Cross Ballpoint Pens

[FountainPenCowgirl]

I ended up with, I think, three Townsend ballpoints (and a jade rollerball) when I worked for our alumni association (we sold the series, with a logo on the clip.). My pride and joy: my Lapis Lazuli. Now that I've seen how much they're actually drawing on the open market, I'm afraid to leave the house with it!

 

Biggest reason I've never used it in regular rotation: it's heavy. Major hand fatigue comes quickly (especially w/small hands).

Edited September 1, 2013 by FountainPenCowgirl

[seanb]

But with a gel/hybrid refill that is problematic with some papers, notably Rite-In-The-Rain notebooks and thermal-paper receipts. A couple of pieces of polyethylene tubing of different sizes and a Sheaffer refill solved those issues, though.

 

Which Sheaffer refill? The "slim rollerball" or one of the ballpoints? I picked up a Click to keep on my ID badge lanyard and it would work great for that... if I could ever get the thing to write properly! (The Cross gel refill seems to write especially badly on Post-It paper - which is one of the things I write on a lot...)

[Chthulhu]

 

Which Sheaffer refill? The "slim rollerball" or one of the ballpoints? I picked up a Click to keep on my ID badge lanyard and it would work great for that... if I could ever get the thing to write properly! (The Cross gel refill seems to write especially badly on Post-It paper - which is one of the things I write on a lot...)

Ballpoint, the standard "K" refill, not the "T" Parker-type refill. I'm not impressed by most rollerball refills, or even gels and hybrids. Give me that thick pasty ink any day. :-)

Edited September 3, 2013 by Chthulhu

[Moonraker5]

I have had my ATX for about 5 years and adore it when my fp is not appropriate ( which seems more commonly so!).

I use the fine nib and actually find I like the grey line it produces. The clip is loose and scratched the barrel. It thus drops out of my pocket regularly. I know cross will happily fix it free of charge but I can't bear to be without it for 6 weeks!!

[theverdictis]

 

Lapis Lazuli Townsend , lucky you. I like the Lapis Jade too. Maybe one of these days I will get a Townsend in one of the Lapis finishes. I have have the sterling Townsend fountain, roller, and bp that make a wonderful trio.

 

Another great thing about Cross is there are a lot of nice colors/finishes to choose from, especially in the Townsend line, and you will never be stranded without a refill because Cross refills are so readily available in most stationery stores. That's why my Centuries have always been my companions at work for well over 20 years.

 

There is something about the slim Century ball points with their classy elegance and distinction that I will never tire of.

 

Cross Classic Century 10 KT ballpoint.jpg

Beautiful pic of a really nice Ball point.

[theverdictis]

 

 

Those are absolutely gorgeous pens!!! This is Cross at it's best.

Thanks for sharing

Really like the look of the Ball point in this pic.

[Pub]

I have to slightly disagree with the original poster.

My ballpoint of choice is Parker Sonnet with Schmidt refills. I do have a couple of Cross ballpoints, and there is nothing wrong with them, so its just a personal thing.

Cross rollerball however, well I don't think you can beat. The heavier Townsend with a Cross refill (which in my opinion is now the best) is almost like writing without knowing you are writing, its so smooth.

 

For a cheap take anywhere ballpoint for a notebook etc I still prefer the Parker Jotter - its small and light and still looks good.

[blINK]

When my father was alive, he always carried a gold century ballpoint. I have a fond place in my heart for all pens Cross because we lived only miles from the factory in Lincoln. One year we had a particularly bad winter where the snow just would not stop falling or melt. My father apparently dropped his ballpoint while making his way inside during a storm. Not knowing where he dropped it, he ended up purchasing a new one.

 

What had to be many weeks later, as things were finally starting to thaw, I noticed something shiny embedded in the ice off to the side of our back door. Sure enough, about 2 inches deep in the ice was my father's pen. I carefully chipped it out of its glacial resting place and brought it inside. After warming up, the pen was fine and wrote like nothing ever happened. I can only assume that it was dropped during the snow/ice storm and was frozen before becoming inundated with water. My dad brought the pen to Cross and told them the story. Without question, they handed over a new copy and told him to keep the old one for posterity's sake.

