Best Cross ballpoint refill?

[rminj]

I tried the Schmindt medium blue ballpoint refills (from Swisher I believe) and found the

ones I received anyway worst than the Cross refills.

 

I tried some ones from a company called Foray (sold at OfficeDepot SKU768-500 in the USA) and foundthem to be similar to Parker/Papermate ink. The medium was a bit scratchy even though they said it was a 1.0mm point...if they have a broad point that may be smaller than

Cross's broad will probable be just right. Package said they are made in Switzerland.

 

The Foray is the best writing refill I found so far in blue ink for the Cross. That said,

if one writes with the Cross medium refill right afterwards one can see that the Cross

medium point seems slightly bigger and that the Cross refill is trying to put more ink on

the paper than the Foray but is held back by the ink color/forumla. So the Foray is better in terms of blue ink but the point size seems off.

 

The Fisher space pen refill sounds the promising. Very sad that we need to seek other refills for these pens.

[jread]

Got an email today that both orders have shipped. Hopefully the BP converter fits my Selectip pens... I guess I'll find out soon. Sorry to hear the negative review on the Schmidt refill for Cross BPs as I had high hopes for this one. Still excited to try out the Fisher refill as well. I'll add the reviews as soon I get the refills (I'm predicting by the end of this week).

 

By the way, thanks for the review of the Foray refills. I will have to get some of these next time I'm in Office Depot. I've seen them a million times but never tried them as I assumed they'd be junk (I should be more open-minded).

[jread]

Just a quick update: I picked up one of the Foray refills today in Blue, Medium point. I wouldn't say that the quality is far superior to the equivalent Cross refill, however it is noticeably smoother than the Cross brand.... much smoother actually. When trying them one after the other, the Cross was a lot scratchier and took more effort to use. The Foray was nice and smooth, though with a slightly thinner line as mentioned by rminj.

 

My initial impression is that the Foray refill is better than the Cross refill in Medium point, but it's not as good as the Cross Broad point.

Edited March 2, 2010 by jread

[Gran]

Jread, thanks very much for the Foray report. A thinner line sounds more appealing. Am looking forward the the space pen refill report.

[rminj]

Just a quick update: I picked up one of the Foray refills today in Blue, Medium point. I wouldn't say that the quality is far superior to the equivalent Cross refill, however it is noticeably smoother than the Cross brand.... much smoother actually. When trying them one after the other, the Cross was a lot scratchier and took more effort to use. The Foray was nice and smooth, though with a slightly thinner line as mentioned by rminj.

 

My initial impression is that the Foray refill is better than the Cross refill in Medium point, but it's not as good as the Cross Broad point.

 

jread your analysis seems accurate to me...

..the Foray seems a better ink but thinner point size/line. A "broad" Foray point size may be ideal for those of us that

are looking for a thicker line. The Cross broad is a thick line and color(amount of ink on the paper) is better but the point size of the Cross broad is preposterous..one gives up a lot of detailed writing with that size. So we look forware to the Fisher refill review.

 

I'll admit I'm writing right now with a non-Cross product and that holds a Parker broad blue point. The Parker blue broad is 1/2 the size of the Cross broad point and just a tad larger than the Cross medium point. I think the ink color, flow and smoothness is what I'm used to and I may not be able to find the equivalent for my Cross pens.

[jread]

OK folks, the refills have arrived and the results are in! I'm going to list the refills from best to worst:

 

Regular Cross Ballpoint Refills:

 

• 
   
  
• Fisher Space Pen Refill for Cross (Medium Point): This one is the undisputed winner out of all the refills I've tried. It is very smooth, hardly skips, and writes with a nice, fine line (more like a fine point than a medium point). The color is also a nice, dark blue, which I love. Add to all this the fact that it will write on most surfaces, as well as underwater and in outer space, plus the fact that it's made right here in the USA (if that matters to you), and there is really nothing to dislike about this refill. Note: the Fisher refill takes awhile go get going. It started kind of faded and skipping right out of the package, and I was ready to toss it, but after a few minutes of use the ink began to flow well and it's been wonderful ever since. Just make sure if you get one to give it a "warm up" round out of the package.
   
  
• Foray Refill for Cross (Medium Point): This one takes second place. It is nice and smooth, and lays down a finer line than the Cross medium point. It skips a little less than the Cross refill, but at the same time more than the Fisher refill. Still, given that this refill is available at any Office Depot store, and is relatively inexpensive, it is a good choice for many people.
   
