill cycles. Just an idea. ok next step is to take apart a fine tip sharpie and remove the internal ink reservoir. then cut a short length off. take that little stub of a new ink reservoir and jam it into the cleaned pen, and then snap the cap back in place. i've found that it actually helped if i didn't clean the fiber tip too thoroughly. just enough to loosen up the existing ink. i suppose you'll need to clean it out completely if you're changing the color or whatever.  @jhaluska it's not that bad, i wore one glove and only got one drop of ink on my fingers. @tubetime Maybe when you do it, if I were to try this it would look like somebody attempted to kill me with a sharpie.  @tubetime Philip Freidin modifies a pilot? pen that happens to fit almost exactly. IIRC he takes a little shave off them in a lathe. Not sure what exact pen he uses. I suspect that gives you a lot longer use time, but then the long pen won't work on a carousel. @tubetime know of a good source on how hook one up to a modern computer? I have a big old HP plotter but I’m not really sure where to start |
Marc has a video about his technique. i tried it with one pen but it's a bit labor intensive, and a commenter on his video found a better way!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h-oj4HrTH14