How To Get Ballpoint Pen Ink To Write Darker And Smoother?

[Arts11]

Does anyone have any tips for making ballpoint pens (specifically those Bic multipens) write smoother and darker (ie, so the ink doesn't look so faint)?

 

I've tried dipping the tips in rubbing alcohol and the ink comes out smooth and richly-colored, but that seems to last only until the alcohol dries. Is there a more long-lasting solution? I've noticed variations in smoothness/color-richness between different refills and I'm wondering what might be causing that?

[lsj]

Ballpoint pen???

 

 

Did I stumble into the wrong forum? :roflmho:

[Arts11]

[P.A.R.]

Have you considered getting smoother paper? It can make a huge difference in how a pen feels. My personal favorite workhorse paper is Staples' Sustainable Earth (Bagasse) paper.

 

You might also get a sample vial such as used by the Goulets and GouletPens.com and fill it with your rubbing alcohol so that you can dip your pen neatly.

[Nonsensical]

Ballpoint pens just don't work properly for me most of the time...

OTOH, I've found that Pilot BPS-GP pens and Pilot Dr. Grip pens are much better than normal BPs. I recently ordered myself a Uniball Jetstream for the purpose of use in exams/when good paper is not available. All I can say is that I've been using it on copier paper, even though it isn't time for exams yet. It is smooth! Not that I'd give up FPs for it, though.

[Arts11]

Have you considered getting smoother paper? It can make a huge difference in how a pen feels. My personal favorite workhorse paper is Staples' Sustainable Earth (Bagasse) paper.

 

You might also get a sample vial such as used by the Goulets and GouletPens.com and fill it with your rubbing alcohol so that you can dip your pen neatly.

Unfortunately, I don't have the luxury of using my own paper or else this would be a non issue. The paper does tend to make ink feather quite badly though, which is why I'm not using my fountain pens on it. The only pens that'll work consistently are ballpoints, the problem is that I'm getting quite a variability with how they're putting down a line even amongst the same model of pen (for instance, I have 2 Bic multipens and 1 black works ok while the other puts down a line thats really faint).

 

Ballpoint pens just don't work properly for me most of the time...

OTOH, I've found that Pilot BPS-GP pens and Pilot Dr. Grip pens are much better than normal BPs. I recently ordered myself a Uniball Jetstream for the purpose of use in exams/when good paper is not available. All I can say is that I've been using it on copier paper, even though it isn't time for exams yet. It is smooth! Not that I'd give up FPs for it, though.

I also have a couple Pilot gel pens, but the paper is making them skip quite a bit, so that's leaving me with just ballpoints left.

[Nonsensical]

The Uniball Jetstream and the Pilot BPS-GP pens are both BPs, and the Dr. Grip comes with BP refills as well.

[Arts11]

The Uniball Jetstream and the Pilot BPS-GP pens are both BPs, and the Dr. Grip comes with BP refills as well.

What's the tip size for those? I have a Zebra multipen BP that writes pretty finely (I think it was 0.7, like those Fine-tipped Orange Barrel Bic multipens), but that skips a bunch on the paper I'm using (which is in a manual/workbook) too.

 

At the very least, I think I've come to the realization that finer points won't work on this paper, and I've had to do a lot of mix&matching with the refills in my multipen to get a decent mix of usability. It's definitely not great, but it'll have to work for now. It's weird, because red ink seems to work great, blue isnt bad either, black is just okay (definitely more grayish tho, which means I have to re-trace some words) and green is very erratic (although it doesnt skip, the ink'll sometimes start off pretty dark, but then most of the time it comes out pretty faint by the end of a sentence). I just wish there was a way to make them all come out as rich as the red n blue. :hmm1:

[Nonsensical]

The Uniball Jetstream and the Pilot BPS-GP pens are both BPs, and the Dr. Grip comes with BP refills as well.

What's the tip size for those? I have a Zebra multipen BP that writes pretty finely (I think it was 0.7, like those Fine-tipped Orange Barrel Bic multipens), but that skips a bunch on the paper I'm using (which is in a manual/workbook) too.

 

At the very least, I think I've come to the realization that finer points won't work on this paper, and I've had to do a lot of mix&matching with the refills in my multipen to get a decent mix of usability. It's definitely not great, but it'll have to work for now. It's weird, because red ink seems to work great, blue isnt bad either, black is just okay (definitely more grayish tho, which means I have to re-trace some words) and green is very erratic (although it doesnt skip, the ink'll sometimes start off pretty dark, but then most of the time it comes out pretty faint by the end of a sentence). I just wish there was a way to make them all come out as rich as the red n blue. :hmm1:

Comes in both 0.7 and 0.5mm, I believe. The Uniball Jetstream ink seems to just rush out onto the page...it's almost FP-like!

[Arts11]

The Uniball Jetstream and the Pilot BPS-GP pens are both BPs, and the Dr. Grip comes with BP refills as well.

What's the tip size for those? I have a Zebra multipen BP that writes pretty finely (I think it was 0.7, like those Fine-tipped Orange Barrel Bic multipens), but that skips a bunch on the paper I'm using (which is in a manual/workbook) too.

 

At the very least, I think I've come to the realization that finer points won't work on this paper, and I've had to do a lot of mix&matching with the refills in my multipen to get a decent mix of usability. It's definitely not great, but it'll have to work for now. It's weird, because red ink seems to work great, blue isnt bad either, black is just okay (definitely more grayish tho, which means I have to re-trace some words) and green is very erratic (although it doesnt skip, the ink'll sometimes start off pretty dark, but then most of the time it comes out pretty faint by the end of a sentence). I just wish there was a way to make them all come out as rich as the red n blue. :hmm1:

Comes in both 0.7 and 0.5mm, I believe. The Uniball Jetstream ink seems to just rush out onto the page...it's almost FP-like!

Hmmm, I might have to try those out if my current pen solution starts getting worse again. Of course, I'd prefer to try and "fix" it rather than just go for a new pen (since I don't really use BP too often outside of this), but I guess it's just the luck of the QC draw even amongst ink from the same pen.

 

I just checked on JetPens and found out they had a uniball jet stream multipen. Are yours just the singles? I'm wondering if there's a size, and thus performance, difference to the refills? It's probably just me, but I always feel like the multipen versions of ink refills always seem to write worse, at least that's what I've experienced (and I would be getting a multipen simply out of convenience and to reduce clutter).

Edited June 4, 2012 by Arts11

[ThirdeYe]

If you need it darker, the easiest solution would probably be to get a ballpoint with a better refill. My personal favorites are the Papermate Flexgrip (Elite or Ultra), Uni-ball Jetstream, and the medium black Cross refill. The Pentel Vicuna also has a good, dark refill but it tends to leave little blobs every so often. Same goes for the Bic Easyglide.

[FarmBoy]

Does anyone have any tips for making ballpoint pens (specifically those Bic multipens) write smoother and darker (ie, so the ink doesn't look so faint)?

 

I've tried dipping the tips in rubbing alcohol and the ink comes out smooth and richly-colored, but that seems to last only until the alcohol dries. Is there a more long-lasting solution? I've noticed variations in smoothness/color-richness between different refills and I'm wondering what might be causing that?

I do this type of repair. It usually runs about the same cost as a nib adjustment but only lasts as long as the refill.