Length of "Original" Cross Refill?

[zig613]

I had a call from a customer this morning that said the "original Cross refill he just purchased to replace in his pen (Streamline from Berea) was too short?

Does anyone have the actual length of an original Cross refill? The generic Cross refills with the Streamline Berea kits measure 4.57" or 11.6 cm. I'm just wondering how much of a difference in lenght there is between to the generic refills and the orginal Cross refill. Perhaps I need to seat the transmission in a bit deeper?

In the meantime, I'm mailing him out 2 free upgrade refills (Private Reserve) for his troubles.

Thanks,

Wade

 

[monophoto]

Just measured a real Cross refill from a real Cross pen that I've had for about 30 years - 11.7mm from the tip of the ball to the end of the plastic knob.

 

[Rounder]

You guys sure on your MM measurements? 11.7 MM is only .460 inches. Not even 1/2". Seems like a very short pen refill to me.
4.57" = 116.08 MM

 

[Andrew_K99]

You guys sure on your MM measurements? 11.7 MM is only .460 inches. Not even 1/2". Seems like a very short pen refill to me.
4.57" = 116.08 MM

I'm guessing they meant cm not mm.

AK

 

[chrisk]

Genuine Cross from Richard Greenwald stock (purchased recently): 116,68mm (4,594")
Genuine Cross purchased (carded) +/-14 years ago: 116,60mm (4,591")
Cross type refill (from Private Reserve): 115,80mm (4,559")
Cross type refill purchased here in Belgium (Taiwan origin??): 116,52mm (4,587")

 

[chrisk]

IMHO those insignificant differences don't influence the refill's fitting. But if the transmission wasn't engaged enough on the lower barrel this seemingly could be an issue.

 

[Andrew_K99]

The important dimension for a cross refill would be from the tip to the 'seat' at the end of the threads. The non tip end could be much longer on most pens and not cause an issue so O/A length isn't critical.

This dimension for the pen at my desk with a generic cross refill measures ±99.25mm

As my wording may not be clear ... this is what I meant ...

AK

 

[zig613]

Yup... my 11.6 cm. or 116 mm

And Louie, thanks for measuring your refill.

Wade

 

[monophoto]

You guys sure on your MM measurements? .
4.57" = 116.08 MM

I'm guessing they meant cm not mm.

CM it is.

 

[soligen]

I've noticed a great deal of variability in the cross style refills, as has your customer. I'm just not comfortable sellng cross style pens becsue of this, but If I were to sell them, I would buy a cross brand refill to gauge my seating depth to ensure the customer could easily get replacements that fit.

This I can tell you. The PR refils I own have the same OAL as the cross brand I own, but the shoulder where the refill seats is in a different place, so the PR refill is longer from seat to tip.

My calipers broke the other day, so I cant give you measurements.

You will need to find a "happy medium" seating depth that works for both refils to prevent this type of thing from happening (neither will be ideal), or tell you customers they need to only use the PR brand refills, and not cross, or visa versa.

 

[soligen]

I'll also comment that sometimes a different refill can be very close in length, but look odd in the pen because the taper at the tip is different. The PR refill has a blunter cone shape than the cross.