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Hello Everyone, first post for me....been trolling and know this is a topic that has been discussed before...but wanted to dust off and see if any new developments/learnings are out there to share.. just purchased a le grande rollerball...love the pen and love the rollerballs (more practical for daily work use than my le grand fp).....but don't love the lifespan of the rollerball refills....looking for alternatives... seen refilling the MB cartridge hacks....i'm more inclined to using a G2 refill (decent writer, much better lifespan, more color choices), but have not found a good way to make it fit into the le grande..... any recent hacks/innovations in this sphere? PS: i've seen the reverse hack online, trying to use a MB rollerball cartridge in a G2....dont understand this, since this is essentially a value play and the MB rollerball does not provide as much value as the G2 cartridges.... Bruce

I have a Parker Classic Flighter mechanical pencil that I've been using off and on for several years. For some reason, I cannot seem to reload the pencil right. On this site, there are several posts that are very helpful in reloading a twist-top Parker pencil through the tip: fully extend the mechanism to clear the pencil, insert lead, slowly retract, and apply pressure to seat the lead in the holder. However, when I try this, I cannot get the lead (0.9 mm) to stay in; it will retract, but as soon as I start writing again, the lead falls out. It's not breaking; there are no pieces left inside, and the ends of the lead are still smooth. Found some older 0.9 mm leads, and they seem to work better. Are all 0.9 mms not interchangeable? Am I doing something else wrong?

Hiya I'm hoping someone can advise me? Joined the forum yesterday as I need some help please. Was trying to refill a vintage cross ballpoint (classic century I believe) and somehow managed to remove the refill holder, instead of just the refill?? And of course it won't go back in now... I've tried heating the barrel but that didn't work. Have I ruined it?

Can anyone suggest what type of refill I need for this ballpoint pen? Many thanks in advance. Stefan

While I use my smartphone for many things, I still manage tasks the old fashioned way -- on paper in a notebook. I find that the physical act of writing with a pen keeps things in my head better than typing them into a digital task manager. I mostly use my fountain pens for this (various colors for different purposes), but I like to have a rollerball or two on hand for back-up in case a pen has dried a bit or is acting finicky. I've been attempting to use Cross rollerballs for this -- in part because they offer purple and red as well as blue and black. However, lately I have found that these refills are beyond dreadful. Dreadful -- as in they won't write consistently within five minutes of opening the package and installing the refill in the pen. I know there are a lot of other rollerball options out there (indeed, I use many others). But I can't believe how bad these refills have become. Cross really ought to be ashamed to have these things on the market -- at least in my view. Anyone else seeing the same thing?

And more important, what refill does it use? The eBay seller called it a Fibre-tip roller-ball, but its not showing up in my searches. FWIW, it really does say Caran d Ache in tiny letters around the barrel. Thank you for any help or advice.

Dear FPN members, a couple of weeks ago, I bought a BMW fountain pen in an antiques fair. I suppose of course that someone else made the pen for them, but I have no idea who it might have been, because the only logo on the pen is BMW. Although, when you read what follows, you will maybe agree with me that the maker of this pen did not know much about the *very* basic of fountain pens... The pen feels sturdy and the touch of the material is fine. It is also ergonomic. The nib is a B, and it writes very well. I know because I have dipped the pen in water and it is still dirty with ink, so it writes. However, I have no idea how to refill this pen. I have turned, pulled and pushed on both sides and nothing moves. Literally does not move at all. I have no idea whatsoever how to refill this pen. Anyone can help? Thanks in advance. In this old post, someone has the matching ballpen and was asking for a picture of the fountain pen. https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/topic/215674-bmw-ballpen-fountainpen/ Well, here are the pictures. Mikel

Does anyone know of any Canadian retailers who carry the Pelikan 337 refills? I'm in the Toronto area, but any Canada-based retailer with an online shop is perfect. Thank you in advance and Happy New Year!

Does anyone here own an Omas old style Arte Italiana roller and can tell me the refill code? The Omas refills are no longer available but I believe Schmidt makes compatible refills, however I need the Omas refill code. I am planning on buying this roller used, but want to ensure I can find the refills (Schmidt makes several different refills compatible with different Omas roller pens). I can also ask some of the pen shops to advise the correct refill, but I am giving a try here first... thanks!

Refill Parker Roller Ball cartridge using syringe and vacuum method. Refill Parker Roller Ball Cartridge using syringe vacuum method V2 How to refill Parker rollerball Thank you, dear Kenneth Lee and dear Dhruv Upreti!