  
• Cross Refill (Medium Point): Well, everyone knows this refill, so there's not much to say here. The ink color is nice, but it is scratchy and skips more than I think it should.
   
  
• Schmidt Refill for Cross (Medium Point): I had high hopes for this refill, but it was quite disappointing in the end. It is even less smooth than the Cross refill (if that's possible), and the ink is a lighter-blue color (which I hate). It also skips like the Cross refill. Overall, it's not worth it.
   
  

 

Cross Selectip Ballpoint Refills:

 

• 
   
  
• Schmidt Ballpoint Conversion Refill for Rollerball Pens: Well, two things to say here. First of all, this refill does NOT fit the Cross Selectip pens. At first this was annoying, but in the end it doesn't matter, because the closer I looked at this refill compared to the Cross BP refill for selectip pens, the sooner I realized that they are the EXACT same thing! The plastic on the ends, the barrel, the tips, and the ink are identical. Plus, Schmidt is made in Germany and the Cross BP refill also says, "Made in Germany". The only difference is the plastic toward the tip which allows them to fit in their respectable pens. It looks like one is made for Cross, and the other is made for everyone else. Needless to say, if you have the Cross BP refill for selectip pens, you also have the Schmidt BP converter for rollerball pens. Alas, the search for a decent BP refill for Cross selectip pens continues....
  

Edited March 8, 2010 by jread

[jread]

Just wanted to add that I still do like the Cross Broad Point refill. The point size is a little too big, as others have mentioned, but I still love how smooth it is and the dark line it puts down. I do hope that Fisher decides to make a broad point refill for Cross BPs eventually (they have one for the Parker style), as that would probably be a VERY nice refill to use.

[Gran]

Jread, thank you very much for the thorough reports. They are most useful.

[rminj]

Jread, thanks for your evaluations. Very interesting...so the Fisher is good but

the line is finer.. Do you find you need to press real hard to a good line on the paper? The fisher is dark blue though that may make up a little bit for a finer line?

 

The Fisher refills are praised on the every day carry (EDC) forum/website. The black color I suppose. So much so that people are modifying their Zebra pens (a favorite there) to accomodate the fisher space pen refill.

 

 

Did you order the Fisher refills right from Fisher.. I would think ordering direct may get one a fresher refill?

 

Thanks again for your analysis...I still find it sad that the Cross refills are so lacking. I installed a newer black in my wife's ATX when the black ran out but it skipped and she complained. I then installed an older medium blue I had and it writes terribly. Waiting for her to say something. Good excuse to order up some Fisher refills

[Gran]

Thank you all very much for reporting about how poor the new Cross refills are. The ones I'm using are smooth and a nice blue. No blobs, skips, or scratchiness. It's too bad Cross chose to replace their good refills with inferior ones. The ones I have come in a cardboard tube with a gold-colored, foil paper wrapped around it. Price stamped on tube, $1.25.

[jread]

Jread, thanks for your evaluations. Very interesting...so the Fisher is good but

the line is finer.. Do you find you need to press real hard to a good line on the paper? The fisher is dark blue though that may make up a little bit for a finer line?

 

No, you do not need to press hard to get a dark line. The refill is smooth and doesn't require much effort to use. The line is just very fine for a medium point, which makes me think that a "broad" point from Fisher would be perfect (just my opinion, though... some people want a fine line).

 

The Fisher refills are praised on the every day carry (EDC) forum/website. The black color I suppose. So much so that people are modifying their Zebra pens (a favorite there) to accomodate the fisher space pen refill.

 

I am very impressed with their refill. It also doesn't seem to skip much at all, which is a feat for *any* ballpoint.

 

Did you order the Fisher refills right from Fisher.. I would think ordering direct may get one a fresher refill?

 

Yes, I ordered directly from Fisher and the refill got here pretty quickly. They also packaged it very well to keep it from being damaged during shipment (peanuts and all).

