Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Pen Refills Guide

unsharpen.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

41–50 of 58 posts

Re: Pen Refills Guide

#41

Post by Nursie »

criddell wrote: post #39
Nursie wrote: post #32

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

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.

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.

Re: Pen Refills Guide

#44

Post by techwizrd »

beat wrote: post #38

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…

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.

Re: Pen Refills Guide

#45

Post by throwanem »

criddell wrote: post #31
ThePhysicist wrote: post #13

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 int…

> 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.

Pilot cartridges are very easy to refill with a dropper, or a syringe with a dispensing needle; you can pull out the little plastic seal with tweezers, fill the cartridge, and then push the seal back in with the back of a chopstick or similar.

That way, you avoid the wastage of throwing out empty cartridges, which are effectively unrecyclable because of the leftover ink inside and also because they don't carry material markings. They also hold considerably more than a converter, and not all Pilot pens (such as my Decimo) can even take a converter in the first place; worse, even if your pen can take a converter, refilling one at work or similar is a messy, time-consuming pain in the neck, where cartridges are easy to carry and quick to swap.

Whether you use a cartridge or a converter, it's also worth noting that inks formulated for Western pens often have trouble flowing in the narrower feeds and finer nibs of Japanese pens; I've had considerable trouble with Herbin and Monteverde inks in my Pilots, while they flow perfectly well in Western pens with broader nibs. Something to keep in mind to avoid the frustration of constant hard starts and other flow problems. Pilot's Iroshizuku line is well matched to their pens, and offers an extensive range of colors; for a Metropolitan, especially one with a nib narrower than M, I'd recommend starting there.

Re: Pen Refills Guide

#46

Post by habosa »

criddell wrote: post #30
pujjad wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

I'm still using the same (cheap) Pentel P205 pencils that I got in university in 1989. I've bought lots of different pencils over the years of all different price ranges and I always come back the pencil I have the most history with.

I used a single Pentel P205 pencil daily for 6+ years between high school and college. Those things are amazing.

Re: Pen Refills Guide

#47

Post by criddell »

beat wrote: post #38

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…

I also like the Hi-Tec-C refills. I wanted to use them with a pen that takes a (IIRC) Parker style refill so I used a 3d-printer to print an adapter I slide over the refill.

Re: Pen Refills Guide

#48

Post by dwringer »

olah_1 wrote: post #40

What is the most environmentally friendly analog writing tool? How is ink made? Is it less invasive than mining graphite, etc?

> 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

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

Re: Pen Refills Guide

#50

Post by hestipod »

beat wrote: post #38

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…

I've been on the hunt for the "perfect" body for years after having gone way too in depth into testing refills and obsessing over minutiae of the writing experience, but I seem to want the opposite of what most people do. I want the perfect "cheap" capped body for a Pilot G2 1.0mm refill. I've tried all the other equivalent refills and this is my jam. The closest body I have found is the Energel Deluxe capped body, but it requires modification that often breaks the tip opening so that a Pilot refill can fit through it since it annoyingly has a larger tip on the 1.0mm than the other compatible refills like Energel, Sarasa etc. Pilot doesn't make a refillable capped body like this. I don't like the heavy or metal fancy pen bodies most people are drawn too, which is good for me as they cost too much anyway and I don't have disposable income, but it's one of those little annoying first world issues in life I wish I could solve. My perfect body would be a clear demonstrator type capped body (easy to see ink level and color) of the diameter I like, with a decent grip material. Really the Energel above, clear, with the proper tip for the G2, and a better clip, would be 90% there for me. Small problems.
Post reply on HN