Hi folks, Here's a method to fit a syringe needle over a piston converter to suck the very last drop of ink from an ink bottle. rgds kenneth PS: Forgot to add, this method doesn't require a syringe that would take up extra space in your pen case. It's also one less item to clean. In any case, choose your favourite method :-)

I’m having difficulty with the fit of refills in a Montblanc Leonardo ballpoint. An older “Pix” marked refill works, and allows the click mechanism to work perfectly, but when I fit a current production refill, the point barely protrudes from the nose of the pen. Maybe the recess in the refill end cap is deeper on the current product refill? Can anyone please suggest a fix for this? Any help will be appreciated

Montblanc Leonardo Ballpoint Refill - Help Requested I’m having difficulty with the fit of refills in n MB Leonardo ballpoint. An older “Pix” marked refill allows the click mechanism to work perfectly, but when I fit a current production refill, the point barely protrudes from the nose of the pen. Maybe the recess in the refill end cap is deeper on the current product refill? Can anyone please suggest a fix for this? Any help will be appreciated

With the help of a simple flexible tube that fits over the nib section, here's how to get that very last drop of your favorite ink. https://youtu.be/JE1ZxNk5hiQ

Hey guys! So, many years ago I received a fountain pen as a gift, which I have only recently been able to identify as the Sheaffer Fashion II. Since I had never used a fountain pen before, I left it untouched for many years until recently. The pen is completely dried up, and there is no cartridge nor converter in it. I have a few 'slim cartridges' that came with the gift bundle, but they are all dried up too. Regardless, I tried to install the cartridge, but it wouldn't fit. There is something inside blocking it, and I have no idea what it is. As I am very eager to try using a fountain pen, I am in desperate need of your advice! Thanks in advance. https://ibb.co/74066Vp https://ibb.co/PNfW29W https://ibb.co/HFH2Chj https://ibb.co/x3Tnp5T https://ibb.co/d452Sqd

Hello, I'm looking to refill a Pilot V Board Master dry erase marker with blue or black ink. By construction this pen can be refilled as its end is easily unscrewed to a small plastic cartridge. The thing is I don't know which ink to use as it needs to be : 1/ compatible with the felt tipe 2/ compatible with the board to be dry erasable. Anyone has ever tried that with success ? or with bad luck ? Any tips or ideas ? All help will be greatly appreciated. Thanks and have a nice week-end.

JETSTREAM & easyFLOW In my pursuit for a perfect ballpoint refill I’ve came across with these 2 brands: JETSTREAM & easyFLOW. Why ballpoints? Because sometimes you need something else then a fountain pen to write on different surface: like napkins, fabric, wood, skin, you never know when or where. So I have narrow down my options for these hybrid ballpoint refills. Both write smooth, dark lines and both have water-proof and sun fade-proof characteristics. uni-ball JETSTREAM was developed in 2003, it’s an evolution of their gel refill “Signo 207”. Can be found in medium or fine strokes, also the main refills can be adapted to replace gel refills like Pilot G2 or European standard roller-ball refills. The blue refills are actually blue, quit dark lines, black is almost true black. SCHMIDT® easyFLOW 9000 was introduced later, in July 2007. Their main characteristic is based on Parker style refill (large capacity refill size G2 as per the standard DIN EN ISO 12757), making them ready available for many ballpoints producers, without any modification. The blue refill is more on the purple side, but still a vivid colour, black is a bit much darker then JETSTREAM. Also easyFLOW smudge a bit more than JETSTREAM. Somewhere back in 2014 I had to use a pen to write a polite note for a car parked illegally on our parking lot at work (a standard A4 printed polite note where you need to write registration number, date and time). And I used a Parker Big Red roller ball. Big mistake, with a bit of rain all my writing was washed out, completely! The car’s owner comes down to check what was with that note on his car and all my writing was gone. That was the point to search for a better ballpoint refill with water-proof characteristics, smooth writing, fast drying and vivid colours. After a lot of research I bought my first two hybrid ballpoint refills: easyFLOW 9000 in blue and black. After a while I have found JETSTREAM to be as good as easyFLOW 9000, but for different pen body, like roller-balls or Energel, other than Parker style. That being said I run a test to prove water-proof and sun exposure fading test of these two refill brands. For this test I have used some common refills along with my 2 favourites. I have used normal paper and glossy paper (from a magazine). One normal paper and one glossy paper it was washed through heavy water after 2 minutes of writing have dry. Everything was exposed in a closed shed with windows, where the sun can reach for about 3-4 hours daily, when not cloudy. Also there is high humidity on our little island, temperatures varying from 25˚ summer to 8˚ winter times. Refills in test: Schmidt easyFlow 9000 blue Schmidt easyFlow 9000 black Uni-ball Jetstream 1.0 blue Uni-ball Jetstream 1.0 black Uni-ball Jetstream sport blue Uni-ball Jetstream 0.7 black Pentel Energel 0.7 blue Pentel Energel 0.7 black Schneider Topball 0.5 black Inoxcrom gel M black Fisher Space M black Faber-Castell B black Parker M black Parker Quinkflow M blue Parker M blue Lamy M66 black Senator M blue Zebra F-series blue Pilot G2 0.5 black Pilot G2 0.7 black After this test I will stick with easyFLOW and Jetstream as my main refills for ballpoints. Also Inoxcrom gel refill and Lamy are really good, recommend them. A big surprise is Parker Quinkflow failing so hard. The test was run in my condition, feel free not to accept my observations. Also if you click on the pictures you can download them from Flickr and enlarge them to see some close ups. Except on single photo, the rest are scanned. Starting test June and July 2016 Normal Paper running water, June 2016 Normal paper, photo, not scan, July 2016 Glossy paper, July 2016 Ending test December 2016 Normal Paper running water Normal paper Glossy paper running water Glossy paper

