Rolling The Ball With Bottles Of Ink....

[amilliron]

Okay, so yet again another post about refillable rollerballs. I like the concept because I can refill with my various FP ink's, and maintain those qualities.

 

As a lefty, a rollerball can sometimes be better to use at work or in fast writing situations where I would be concerned that forgetting to cap (or pausing during lecture) my FP could result in it drying out more quickly, hence difficult to start writing again. Didn't want to constantly cap / uncap and a Vanishing Point isn't justified due to price....yet. I like Noodlers Kung Te Cheng as it's got a great color, dries quickly (lefty), and is permanent (I spill coffee....)

 

Unfortunately, as an engineer I really like a consistent bold line of ink, and that's difficult to get with any pen except a good FP, which again can't be used in all situations.

 

So on to rollerballs!!

 

I've tried some (J Herbin) and purchased the innards of a Monteverde (didn't want to spring for price of actual pen until I knew if I liked it) and they both ended up being scratchy to write with, and in some cases difficult to start.

 

Has anyone had good success with a refillable rollerball around 0.5 mm ink line? Are any hacks available?

 

I see that Rotring offers their Isograph and Radiograph pens in 0.5 and I could use a needle filled with ink to refill their refills....anyone try this?? Any other ideas?

 

 

 

Thanks!

Aubrey

[Studio97]

I have refilled Montblanc rollerballs a few times but finally gave it up and drop in a TUL gel cartridge from my TUL stock. I used an ink syringe to refill my MB rollerballs.

Edited August 11, 2017 by Studio97

[amberleadavis]

Aubrey, the Faber Castel kids refillable rollerballs worked very well for me. Right now in the classifieds you can find Schneider Rollerballs and online you can find the J Herbin refillable rollerballs.

[californiabob]

I, too, am looking for a more permanent solution of RBs and fountain pen inks.

 

here are some solutions

 

1. Herbin rollerballs are great except the pens are smaller and occasionally they clog if they are not

refillable quickly. Plastic demos are widely available here in the US. More non-transparent ones are

available outside the US at about $25 each.

2. Kaweco Ink rollers are great but discontinued. a bit better, handling-wise, than the herbins

3. Zebra R301s use a special cartridge but you can use fountain pen ink in these. Use a Lamy

cartridge and refill using a syringe. problem is cap is loose and the pen is close to being disposable,

4. Monteverde Invincia inkball. great pen - weight and size are excellent BUT scratchy unless you

use a lubricated ink like Noodlers Eel Black.

 

tried noodlers RB tip in their pens - leaked and I gave up. tried some of the kiddy pens and they were

worse than cheap.

 

I am looking at using a Bock or Schmidt RB tip inside a #5 Jinhao (886, maybe 991). Awaiting parts

and testing.

 

While I love FPs, I need RBs for their instant starts and large ink capacities (hate it when they run dry
​and you can't tell if there's ink still inside like most squeeze converters), doesn't burp (like on airplanes),

etc.

 

Even tried a Chinese Delike to try to use its longer barrel for bigger carts or even a converter but the

Delike and Kaweco sections have different threading and do not mate properly.

 

so, the quest goes on.

[Geirrod]

I'm still bruised from buying the Monteverde Mega Ink Ball. It had a great feel depending on the ink you used. But they stopped making replacement rollerball heads(you would have to replace them after every 200 pages or so) leaving those of us who bought the pen high and dry.

[tamiya]

Has anyone had good success with a refillable rollerball around 0.5 mm ink line? Are any hacks available?

 

I see that Rotring offers their Isograph and Radiograph pens in 0.5 and I could use a needle filled with ink to refill their refills....anyone try this?? Any other ideas?

I have revived my vintage Staedtler Marsmatic 700s and tried them with FP ink; works fine except dye inks are never as intense as the original proper technical pen pigment ink.

 

Am also playing with Pilot V5 Hi-Techpoint with their refillable cartridge; haven't yet tried FP inks in them though.

 

Also have an oddity from Herlitz, their RollOn series is a rollerball fed by their std international cartridge. Have tried a few different FP inks through it, writes well never skips. Line is quite thick though & pen is plasticky.

