For anyone using an xTool M1 Ultra, even though you may hear or read that drawing with pens is the only operation that allows the lid to remain open it's not true. This was confirmed by technical support when I contacted them about this. What if you want other color options such as what Cricut offers besides the eight official color pens xTool offers? Although some Cricut pens like the set of 30 I purchased fit into the pen holder unfortunately they are a bit too long to allow the lid to be closed. So here's how I modified them so they work with the lid closed.

1. I set up a marking jig with my Xacto saw miter box and lightly sawed a mark/guide around the circumference of the end of the pen barrel while rotating the pen as I sawed.
2. Then I used a utility knife to finish cutting through the barrel of the pen while pressing down on the blade while carefully rotating the barrel being careful not to cut through the plug.
3. I then cut a slit through the width of the piece that will be removed from the end of the barrel and peeled it off.
4. The only thing remaining to do was to push the end of the plug flush into the end of barrel.

I now have an assortment of 30 color pens to use with M1 Ultra. :-)

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