
Pen Refills Guide - thomas
https://unsharpen.com/pen-refill-guide/
======
echelon
Rotring makes the best pens and mechanical pencils, bar none.

They're well-built, stylish, and incredibly durable. They do not look or feel
cheap, and they're perfectly weighted.

After years of experimenting with different models and refills, I've found the
one brand I'll stick with forever.

Do yourself a favor and look them up.

~~~
pujjad
I own a rotring 600 which my father used 40 years ago - indestructable.
However my Pentel GraphGear 1000 is so much better: metal body, rectractable
tip (so I can carry it in my pocket), great grip, great balance.

~~~
echelon
Try the Rotring 800. It's all of those things. It's a bit more expensive than
the Pentel, but if you're not prone to losing pencils, I think you'll like it.

~~~
pujjad
Yes have eyed that up already, but much more expensive. I can loose the Pentel
knowing it's "just" another £8.

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ThePhysicist
I've been writing with Mitsubishi ball pens before but switched to a fountain
pen - a simple Lamy with a fine feather - and I can really recommend it. The
writing experience is very nice as the pen requires very little pressure to
write and with a little practice the result looks very good. I also bought a
small flask of black ink and an ink converter (a small ink cartridge allowing
you to draw ink from the flask into the cartridge via the pen) to refill it,
which I have to do roughly every two weeks. I've been almost exclusively
writing with the pen since more than a year and went through less than a
quarter of the flask so far, so it's more economic than using ball pens as
well I'd say.

~~~
criddell
> refill it, which I have to do roughly every two weeks

Why is it that a fountain pen needs to be filled in a matter of weeks and a
cheap Bic Cristal never runs out of ink?

I have an inexpensive Pilot Metropolitan that I do like writing with, but the
amount of ink I put through it seems crazy for how much I write.

~~~
Nursie
The ink is very different. A Bic crystal uses a very oily, very pigment-dense
ink compared to the water-based, free-flowing ink used in fountain pens.

Used to use the pilot disposable fountains myself, they're pretty good.

~~~
criddell
I guess the ink, since it is water based, would also evaporate. I keep my pen
firmly capped, so that's probably not a huge factor.

~~~
Nursie
The ink will evaporate, yes, and leave its pigment behind. Which is one reason
you sometimes need to wash out a fountain pen if you haven't used it for a
while.

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beat
One nice thing about refills is that it gets you into a much nicer class of
pen body - it's amazing how much difference a nice texture and better weight
and balance can make. Of course, then you need to be careful to not lose them!

I habitually carry multiple pens - at very least, a fountain pen and a
disposable ballpoint that I like (Uni-Ball Jetstream). The ballpoint is for
signing receipts mostly, so I don't have to use whatever they give me, and for
loaning to people who suddenly need a pen. I assume I'll never get it back
when that happens.

I sometimes carry a fine Sharpie as well, for things where I want a wider line
on whatever sorts of surfaces. And if I'm really swinging, I'll have other
disposables.

For a while, I was carrying a Retro51 Tornado (beautiful and affordable) with
a Monteverde blue-black gel refill that is maybe the nicest-looking ink I've
found. But it's a bit broader than I like, and they don't make a finer point.

I also really love the Pilot Hi-Tec-C, but unfortunately, they don't really
make proper refills for it, and the disposable bodies are trash, to put it
nicely. Absolutely the best fine-line disposable writing experience, though.

~~~
techwizrd
I also habitually carry fountain pens, a ball point or gel pen, and a
mechanical pencil (Pentel Graphgear 1000). My EDC fountain pens typically
includes a Visconti Homo Sapiens Maxi Bronze Age, Pelikan Souverän M805 Ocean
Swirl, and a Lamy 2000 (inked with Montblanc Oyster Grey) in a leather pen
case. I also carry a Kaweco Liliput with a Monteverde green refill when I'm
traveling and it is impractical to carry/use my pen case.

The vast majority of my writing, however, is in fountain pen. It may not be as
convinient as a ball point or gell pen, but the writing experience is just far
better--especially for more expensive fountain pens.

~~~
beat
I'm mostly using a Super5 fountain pen, about on par with a Lamy Safari, with
Monteverde blue-black ink. Totally agree on the writing experience... a
fountain pen just feels so much better than any ball-type or felt-type pen. So
my EDC is just the Super5 and a Uni-Ball Jetstream (mostly for receipts), but
I really should carry another pen as a sacrificial "Hey, do you have a pen I
can borrow?"

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hungrynerd
If it ever seems like the refill/pen is dried but you can clearly see ink
still in there on a rollerball or gel pen, dip the tip in some really hot
water for a few seconds and it'll revive most refills.

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King-Aaron
As an aside, a little tip my father taught me was to always carry a
handkerchief/towelette sort of thing in your pocket to clean the nib of your
pen before you write. That'll take away the smear of leftover ink that
collects at the tip, and makes your writing generally turn out neater/ with
less mess.

------
y2bd
Also strongly recommend cross-referencing the guide on Well-Appointed Desk:
[https://www.wellappointeddesk.com/2014/06/epic-refill-
guide-...](https://www.wellappointeddesk.com/2014/06/epic-refill-guide-
rollerball-gel-and-ballpoints/)

The OP article has a good focus on the more technical details, while the guide
I linked above gives large lists of specific pens/refills compatible which
each refill.