Hello again to all my FPN friends, I just purchased a leather A6 6-ring planner (same size as Filofax Personal or Daytimer #3) that I'm going to use for a project that needs to have somewhat archival paper (basically, the pages and what's on them need to do their job for at least the next 50 years amidst daily use). The paper that the planner came with feels like writing on sandpaper, so I desperately need something else. So far the best paper I've come across seems to be Life Noble and DaVinci (which uses 52gms Tomoe River paper). For my project, the planner refill paper needs these three qualities, in order of importance: 1. Fountain pen friendly - Minimal-to-no bleed through or feathering with a fine or medium nib and waterproof inks like Sailor Sei-boku, Platinum Carbon Black, and De Atramentis Document inks. 2. Durability - Pages need to be able to withstand regular thumbing through over decades without curling up (discoloration is to be expected) 3. Opacity - As much as is possible, I would like to be able to read both sides of the paper in various lighting without the text on the other side of the page getting in the way. Given those considerations, can anyone who has used the aforementioned filler papers let me know how they fare? Here are the two options I'm looking at: Additionally, I'm totally open to any other suggestions for fountain pen friendly planner refills. I'd rather not make my own. Many thanks for any assistance!

I am trying to find out what type of ballpoint refill this is. All I have is a photo; nobody at the store knew what type of refill it is. I'd like to see if there is a decent brand of refill available that can substitute for this yucky one that comes with the pen. I'd like some color variety, too, if that is possible. I'm attaching the photo; I've never done this before on this site, so I hope it works. Thanks to anyone who can help!

I bought an cross mechanical pencil yesterday confident I could make it work and turns out I uses a lead cassette (I didnt know they existed) and it came empty. Is there really no way to refill these with loose lead?

Daiso stationery products are all designed in Japan, but aren't all make there. The very best of their paper products, like the Kraft-bound notebooks, are made in Japan, and that paper is truly delightful. This note, however, is about the A4 loose-leaf binder refills. They come in a pack of 70 sheets, lined and unlined. The lined version is spaced at 60 mm, suitable for those, like me, with small handwriting and fine nibs. Others may wish to use the unlined version and either print their own lines or use a guide sheet. The paper seems to be about 70gsm, and is well-behaved with most inks. Some inks that are more heavily-laden with surfactants (Liberty's Elysium, I'm looking at you) spread just a little, but most others behave just fine. Other than that, I don't see any feathering or bleeding with any of the inks I have used. The paper has a slight matt feel to it. Not quite rough, but not smooth like Maruman, Kokuyo or the Japanese-made Daiso notebooks. Because of this surface, I found that most nibs gave me a bit of feedback. Not very much, but enough for you to feel it. As mentioned above, the paper comes in 70 sheet packs and sell for whatever the basic Daiso price is in your country (AU$2.80 in Australia). That price is not quite as good as Muji, which sells larger packs for a bit more, but is very close. Which is better? I feel that Muji paper is better, but for me, the Daiso shop is more convenient. Also my Daiso shop only has A4 and my Muji shop only has B5. However, both are much cheaper than Kokuyo Campus or Maruman refills at Kinokuniya. The front of my draft of this note. I used a number of inks, including Noodler's Bad Belted Kingfisher, Monteverde Horizon Blue and Parker Penman Sapphire, in a number of pens with differing nib widths and wetness. There was no feathering or spreading with any of these inks. The back of the paper, showing some show-through, but only a few dots of bleeding.

Being unable to find an inexpensive pants-pocketable M nib fountain pen to my liking for EDC, I'm considering a roller pen. I know nothing at all about the brand and cartridge ink options, but my favorite gel inks are Uni Ball 307 (0.7) black and Uni Ball 207 (0.5) green-black and brown-black. I find that they are smooth, dry quickly enough for my lefty handwriting, and I want a thicker 0.7 line, possibly even going up to 1.0. My first thought for an inexpensive knock-around pocket roller pen is a Kaweco Sport. Should I consider anything else for the pants-pocket in that price range? I like the look of the Retro 1951, for example, but I'd prefer the protection from a pen with a cap. (Safaris are out because my lefthanded writing style doesn't get along with triangular grips.) And although I could try a roller ball eyedropper conversion I'm interested in learning about cartridges that can give me the same light touch, smoothness and dark thick line as the Uni Balls I'm used to. Ideas?

