Bock Rollerball Nib In Jinhao 886 Pen Beaufort Ink Converter

[Frank66]

ROLLERBALL NIB IN A FOUNTAIN PEN?

YES, YOU CAN!

 

http://i1376.photobucket.com/albums/ah12/phzervas/90518053-618D-4EED-BE38-BA86008708B0_zpstjy5j6fh.jpg

http://i1376.photobucket.com/albums/ah12/phzervas/6D909845-5944-4726-8D0A-A86A956EF415_zpsidbqsgqw.jpg

 

http://i1376.photobucket.com/albums/ah12/phzervas/4FF56273-9B69-4ECF-8CA6-4F8A1A5A2136_zpshegu2u9e.jpg

 

 

I recently exchanged the nib in a Jinhao 886 pen with a chrome

Bock Refillable Rollerball nib with a Tungsten carbide ball

that uses fountain pen ink

in a Beaufort Ink (UK) ink converter.

 

No need to worry about tines alignment any more, and

you can also use any kind of fountain pen ink or ink mix with a rollerball nib.

A Refillable rollerball with infinite ink shade capabilities.

Very easy and inexpensive mod.

Very smooth rollerball nib!

 

Closest similar product I could find is the J. Herbin rollerball fountain pen

found combined with a Monteverde Mini fountain pen converter
in Jetpens store: http://www.jetpens.com/J.-Herbin-Refillable-Rollerball-Pen-Medium-Point/pd/9760

or standard international cartridges only

at Goulet store: https://www.gouletpens.com/h215-00/p/H215-00

PARTS NEEDED & Cost:

1. chrome Bock Refillable Rollerball nib, from Bock UK representative, Beaufort Ink, UK:

http://www.beaufortink.co.uk/rbnibs.html

~ 5 euro

2. Beaufort Ink’s internnational ink converter, or any other international size converter:

http://www.beaufortink.co.uk/rbnibs.html

~ 4 euro

3. Jinhao 866 fountain pen, which by the way is an excellent little fountain pen per se,

from various ebay stores, like laoman123 or hejing1314:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/JINHAO-886-Green-most-stylish-pen-pocket-Medium-Nib-Fountain-Pen-New-/141598020786?hash=item20f7e654b2:g:zOwAAOSwOVpXXA8G or http://www.ebay.com/itm/Jinhao-886-Green-Medium-Nib-Fountain-Pen-New-Twist-cap-/141638417751?hash=item20fa4ebd57:g:kPcAAOSweW5VLlqP

~ 3 euro

Total cost = ~12 euro or USD

Size comparison of the modified Jinhao 886 pen with the Pilot Prera pen.

http://i1376.photobucket.com/albums/ah12/phzervas/8EE93827-1B21-4150-9B9B-4F04D1C4B962_zpsgmjpt0ih.jpg

Edited December 17, 2016 by Frank66

[IndianElf]

Never dries? Bruh.

[Frank66]

Here are some more pictures of the modification.

http://i1376.photobucket.com/albums/ah12/phzervas/6E6047E8-6A9B-4D4A-8EC0-17FAC0900670_zpsnnphunit.jpg

http://i1376.photobucket.com/albums/ah12/phzervas/C32FB105-16DA-4C58-9E59-5BAF450A4E0F_zpsfwlpvyvc.jpg

http://i1376.photobucket.com/albums/ah12/phzervas/87BD9CA6-65E1-4412-95AA-87106E264167_zpse2yepofd.jpg

http://i1376.photobucket.com/albums/ah12/phzervas/AEDFB314-E9E8-4E7A-B823-3D8F7D4AFA24_zps2tb5pnqg.jpg

http://i1376.photobucket.com/albums/ah12/phzervas/DC0858FA-77EB-4ED9-BEA5-91BE3C45305C_zpsivgz3yai.jpg

http://i1376.photobucket.com/albums/ah12/phzervas/ED5F9E0A-9ACD-4C43-8DF3-217D8A65B26B_zps4dngtpek.jpg

http://i1376.photobucket.com/albums/ah12/phzervas/397A7016-9ED4-4941-885F-9FF8779ED378_zpsi8ohjhmd.jpg

[usk15]

Impressive again!

[dompred]

Dear Fotis,

 

Thank you for sharing this exciting modification. I am waiting for some 886s to arrive and when they do I really would like to try it.

