Removing The Ink From A Uniball Eye Fine Rollerball.

[Miles400]

Hi, I am looking at buying some multipack Uniball rollerball pens in order to open them and dispense the ink into an old empty ink bottle, so I can use the ink to refill the cartridge for my Mont Blanc Le grand Rollerball when it becomes empty. The questions I'm hoping someone will be kind enough to answer are the following; Will there be enough ink in a pack of 14 uniball rollerballs to fill a standard Parker Quink ink bottle or will I need more? And how easy is it to get to the ink reservoir in a uniball rollerball pen? Also would I be able to get away with just using standard Mont Blanc black ink to refill the cartridge or does a rollerball use a specific type of ink?

Thank You.

[Inkysloth]

Most rollerball inks are going to be too viscous for a fountain pen. I don't know about the Uniball inks, but many are closer to a thin gel than the very liquid consistency of fountain pen ink.

Edit: Sorry, completely misread your query.

 

Regarding the volume, a bottle of Quink takes 57ml of ink, and in a rollerball there's only about 2ml, if that.

Edited April 11, 2014 by Inkysloth

[Miles400]

Thanks for the help, so I should get around 28 ml of ink from 14 to use in the cartridge for my Le grand rollerball.

[Inkysloth]

Thanks for the help, so I should get around 28 ml of ink from 14 to use in the cartridge for my Le grand rollerball.

That's a generous guess. I would expect to lose a fair proportion in the act of drawing it out - some will stay stuck to the edges of the ink tubes, some will stick in the needle & syringe. I wouldn't be surprised if you lose a good third.

 

I'd be interested to know the actual volume of uniball rollerball - please do update when you try it.

[KBeezie]

Most rollerball inks are going to be too viscous for a fountain pen. I don't know about the Uniball inks, but many are closer to a thin gel than the very liquid consistency of fountain pen ink.

Edit: Sorry, completely misread your query.

 

Regarding the volume, a bottle of Quink takes 57ml of ink, and in a rollerball there's only about 2ml, if that.

 

So is it like a 60ml bottle just not filled to the brim?

 

 

Thanks for the help, so I should get around 28 ml of ink from 14 to use in the cartridge for my Le grand rollerball.

 

Probably less unless you are using a syringe to get most of it out.

 

My Universal Liquid Rollerballs appear to be more like eye-droppers (ie: the whole barrel is filled with the ink), and I would just need to pull out the feed in order to get to it (probably a good 5 or 6 ml in there). But like Inky said, I wonder if it's too free-flowing or thick to work properly with fountain pen nibs (I've thought about doing it, but then again I have better inks).

 

Buy yes I've wanted to attempt to fill my disposable rollerball with various inks because it is almost like an eye-dropper, but not sure how well it will go thru the RB. I think most rollerballs are supposed to be water-based just like fountain pens (but then there's gels?).

Edited April 11, 2014 by KBeezie

[Inkysloth]

So is it like a 60ml bottle just not filled to the brim?

 

 

I think it's a 2oz imperial bottle, still sold as the same volume as it has been for donkey's years, but labelled in metric.

 

(Just as small milk bottles in the uk are sold as 568ml - a strange amount, but it's a pint).

[KBeezie]

I think it's a 2oz imperial bottle, still sold as the same volume as it has been for donkey's years, but labelled in metric.

 

(Just as small milk bottles in the uk are sold as 568ml - a strange amount, but it's a pint).

 

Hrm... guess you just go by what the region expects to read. Sort of like how we have 2 Litre Cokes here, but anything smaller and they're 16oz and 20oz, and we don't use 500ml or anything in milliliter under the 2L size. (transition was only smooth cuz there's more in 2L than there is in 1Gal)... wish we all just switched to metric, seems more sane.

[Miles400]

I'm not going to use the ink out of the uniball rollerballs for my Mont Blanc fountain pens as I would never risk using any ink other than Mont Blanc branded ink, what I was intending to use it for was to try and refill my empty Mont Blanc cartridges for my Le grand rollerball as it goes through them rather fast.

[KBeezie]

I'm not going to use the ink out of the uniball rollerballs for my Mont Blanc fountain pens as I would never risk using any ink other than Mont Blanc branded ink, what I was intending to use it for was to try and refill my empty Mont Blanc cartridges for my Le grand rollerball as it goes through them rather fast.

 

Since I have like a dozen of these, I Decided I would give it a try. Can't get the large feed out of the barrel, but I was able to remove the sheild around the RB point, and the filiment that feeds the RB, then used a syringe to suck out the ink (and put a side), then used the same syringe to flush it with water over and over again until I could get it to run clear and dry out. Then I filled it (via syringe) with some Noodler's Black Eel.

 

edit: with a box for the 'original' RB ink.

Edited April 11, 2014 by KBeezie

[Gloucesterman]

Wouldn't it be easier to just use one of the inkball pens from Visconti, Monteverde, Noodler or J. Herbin?

 

I'm sure there are several others too.

[KBeezie]

Wouldn't it be easier to just use one of the inkball pens from Visconti, Monteverde, Noodler or J. Herbin?

 

I'm sure there are several others too.

 

What fun is that?

[Gloucesterman]

Oh yeah, I forgot - the "scenic view"! :lol: