Ballpoint refills

[avraham]

I have several ballpoint pens that use a Parker type refill. I have been having trouble lately finding Parker brand refills that write smoothly. Several years ago Parker discontinued a ballpoint line called "Golden Touch." I found these to be the best Parker type refills at the time.

 

Does anyone know of a different brand that performs better than the latest Parkers?

 

Also are there any tricks to improve a ballpoint refill performance?

 

[RonB]

I personally like the Parker Gel refills. They are the best ballpoint pen equivalents that I've tried.

 

Ron

[hatherton_wood]

I noticed some of the recent ones in the "Quink" packaging no longer say made in the UK. Could this be the reason?

[naturalrandom]

QUOTE (RonB @ Feb 17 2007, 08:52 PM)

I personally like the Parker Gel refills. They are the best ballpoint pen equivalents that I've tried. Ron

On the other hand, I dislike Parker Gel refills because the run out quickly and seem to skip and blob here and there.

 

I like Sovereign brand Parker-style refills. They are quite smooth(much more so than modern Parker ones, IMO) and very cheap to buy. I don't know if you can get them where you live(I'm in Sydney)

[FrankB]

I miss the "Golden Touch" refills, too. I have to confess to being a little angry that they were discontinued. In the standard available Parker refills, I have taken to using the broad point refills. Even though the refills still use paste ink, the B point allows for smooth writing with just enough feedback from the paper to make writing comfortable and interesting.

 

I have found that I don't really prefer the gel refills. My experience has been something like naturalrandom's. I find they dry up much too quickly, and they do blob on paper more than I would like. There is also some unquantifiable quality about the gels that causes me to feel out of control when I use them. They might even be TOO smooth and I miss the feedback from the paper, I don't know.

 

There are options to Parker refills per se. I don't know all of those that would fit a Parker pen, but I know that Schmidt, Conklin, Itoya and Yafa refills will fit. My personal facorite for an optional refill is Schmidt. But as long as the B points are available, I will choose to use mostly the Parker refills.

[jsonewald]

The only refills I put in Parkers are Fisher Space Pen brand. They last forever, really do write on surfaces that regular refills fail on, and 20-- degree cold or 100++ degree heat inside a car don't faze them. If you order them you can also get some fun colors, including invisible ink.

 

http://thewritersedge.com/refills.SPRx.cfm

http://www.spacepen.com/Public/Products/PenRefills/index.cfm

 

I don't have a connection to either place.

[FrankB]

Bingo! Thanks. jsonewald. I saw the Fisher refills a number of years ago, but I had no idea they were still in production. Yes, these refills do write forever and at any angle you can conceive. Although I still prefer the B point, those M point refills in the various colors are a wonderful idea. I have seen the burgundy and turquoise in action and the colors are lovely. I am going to order a half dozen of these refills before the end of the week.

[twdpens]

QUOTE (hatherton_wood @ Feb 17 2007, 11:16 PM)

I noticed some of the recent ones in the "Quink" packaging no longer say made in the UK. Could this be the reason?

I'm not sure that Parker refills were ever made in the UK. Schmidt makes refills for most European manufacturers, including Parker (info from the horses mouth).

 

Formulations often have to change due to environmental and/or H&S reasons.

 

Martin

[Col]

For those in the UK (or Europe), there's an eBay seller who has Fisher Space Pen refills at 5 for £13.00: Space Pen refills

[JimStrutton]

I must have been very unlucky then as I have had Fisher Space Pen refills go bad on me and leak a couple of times

 

However, I have a couple of suggestions, if you don't use a lot of refills, then buy as you go, and get them from a store with a high turnover, as the fresher they are the better in my experience.

 

I just use the medium blue or black refill

 

Jim

[MYU]

The great thing about the Fisher Space Pen refills is that they are under pressure, so the ink does not "move around" in the shaft. I can't tell you how many times I've had perfectly good refills become unusuable because the sticky ballpoint ink shifted (perhaps due to temperature or air travel). I keep a little Fisher Space Pen bullet in my laptop bag--assured writing anywhere, anytime.

 

I didn't know that standard Fisher refills are compatible with Parker, though--VERY nice to know--thanks!

[MYU]

Also, speaking of refills, has anyone found a refill that works for the old Waterman C/F ballpoint pens? I did manage to locate one type that works, a variation of Cartier de Must, but it doesn't completely fill the end point diameter--length is fine though.

[RLTodd]

QUOTE (MYU @ Feb 20 2007, 05:25 AM)

I didn't know that standard Fisher refills are compatible with Parker, though--VERY nice to know--thanks!

I believe they come with a little adapter that makes them compatable.

[Srehman]

I haven't had much trouble with the Parker Gel refills skipping, but I do agree they run out way too fast. I believe I'll try the Fisher refills next time.

[_John_]

I use the Gel refills in all my Parker pens, including my everyday Blue Duofold Pinstripe. I've never had any trouble with them and since I don't have a job where I write allot they don't run out too fast for me.

 

Do the Fisher refills write real dark like the gel pen or rollerballs? That's what I like most about the gel refills, it's more like FP type ink.

Edited February 21, 2007 by _John_

[saintsimon]

Recently Visconti introduced Gel refills for Parker ballpoints, also with colours like Turquoise and Sepia. They are allready available in NA (pendemonium offers them), but not in Europe.

Has anyone tried them yet?

 

I use the discontinued Parker Turquoise Gel refills in my BPs (Aurora, Caran d'Ache, Pelikan). Im very angry with Parker about the halt of production of this only non-boring-blue BP refill. I hope Visconti Gel refills can replace them.

 

Parker is made "just another" average pen maker by Sanford. Very sad.

Edited February 22, 2007 by saintsimon

[randyholhut]

I like the Parker gels too, but don't like that they are now only making blue and black refills.

 

Itoya makes a good gel refill for Parker pens in lots of colors. Pendemonium has them (usual disclaimer applies) and other non big box stationers may also have them.

[avraham]

Thanks for all of the feedback. After reading the responses, I purchased a Fisher broad blue refill last week. My local pen dealer (Oakman's in Reno, NV) has a large stock as a matter of fact. I am testing the refill at work and I am quite pleased with the results.

I have tried the Gels with less than good results.

Thanks again.

I have learned a great deal from this forum about fountain pens and lesser writing instuments in just a little over a month of membership.

 

Steve

[gregoron]

Try Schneider or Itoya Parker-style refills, if you want smooth and dark lines for black documentary ink.

 

However, I find that the smoothest and darkest black non-documentary ballpoint (not rollerball or gel) refill out there is Pilot's Dr. Grip "Turbo Charged" refill for the Center of Gravity pen (BRFN-10F). You can use this also with the following Pilot ballpoint pens: Pilot Knight, Pilot Ageless series, and Namiki Vanishing Point.

 

I did find a hack for the disposable Pilot Explorer Rollerball to take the Dr. Grip CoG refill above. The Explorer Rollerball is a disposable retractable pen that writes decently, but you can replace the rollerball refill with the Dr. Grip CoG ballpoint refill. You can buy this pen at your local stationary shop for $2.00 and the refills cost the same for a pack of two. To replace the refill, gently pry open the two prongs preventing the retractable pocket clip from slipping out, then slide it out. Make sure the narrower Dr. Grip refill goes into the spring in the barrel. You now have a sturdy and cheap Pilot Explorer Ballpoint.

 

 

Edited January 25, 2008 by gregoron

[lovemy51]

i like the schmidt capless refill parker style (serial #8900) they are smooooooth!!!!