 

Does the rollerball unit has a feed? Any ink ink can be used with it? even non-fountain pen ink?

How do you actually fit it? You can just screw it? Does the nib unit of the 886 simply unscrews?

Have you tried any other inks? I am particularly interested in iron gall inks.

In terms of line width, where does it stand? What about shading? can you get any?

[Frank66]

Dear Fotis,

 

Thank you for sharing this exciting modification. I am waiting for some 886s to arrive and when they do I really would like to try it.

 

Does the rollerball unit has a feed? Any ink ink can be used with it? even non-fountain pen ink?

How do you actually fit it? You can just screw it? Does the nib unit of the 886 simply unscrews?

Have you tried any other inks? I am particularly interested in iron gall inks.

In terms of line width, where does it stand? What about shading? can you get any?

 

I am sorry I did not get back to you sooner, as your post slipped my attention since the topic changed subforum . To answer your questions:

 

- Rollerball unit has its own feed, and any kind of fountain pen ink can be used.

- Rollerball unit just fits in the space of the nib unit in the pen section.

- I have no access to iron gall inks, so I have not tried them in this pen or any other pen for this matter. But I guess any kind of fountain pen ink can be used as for any other fountain pen with an ink converter. Not to be used with any other non-fountain pen inks found in gel refills or other.

- In terms of line width, it compares with a western medium fountain pen nib.

 

Hope this could help. If you are willing to order the components and are ready to try it, please let me know and I will be glad to help you as much as I can.

I take this pen everyday with me, sometimes I slip it in my pocket, and for a couple of months now, and I have had no issues with it. You can lend it to a kid to write and not worry if the the nib will be affected It is especially useful when signing the copy slip of credit card payments which need to apply some pressure with the pen nib to write on both slips, you can not do this easily with a fountain pen nib. It is economic with the ink usage and I would describe it as a workhorse pen.

 

For me it is worth it doing the modification. Take good are,

Fotis

[keo]

Frank66-

 

Thank you very much for this idea! As soon as I read it, I ordered a couple of the rollerball units. They just came today and I inked one up right away with Sheaffer Skrip Red. So far it's working great, though I've only written about half a page so far. I'll post an update in a couple weeks when I've had a chance to use it more.

[Frank66]

Keo --

 

It is great that someone else is willing to try this modification. Once you have all the components at hand, just let me know (PM me if you want) and I will be glad to help you make the components fit. Regards, Frank.

[Frank66]

Just a writing sample, a quotation from Voltaire. This rollerball-fountain pen combo is always kept at hands distance... since I can use any type of fountain pen ink with the rollerball nib. Somehow, since this is a green body pen, green ink is mostly used with this pen.

 

http://i1376.photobucket.com/albums/ah12/phzervas/DABEB8C4-DDF8-41E7-A037-0384B2A7D851_zpsizjbzcle.jpg

Edited May 5, 2017 by Frank66

[Frank66]

Recently I was asked about further details of this modification procedures, and I gladly attaching the photoes below. Unfortunately, as the topic changed subforum since its initial publication, I never had the change to present these extra proc details. Here it is:

The Beaufort rollerball nib is a little slimmer than the original Jinhao fountain pen nib unit, hence initially it was a little loose inside the section. To make it fit inside the pen section, I used a slim copper tube 0.2mm thick around the rollerball nib, so this way it fit perfectly. Alternatively electrician's tape could have been used, but I found the copper tube a better alternative.

Below is a lab bench photo of the pen with the copper band fitted around the Beaufort rollerball nib, and further below a photo of my new 2 Jinhao's 866 ordered from laoman ebay store.

http://i1376.photobucket.com/albums/ah12/phzervas/7229834B-6F5F-4CCF-813A-E41DB172AC10_zpsyronqy7b.jpg

http://i1376.photobucket.com/albums/ah12/phzervas/635C9244-D726-4437-8F01-277892D5B559_zpszejnjzce.jpg

[usk15]

Thank you for updates and your help!

[usk15]

With help from Photios I have done a Jinhao 886 mod myself.

 

I have push out the whole fountain pen nib unit, use a single layer of black tape, plus a copper tube to add some width on the rollerball unit. I'm using long Waterman blue ink cartridges.