 

I still have the "ice pen" (which still works 30 years later) and a dozen or more other Cross ballpoints. I love them and will always be a fan of the company even now that their manufacturing has been moved from their headquarters.

[RMN]

When my father was alive, he always carried a gold century ballpoint. I have a fond place in my heart for all pens Cross because we lived only miles from the factory in Lincoln. One year we had a particularly bad winter where the snow just would not stop falling or melt. My father apparently dropped his ballpoint while making his way inside during a storm. Not knowing where he dropped it, he ended up purchasing a new one.

 

What had to be many weeks later, as things were finally starting to thaw, I noticed something shiny embedded in the ice off to the side of our back door. Sure enough, about 2 inches deep in the ice was my father's pen. I carefully chipped it out of its glacial resting place and brought it inside. After warming up, the pen was fine and wrote like nothing ever happened. I can only assume that it was dropped during the snow/ice storm and was frozen before becoming inundated with water. My dad brought the pen to Cross and told them the story. Without question, they handed over a new copy and told him to keep the old one for posterity's sake.

 

I still have the "ice pen" (which still works 30 years later) and a dozen or more other Cross ballpoints. I love them and will always be a fan of the company even now that their manufacturing has been moved from their headquarters.

I like that story...

 

 

D.ick

[Albinoni]

I like the Cross jumbo ballpoint refill that fits in a Selectip.

Are these the ones that fit a Townsend

[Albinoni]

The new Cross Click gel/rollerball is a good value for under $20 if you can comfortably work with the pen's thin barrel profile. Quality is what you'd expect in that price range, IMO.

Never heard of this refill will it fit a Townsend

[max dog]

I still have the "ice pen" (which still works 30 years later) and a dozen or more other Cross ballpoints. I love them and will always be a fan of the company even now that their manufacturing has been moved from their headquarters.

+1. Cross are special, and my collection keeps growing.

[max dog]

Are these the ones that fit a Townsend

The jumbo ballpoint refill, and gel refill fit in all Cross rollerball pens, not the twist action ballpoints.

[EJKorvette]

I own several older Cross Century BPs, and have always been perfectly happy with the way they work. However, recently I came into possession of what I believe to be a Cross Radiance BP (it was a corporate premium pen), and a fairly cheap Cross Coventry BP that I purchased at Staples for $12 (claimed MSRP is $38.25.) Both are twist pens, and with both the point will ride up into the pen as you are writing. I've never had that happen with the Centurys. While I like the Radiance and Coventry because they are fatter pens (I have large hands) the disappearing point means they are virtually useless for much more than signing my name. Has anyone else experienced this phenomonon? Is there an easy fix? If not then the Coventry is going back to Staples and the Radiance is going back in the wastebasket where I originally rescued it from (perhaps the previous owner knew something I didn't!)

[Mike 59]

Hi, One fairly simple fault that may be causing your problem, is that the thread at the top of the refill has stripped.

Try writing with the pen, with the cap off, see if the refill moves up out of the metal sleeve as you write.

If it does, then you could try a new refill, with it's new thread, or a a couple of turns of PTFE tape around it may be enough to get the refill to stay where it should be.

[EJKorvette]

Mike 59, thanks for the advice. I tried using both pens without the cap, and both worked fine - no disappearing point. Once I put the caps back on, the problem resurfaced. I suspect what may be happening is that, as I write, the bottom edge of the cap is being turned by the edge of my hand between the thumb and forefinger, where the pen rests. The cap on both my Radiance and Coventry are slightly bigger than the body of the pen, which is not the case with the Centurys.

 

After some thought I will probably keep the Radiance (after all it was free!) and return the Coventry to Staples. I can then put that money towards a nice FP.

[Mike 59]

Hi, Ok problem solved ! I thought it might be the thread on the plastic at the top of the refill had gone, it would be easy enough to overtighten it.

Cross have a good repair service, you could have used that if it was a more serious issue.

The Radiance is well thought of in the fountain pen version too, I have read only good about it. Shame it's not made any more.

[bunny roller]

my first ball point was a Parker .I still have it . It's a lovely pen to own and also it writes so smoothly without any defaults .

[bunny roller]

Right now i have many pens , but as they say the FIrst one is always the Best one ,no matter one may find a better pen than it !!

[bunny roller]

Is soomeone there ?