 

Thanks again for your analysis...I still find it sad that the Cross refills are so lacking. I installed a newer black in my wife's ATX when the black ran out but it skipped and she complained. I then installed an older medium blue I had and it writes terribly. Waiting for her to say something. Good excuse to order up some Fisher refills

 

No problem, I'm glad to help! I LOVE my Cross BPs and like to use them all the time, but the poor selection of refills has made that tough to do. The Fisher refill is a big step in the right direction, and by far the best I've found so far. When you get the chance to try them out, please let me know what you think. I'm especially interested to see if there is any difference between the blue and black inks, as this is often the case with ballpoint refills (it seems that black refills usually write a little better).

[CowboyBlue]

ADDING MY TWO CENTS' WORTH ...

 

I have several Cross ballpoints and wouldn't trade for any of them. Beautiful, functional, stylish, classic ... a definitive pen, if you ask me.

 

However, like several of the members in this forum who have expressed a desire for a better Cross ink, I, too, grew dissatisfied with the sometimes skippy, sometimes gloppy, sometimes dry and scratchy but always inconsistent qualities of the modern Cross refills. In light of gel and rollerball advancements, why hasn't Cross updated and improved their ballpoint refills? It would seem to me that Cross should invest in the "business end" of their pens.

 

So, I began to look around. I found the Monteverde brand refills, with a low viscosity ink that they claim mimics gel or rollerball ink for smoothness and flow. So far, I have been pleasantly surprised by the results. I don't think the smoothness and flow are quite there in a league with a rollerball gel, but I do think they are a definite step in the right direction.

 

jread, thank you for your reviews of these refills. I am on the hunt now for Fisher refills to give them a try.

 

So, there you go. My opinions, free, and worth it!

[wttlford]

One might try the Monteverde manufactured Cross type refills, or the Fisher pressure "Space Pen" refills if they are still available in Cross format.

 

They are, or at least were recently. The ink seeps out around the ball if it is unused for any period of time, which makes bit of sense as the ink tubes are pressurized.

[Sapphire]

Okay so I'm late joining this topic.

 

I have to go the other way from most of you.

I don't find the Cross refills a problem and I use them all the time - mostly blue fine standard refills and occasionally the jumbo refill. I don't find they need heavy pressure and I like the slightly dry feel - you get that with Waterman blue refills too.

And I hate Parker the old ones were fine but the current ones leave a blob of colour every time the line changes direction, sometimes enough to seep through the paper and always enough to smear if you accidentally rub your hand over it before it's had a minute to dry. And they feel greasy and oily as you write.

No I'll take Cross first and Waterman second and leave Parker well alone.

[somedays]

This is slightly off topic and I really apologize for whatever inconvenience this may cause...

 

But what exactly is "Selectip"? At first I thought it was the rollerball series but it turns out, I think, that it's not. Care to help a newbie here?

 

Thank you so much!

[elysee]

Once I found the Cross broad blue refill, I put it into ALL my Cross ballpoint pens. In addition, the Cross blue gel ink refill is fantastic. Both blue refills are smooth and leave a nice line of ink.

 

I have modified the Cross gel ink refills using tape so that they fit into my Montblanc Noblesse rollerball pens.

[somedays]

I figured out, finally, what Selectip is. Thank you.

[dburges]

Thanks for all the info, I find it interesting so many people have my same OCD about smooth writing pens... lol I completely agree about jread's results, the only one I have not tried is the Fisher refill. I am using a Penatia brand from Office Max and it is better than Cross but still not the performance I want.

 

Also, I found you can take soft grit sand paper (1200 grit) and improve the performance of most ballpoint pens. Simply fold the sandpaper in half and place the pen tip in the folded crease, spin the refill cartridge at an angle to the sandpaper as to polish the metal directly where the ball and cartridge meet. This smooths the metal finish around the ball so it glides easier along your paper. It also exposes more of the ball allowing better ink flow. Just be careful not to polish too much because ink will blotch and/or the ball can fall out.

[InkyCarl]

I hope Schmidt will eventually make a Cross version of the "Easyflow" refill which they currently have only as a Jotter refill.

[rminj]

I hope Schmidt will eventually make a Cross version of the "Easyflow" refill which they currently have only as a Jotter refill.

I just panned the Easyflow over in the Parker forum.. I admit though that it would make a good refill for the Cross pens in the sense that it is a more modern ink and for the most part one does not have to press hard with it to put ink on the paper. The Easyflow acts like a gel pen and I was happy writing with it until I had to draw a line...if I had draw a line of any length the ink would fade to nothing

as if the pen was drying out. So the lines and even letters from it became uneven as the ink flows then stops flowing.