The rollerball unit I have used is Schmidt PRS Cartridge Rollerball System from here:

 

http://www.schmidtpenrefills.co.uk/Schmidt-Components-PRS-Cartridge-Rollerball-System-(40000466).htm

 

 

 

 

[Frank66]

Hi usk15, congratulations on your refillable rollerball pen modification. The pen looks very nice in black, so I am thinking I may get one myself to complement my two green and one yellow pens. Or is it your photography skills that are superb too?

 

So it is also nice to know that the both the Schmidt (yours) and Bock (mine) refillable rollerball nibs can be retrofitted in the Jinhao 866 pen. It is nice to note that you were able to use Waterman ink cartridges too.

 

Thanks for posting.

 

Frank66

Edited July 6, 2017 by Frank66

[Teffen]

Hi Usk 15 and Frank66, thank you for this very useful information and for the photos. Your posts are over two years old now, I wonder if you are still satisfied with these pens?

 

I would appreciate it if you could give me the diameter and length of your Bock and Schmidt PRS Cartridge Rollerball System adapters. I would like to use one of these to adapt a Baoer 516. This pen has a feed that is 7mm in diameter and is 20mm long. Hopefully, I will find something that fits these sizes.

 

Otherwise, I suppose I could attempt to change the section as well as the feed, but that might prove too difficult for my abilities!

 

Thank you once more for your help.

[Frank66]

Sorry double post, please see post below.

Edited March 7, 2020 by Frank66

[Frank66]

Hi Teffen. I have only good words to say about my pen with the rollerball nib. I usually carry around 8-10 pens and pencils in my bag, and this rollerball pen is always included. It is especially useful for filling in forms and signing documents and its nib is as smooth as a conventional rollerball, only thing is you choose the ink color and it is always refillable. The nib size is medium.

 

I cannot give you the exact dimension numbers at present, not until I get back to my office In a couple of weeks. I am currently in the hospital recovering from a heart coronary angioplasty which I had yesterday and everything went fine. Actually I have the pen with me in the hospital. Since I am writing this reply using my iphone, I do not know how to attach a picture of the pen at present.

 

Hopefully I am going home sometime next week and then I might be able to perhaps to add photos and nib dimensions. If you are in a hurry you might want to contact Phil at Beaufort ink and inquire him also.

Edited March 7, 2020 by Frank66

[Teffen]

Hi Frank66,

 

I appreciate very much your taking the time to reply from hospital!

 

I contacted Beaufort pens who replied with very precise measurements and I was able to do the adaptation with a black plastic PRP.

Beaufort Pens were very helpful and I can recommend them, though I have not yet bought the chrome version from them that I'm thinking of getting for another pen.

 

I should add that the Baoer 516 is ideal for this operation as the PRS fitting goes straight in to the section, to replace the nib and its housing. It takes only about five minutes to do. The fit is a bit tight with the plastic PRS. It's not something one would want to change frequently. Now that the PRS is fitted, I intend to leave it there. I'm very pleased with the result and it does write smoothly and, though the feel of the writing is not like a fountain pen (there is hardly any feedback as it's so smooth), the result looks somewhat like fountain pen writing not like something written with a rollerball.

 

It's a real pleasure to be able to choose the ink for the rollerball fitting!

 

I have the medium sized PRS nib and would like to try the finer version which I have read about, if I can get that from Beaufort Pens, so as to have finer writing to compare with my present version which writes slighly thick and wet — not that this is a problem.

 

Thank you once again for having originally shared this idea of the adaptation; it saved my Baoer 516 which didn't write because of a feed problem.

 

Don't worry about the measurements or the photos as I have solved my original problem and I hope that others will be able to benefit from your idea as I can confirm it works extremely well with the Baoer 516 (at least for the moment!). Your being able to confirm that the PRS adapter works so well after two years is very reassuring.

 

Please let me wish you a fast recovery and better health once you're out of hospital. All the best, Teffen

[Frank66]

Hi Teffen, thank you very much for your wishes! Nothing like a nice hobby like pens to take your mind away while recuperating...

I am glad to hear you were able to adapt a refillable rollerball nib into your Baoer 516 pen. Seems like a good pen modification for me to do also, perhaps later in the near future, when imports from China get normal again and my liffe gets normal again.. Could you please share with us? Did you have to use the Beaufort ink converter or the Baoer converter worked fine for you? Best regards, Frank66

 

Edited March 19, 2020 by Frank66