Ballpoint Pen Ideas

[MYU]

I've had great experiences with PILOT refills, especially the G2. But recently I discovered that they have an oil based ink, similar to the old style ballpoint inks. Their formulation is excellent. It writes nearly like a gel pen, but doesn't suffer the short lifespan of gels. I don't have practical long term experience to attest longevity, but in principle they should last longer than a gel ink refill. You can get them in plastic (BRFN-10) or metal casings (BRFN-30). The metal ones are more expensive and are necessary for certain vintage PILOT pens. There's EF, F, M, and B. EF is 0.5mm and produce an extra fine line.

[Conan the Grammarian]

basakadakara,

 

Try the black medium Parker Quinkflow refill. It puts down a dense black line and doesn't require a lot of pressure.

 

Retro 51 pens such as the Tornado are twist-action and use Parker-style refills.

 

 

I like the Parker gel refill and have it in my nicer pens. It meets most of my criteria, being available in office supply stores, but not all grocery or drug stores. And Parker makes a nice, professional-looking pen, so no troll hair. The line's a bit thick for my tastes, but not to the point I'd reject it. I have three or four pens designed for that refill, so I have stocked up. And, if I use another pen (say, a G-2) it doesn't vary too much in color or size from the line that pen lays down.

 

The Retro 51 is a nice pen, but I've not had much luck with the refills. The Parker ones don't fit as nicely as I'd like and the Schmidt ones dry out too fast. Plus, the pen is very narrow at the end, making it less-than-comfortable to write with. No to mention, I left it open once and stuck it in my shirt pocket, destroying very nice shirt, so I have some unfounded animosity toward it.

[EBUCKTHORN]

On 1/27/2018 at 12:34 AM, MYU said:

I've had great experiences with PILOT refills, especially the G2. But recently I discovered that they have an oil based ink, similar to the old style ballpoint inks. Their formulation is excellent. It writes nearly like a gel pen, but doesn't suffer the short lifespan of gels. I don't have practical long term experience to attest longevity, but in principle they should last longer than a gel ink refill. You can get them in plastic (BRFN-10) or metal casings (BRFN-30)

A couple of questions/comments: Are you saying that the G2 refills are oil based? I agree that the BRFN-10 and BRFN-30 feel like superior oil-base inks but have always thought the G2 is a gel. Is that not the case?

 

As an aside, when comparing the BRFN-10 and BRFN-30 I recommend using the (alas, more costly) BRFN-30 because, at least as is claimed for where we live, the metal-body refills can be captured for recycling from the solid waste stream whereas the plastic refills cannot. Single-use plastics are such a serious problem that we must avoid as many as possible, even those that are as small as pen refills. And, then, there seem to be so many folks who discard entire pens, not even considering using refills of any kind.