Hey, guys I just recently joined this forum. So far it has been helpful with answering my questions and doing research about pens (I own a few 149s), and quite honestly this site has made me an addict I recently picked up a Montblanc M Ultra Black ballpoint but quite honestly don't like how the ink looks. Do any of you know if there is another sort of refill I can use with better ink? (make it look more of a gel type of ink, if possible) I tried some other inks but the damn thing is stubborn and won't close. So any help would be much appreciated. Thank you in advance -James

After asking for recommendations here, I bought a Platinum Century #3776 and I am delighted with it. After a couple of months using it, it's the most reliable fountain pen I've ever had (although this may be normal as the other pens I had were cheaper...), and I love the nib's feel too. The only downside of it is the fact that it doesn't take standard cartridges. I have bought the international cartridge adapter, and it works, but at least in my case (with Waterman serenity blue ink) it decreases reliability. With a Platinum blue-black cartridge, the pen never ever skips. But with the adapter, it sometimes does, and I need to squeeze the cartridge to get it working reliably for a while. So, question #1: is this just a necessary evil with the adapter, or should I be able to get the same reliability as with Platinum cartridges if I find the right ink and/or replace the adapter with another? If it's a necessary evil, then one possibility would be to stick with Platinum ink. I like their blue-black color, but I have read horror stories about it being an iron gall ink that eats nibs for breakfast. I definitely don't want to damage my pen. However, since it's a gold nib, maybe this shouldn't be a problem? So, question #2: can Platinum's blue-black ink damage a 14K gold nib, or is there no risk of damage in this case? Finally, a third option (which is not my favorite as it's more uncomfortable, but it can be a good B plan) would be to refill cartridges using syringes. But I have also read horror stories about bad stuff happening when you mix iron gall ink with other inks (in fact, Platinum themselves warn about this). So, question #3: can I refill a cartridge which originally held iron gall ink with a different ink? What precautions do I need to take to do so? PS: I know there is also the possibility of using a converter, but this is not something I like in my case, as my pen travels a lot between home, work, and various places and it would be a bit too messy for that kind of use. Thanks in advance!

Ballpoint (and rollerball) pen refills have progressed a very long way. They are a far cry from the older sticky, blobby, and inconsistently performing refills of decades ago. In fact some modern ones write so well and smoothly without much pressure required, that they can easily displace the need for a firm fine nib fountain pen. But all flirting with FPN heresy aside, all writing instruments have their place. I prefer fountain pens, but ballpoints are very useful in circumstances where fountain pens just don't cut it. Mainly, the ability to write with quick drying waterproof results, while being rugged, durable, maintenance-free and even inexpensive. Well, unfortunately there is no single standard ballpoint refill design. There are a number of them (more than 5). Some makers stick with one or two refill designs, which means you cannot enjoy their ink in other pens (e.g. the Pilot G2 won't fit in any Parker refill compatible pens). While many are good writers, with some being really quite superb, there is one thing I've run into that is a major pet peeve of mine: REFILLS THAT STOP WORKING, even though they have seen very little use. From what I've surmised, the main problem with traditional ballpoint refills is that the ink supply will separate over time. The result is a gap inside the channel towards the tip, which blocks the ink flow. You may find that after waiting some time with the pen sitting tip down that flow will resume, but it will rarely remain consistent. The "gap" doesn't close up. It just allows a little ink to sneak past it to the tip, but will remain there. This can happen with many types of refills. AND... as I've discovered, this will happen with some even though they are "NEW" and "UNUSED"! I once bought a 10 pack of refills (got a very good price per refill) and after 5 years, the ENTIRE PACK was not usable (7 new refills were completely useless). I tried a number of things to fix the refills: Heated up the refill with a hair dryer, in hopes of increasing fluidity and perhaps causing the "gap" to float up to the back end, away from the tip.Taping the refill to a string and then whipping it around very fast like a centrifuge, trying to shift the ink to the writing tip.Both methods worked... at first. But then after some writing, the refill would stop working again. I do wonder if I should have tried using both methods, one after the other. So my questions are as follows: Q 1: Have you run into that dreaded skipping refill problem? If so, did you find a workable solution that lasts for a reasonable period? Q2: What refills have you found that are not prone to ink supply separation? My favorite to date is the Pilot G2. Also, it seems that LAMY's M16 refill is very good about continuous writing even after lying in a drawer for many months. Please share your experiences and try not to slam ballpoints over fountain pens. I'd like to keep this topic "ballpoint friendly" so we can all benefit from each other's pen wisdom. Thanks!