With Lamy being one of the more popular pen brands globally, it is easy to see why we see so many people reaching out to ask for alternative ink cartridges for their various pen models. Although we have already covered some articles for their other ink refill cartridges, we have noticed a few people asking for a suitable Lamy m22 alternative ink refill.
Although we would usually recommend that our readers just stick to the No products found. due to it only being a few dollars more than the alternatives while requiring much less work, some people do still like to use an alternative option. This is usually due to the official m22 only being available in black or blue with a fine, medium or broad nib size.
Thankfully, the m22 is only used in the Lamy Pico and the Lamy Scribble as well as a small number of third-party pens. Due to this, very few people actually use the m22 anyway meaning most people will never have to go through this process to make their own m22 alternative.
Lamy M22 Alternative
Due to Lamy always using proprietary designs for their ink refills, there is no exact third-party m22 refill alternative that you can purchase and use with your pens. This is due to a number of legal issues but in the grand scheme of things, this usually works out for the best due to the third-party refill options often being low quality and only a dollar or two cheaper than the official option anyway.
That said though, both the Pilot G2 refill and the D1 Refill can both be adapted to serve as an alternative to the Lamy m22. Although the process does tend to be easier for the D1 refill, the Pilot G2 refill does tend to be the more popular alternative ink refill used due to it opening up the pens to more colors and nib sizes that are not available with the official Lamy m22.
As you may be able to guess, you are going to need to do some modifications to both of these ink cartridges to get them to fit inside a pen that mounts the m22 due to them both being longer than the official Lamy m22. The D1 refill is smaller than the G2 refill making it easier and once the G2 refill is cut down to size to work with a Lamy m22 compatable pen, the gel ink inside the refill is exposed meaning that it can potentially leak.
Although some people counter this by blocking the end of the refill with some plastic, tape, or wax, it is not ideal but is the only way you can get access to red, green, purple, and the other ink colors available for the G2 refill range. On top of this, it also opens the extra-fine nib size up to people that is not available for people using the standard m22.
The easiest way to cut either of the alternative ink refills down to size is to use your current Lamy m22 refill and put it along size either the D1 or G2 refill to size up what you need. Although a sharp knife is the better option, you can often get away with using some sharp scissors too but the pressure exchange can change the tension of the refill when cutting potentially causing you issues.
Depending on exactly what you need, some people may want to cut the D1 or G2 refill a little shorter than the actual m22 to allow you to block the back of the refill to prevent any issues with leaking. This is recommended if you are using the Pilot G2 refill as you will be cutting down to a level where the gel ink can easily leak. If you cut off a little more than required you can then easily add a blocker to the back of the refill to stop the ink leaking inside of your pen.
Video Tutorial To Make A Lamy M22 Alternative
Although the video below is based around cutting a Pilot G2 ink refill down to size to replace the Lamy m63, you can use the exact same process to cut a G2 refill down to be used as a Lamy m22 alternative. Just be sure to cut the refill down to the correct size as the m22 is much shorter than the m63 and you will be good to go.
Conclusion
That brings our article going over the best Lamy m22 alternative ink refill to a close. As we mentioned, due to the proprietary designs that Lamy use for their ink refills, finding a direct alternative is almost impossible as third-party brands don’t want to risk the legal issues associated with releasing their own variant of the m22. That said though, we know that a number of people do want additional colors and nib sizes available for their pen that takes the Lamy m22 so adapting a D1 or G2 refill to serve as an m22 alternative is going to be your best option.