~~~
MegaDeKay
A list like that is not very useful because there is a wide variation in
quality between refills of the same size. Better to find a comparison between
refills of a given size, like this one for D1s.

[https://penpaperpencil.net/comparison-of-d1-refills-part-
two...](https://penpaperpencil.net/comparison-of-d1-refills-part-two/)

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dehrmann
This would be incredibly useful if I didn't always lose pens before they run
out of ink.

~~~
redwall_hp
I've found pens to more commonly break before they run out of ink anyway. And
my preferred roller ball pens (Uniball Air Micro) aren't refillable anyway.

But I've taken to using a Pilot Metropolitan fountain pen more often anyway,
and that's easily and cheaply refillable from a bottle of ink.

~~~
nstart
Heh. I've found that my odds of breaking a pen are negatively correlated to
the price of the pen. I switched to using pigma microns at the beginning of
the year. Just starting on my 3rd pen. The first two are not only not broken,
but they are also neatly arranged in my stationery drawyer. Marked as
finished.

Wish they had a way of refilli g the inks on these pens. I wanted to try
fountain pens but couldn't find archival quality ink (waterproof + smudge
proof once dried) for them.

~~~
snazz
Noodler’s Bulletproof Black is pretty darn archival-quality. I bought a bottle
when I was briefly fascinated with fountain pens (it’s cheap too!) and tested
the strength claims by soaking the paper overnight. No ink loss, though the
paper came apart when I tried to get it back out.

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nsomaru
Any one else prefer writing with an extremely fine felt tip? My preference is
the artline series. Gives the benefits of fountain – no pressure required, but
also gives control and speed

~~~
beat
I sometimes use Micron art pens, and the Sharpie pens aren't too bad either.
But I'm a fountain pen user 90% of the time, so I'm spoiled.

------
pivic
Speaking of which, I have to give Wancher a shout out for publishing this
guide on how to refill Japanese vintage fountain pens:
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ejuLvB08-nA](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ejuLvB08-nA)

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olah_1
What is the most environmentally friendly analog writing tool?

How is ink made? Is it less invasive than mining graphite, etc?

~~~
dwringer
> What is the most environmentally friendly analog writing tool?

I don't know how practical it is, but the wax tablet[1][2] is perhaps the
closest thing meeting this description that I've seen currently available
[that I can think of, anyway]. No personal endorsement or any agreements or
experience one way or the other with the seller, just something I found and
thought was interesting.

[1] [https://www.scribalworkshop.com/shop/historic-wax-
tablet](https://www.scribalworkshop.com/shop/historic-wax-tablet)

[2] [https://www.scribalworkshop.com/blog/2019/6/5/how-to-use-
a-w...](https://www.scribalworkshop.com/blog/2019/6/5/how-to-use-a-wax-tablet)

------
hestipod
Here is another similar one I had saved:
[https://www.wellappointeddesk.com/2014/06/epic-refill-
guide-...](https://www.wellappointeddesk.com/2014/06/epic-refill-guide-
rollerball-gel-and-ballpoints/)

------
basicplus2
The rise and fall of the pocket protector...

[https://www.americanscientist.org/article/rise-and-fall-
of-t...](https://www.americanscientist.org/article/rise-and-fall-of-the-
pocket-protector)

------
clairity
zebra sarasas (cobalt color) are my faves! they smear less than other gel pens
like the G2’s, which is good for lefties. great to know they’re an ISO
standard size (parker-style G2).

~~~
drivers99
+1 for Zebra Sarasa. (I was excited to see it mentioned as well.) I'm a fan of
them (for 15+ years) since someone I knew who owned an office supply store
introduced them to me. They look a lot like G2's but if you look closely at a
G2 you see a brown smear of color at the top of the refill which Sarasa
doesn't have.

However, I cross out things often (to do lists), and sometimes draw a line
across the page (as a divider), and if you do that, you will get a big blog of
ink on the next letter you write. Another issue I've had is that some batches
I've gotten were unreliable.

I recently got into fountain pens (which I thought this article would mention;
figuring out refills was confusing for me at first). I have a cheap one (as
far as fountain pens go, $18 but it's refillable (Sheaffer VFM)) and it's
really great: no more blob issues at all.

~~~
clairity
yah, blobs seem to be an issue with many ink pens, gel or otherwise. when i
need to draw lines, i usually pull out a tissue or napkin to dab off the extra
ink after each line.

~~~
elSidCampeador
You might wanna try out Pilot Vpen [1] - its a disposable fountain pen
available in a couple of colour options. I've been using them for 3 years now
without issues, and no blobs form (generally, unless the paper was a tissue
paper or smth)

[1] [https://www.jetpens.com/Pilot-Vpen-Disposable-Fountain-
Pen-B...](https://www.jetpens.com/Pilot-Vpen-Disposable-Fountain-Pen-Black-
Medium-Nib/pd/6673)

~~~
pivic
Have you tried the Pilot 78G? It's a quite reliable and yet cheap fountain
pen:
[https://www.penaddict.com/blog/2013/11/27/pilot-78g-fountain...](https://www.penaddict.com/blog/2013/11/27/pilot-78g-fountain-
pen-review)

~~~
npongratz
Are the 78Gs still manufactured, or have they been replaced with the
Metropolitan? I haven't directly compared the 78G with Metropolitan, but I've
been disappointed with how wide my Metro writes despite having a fine nib.

