Rollerball piston filler, or am I deluded?

[njh1974]

For some reason, I have been laboring under the belief that there is (or was) a rollerball out there somewhere that is refillable with fountain pen ink with something like a piston filling mechanism.

 

I have a Greek friend who is interested in fountain pens and wondered aloud why there wasn't a rollerball that you could use your cool inks with. He perfers a rollerball for mathematical formulae, drawing curves and arcs, and for graphing.

 

Has anyone else heard of such a thing? I've tried to find something but have failed until now.

 

Thanks for your help,

 

Regards,

Nathan

[StickMan]

There absolutely is one. Omas I think makes it.

 

They're dreadfully expensive, if I remember.

[jmkeuning]

Monteverde Mega Ink Ball? Roller ball with piston converter.

 

There are also the pens that "the seller formerly known as DWL" was selling on the Green Board. He has selling them for $5 each and they could take a nib or a ball point.

[J English Smith]

They do exist - I got mine from a fellow FPNer. The kind I have is german, mid-60s, brand name on the side is "PAN." Not expensive looking but the roller point is kind of fun to use with fp inks. Right, per jm's post above, this one did come by way of DWL. Not expensive. Burgundy body.

Edited February 27, 2008 by J English Smith

[Immoteus]

IIRC J.Herbin sells a rollerball with refillable ink. I think it was CaptNemo who mentioned it.

 

Edit: Link here, look for "J. Herbin Stylo-Roller"

Edited February 27, 2008 by Immoteus

[StickMan]

Oops, got it wrong. Monteverdi Mega Roller Ball:

 

 

$180 at Swisher. You decide for yourself if that's "dreadfully expensive".

[ilubiano]

Oops, got it wrong. Monteverdi Mega Roller Ball:

 

 

$180 at Swisher. You decide for yourself if that's "dreadfully expensive".

 

Maybe not dreadfully expensive, but definitely pricey for a rollerball. For that price I'd rather be looking at stylographs.

[Inkquest]

Thanks for the pic, Stickman.... yeah, if the photo is representative of the actual product, I'd say it's beyond dreadfully expensive. It just looks cheap, like something you should be able to get at Office Depot for $9.95.

 

Anybody actually own one? It sure would be nice to play with, but I can't see parting with $180 for it, Yeeeesh.

 

The Stylo Roller is a much more reasonable $21.

 

Now that $5 PAN pen from the 60's sounds like a toy I'd be interested in tracking down. A bit vintage and a bit unusual.. I like it.. What happened to this legendary DWL?

 

Dave

[ilubiano]

Thanks for the pic, Stickman.... yeah, if the photo is representative of the actual product, I'd say it's beyond dreadfully expensive. It just looks cheap, like something you should be able to get at Office Depot for $9.95.

 

Anybody actually own one? It sure would be nice to play with, but I can't see parting with $180 for it, Yeeeesh.

 

The Stylo Roller is a much more reasonable $21.

 

Now that $5 PAN pen from the 60's sounds like a toy I'd be interested in tracking down. A bit vintage and a bit unusual.. I like it.. What happened to this legendary DWL?

 

Dave

 

the Pelikan and the Kaweco Sport roller are even better, price wise, ($10 n $11 respectively), but they aren't piston fillers. They're Cartridge/converter fillers. With a syringe kit though, it's just as good as a piston filler. I personally really like the Clear Kaweco Sport roller, i might just have to order one for myself. The Herbin does come with 10 carts though, so that's probably why it's pricier.

Edited February 27, 2008 by ilubiano

[Rapt]

I have one of the older German PAN brand... Seems neat, easy to use, and inexpensive... Just bought it out of curiousity, might be willing to sell it. Its only had water through it, but it works fine with that. Very nice feeling ball.

[gregoron]

I have the Pan rollerball pen with the piston filler. In fact there's one I came across at eBay right now (not affiliated):

 

http://cgi.ebay.com/Pan-Ballpoint-Pen-for-...1QQcmdZViewItem

 

The neat thing about this is that it uses fp bottled ink and my Esterbrook nibs fit tightly in place of the rollerball nib.

[ilubiano]

I have the Pan rollerball pen with the piston filler. In fact there's one I came across at eBay right now (not affiliated):

 

http://cgi.ebay.com/Pan-Ballpoint-Pen-for-...1QQcmdZViewItem

 

The neat thing about this is that it uses fp bottled ink and my Esterbrook nibs fit tightly in place of the rollerball nib.

 

 

Wow, that is a really nice pen.

 

Monteverde could sure learn a thing or two from this to apply to the mega ink ball, that's for sure. This looks more like a nice writing instrument and less like a fisher price pen.

 

Now I've got to be on the lookout for one of these too.

 

-Ivan

Edited February 27, 2008 by ilubiano

[captnemo]

Well, the Herbin Rollerball definitely works. It's cart fed. My only complaint about it is the ball makes a funny noise. Maybe they have to leave more clearance for the ball so it "rattles" a little bit which makes noise when you write. The only ink I've tried in it so far is Noodlers Red Black, but it works.

[KCat]

While the Mega is definitely not my style, I think the photos are deceptive. This is quite an attractive pen IRL. Not worth the $$$ IMO simply because it's an RB and as you've seen, other refillable RBs are out there for much less. This pen (the refillable RB in general) suffers from the fact that the ball wears out and becomes scratchy and must be replaced much faster than any FP nib ever would. The Mega comes with a replacement section for this reason.

[njh1974]

Thank you all for the wonderful information. I will pass the link to this discussion on to my friend.

 

Many thanks,

 

Nathan Hondros

[simonrob]

They do exist - I got mine from a fellow FPNer. The kind I have is german, mid-60s, brand name on the side is "PAN." Not expensive looking but the roller point is kind of fun to use with fp inks. Right, per jm's post above, this one did come by way of DWL. Not expensive. Burgundy body.

 

I bought a few of those, but mine all wrote horribly dry - frankly, I would rather use a ballpoint. Does yours work any better? (I'm hoping they will work better with Esterbrook nibs.)

 

Simon