[amilliron]

Wow all, thanks for the replies. I've tried the Herbin ones but they do seem to be a bit scratchy. With being a lefty, my inks need to dry pretty quickly or my left hand and paper quickly become a mess!!

 

i have tried the V7 from pilot with KTC from Noodlers, and I like it though it is too thick a line for me. I do need to try the V5, that may be the best option here even though I don't like the cheap feel of it.

 

For the others, it seems like a quest, with no good options and lots of compromises.......

 

If anyone hacks anything together that seems to work well I'd love to hear about it!!

[amberleadavis]

I'm still bruised from buying the Monteverde Mega Ink Ball. It had a great feel depending on the ink you used. But they stopped making replacement rollerball heads(you would have to replace them after every 200 pages or so) leaving those of us who bought the pen high and dry.

 

I hate them for doing that whole thing.

[RMN]

At one time, I wanted to buy one, but was warned off by the salesman of the penshop. He told me the idea was good, but that the balls in RBs (and BPs) wear down with rolling. That doesn't matter on a disposable refill, But when the refill becomes a fixed part of the pen it does.

 

 

So I went on to another nice FP instead.

 

 

D.ick

[YPwalt]

I bought one of the Rosetta magellan rollerballs from iPenstore a while back and have been really happy with it...takes all standard international cartridges. haven't had to replace the tip / ball yet, so I can't speak to that

[amberleadavis]

YPawlt how broad is the tip?

 

Has anyone tried the Schneider?

[amilliron]

Interesting YPawlt, this is from iPen's site:

 

Ink Cartridge Rollerball Pen: The Rosetta Roller ink cartridge rollerball accepts fountain pen ink cartridges or a converter so that you can use your favorite fountain pen ink in a rollerball pen. Made for Rosetta by Schmidt of Germany, the tip is rated for 20,000 lineal feet of smooth writing. Medium tip is 0.7 mm. Schmidt recommends replacing the rollerball tip every 30 fillings. Additional Schmidt ink cartridge rollerball tips are available in our Rosetta Replacement Parts section.

 

Like that, but still seems a bit thick (.7) so would probably have a wetter ink line than I would like. Wet ink for me makes a smeary mess when my left hand drags across like a wet seal going down the beach!!

 

Anyway, thanks for the info!!!

[bluebellrose]

At one time, I wanted to buy one, but was warned off by the salesman of the penshop. He told me the idea was good, but that the balls in RBs (and BPs) wear down with rolling. That doesn't matter on a disposable refill, But when the refill becomes a fixed part of the pen it does.

 

 

So I went on to another nice FP instead.

 

 

D.ick

The refillable pilot one is listed on Jetpens as only being able to be refilled 10 times. Someone mentioned cannibalizing the tips on the disposables on Goulet Pens

[calvin_0]

Noodler's Kondrad Rollerball is great.. it's pretty smooth writer... and it uses bottle ink... since it's a piston filler, no converter to deal with.. and it look great... the only down side is, it's write like a medium...

 

Edited October 31, 2017 by calvin_0

[amberleadavis]

I'm still bruised from buying the Monteverde Mega Ink Ball. It had a great feel depending on the ink you used. But they stopped making replacement rollerball heads(you would have to replace them after every 200 pages or so) leaving those of us who bought the pen high and dry.

 

I'm still mad everytime I look at mine.

[amberleadavis]

Interesting YPawlt, this is from iPen's site:

 

Ink Cartridge Rollerball Pen: The Rosetta Roller ink cartridge rollerball accepts fountain pen ink cartridges or a converter so that you can use your favorite fountain pen ink in a rollerball pen. Made for Rosetta by Schmidt of Germany, the tip is rated for 20,000 lineal feet of smooth writing. Medium tip is 0.7 mm. Schmidt recommends replacing the rollerball tip every 30 fillings. Additional Schmidt ink cartridge rollerball tips are available in our Rosetta Replacement Parts section.

 

Like that, but still seems a bit thick (.7) so would probably have a wetter ink line than I would like. Wet ink for me makes a smeary mess when my left hand drags across like a wet seal going down the beach!!

 

Anyway, thanks for the info!!!

 

I might be willing to try it.