Seeking advice on pen refills

bquinlan

bquinlan

Joined
Jan 5, 2001
Messages
2,726
<Rant Mode On>
I've used Fisher pressurized refills for several years, but I have finally had it. Out of more than a dozen refills, both multi-pen and full-sized cartridges, I have not had one that wrote reliably in more than a year. I understand that they seem to work fine for most people, but these are from multiple batches and they all have the same problems. They skip, leave blobs, and often just won't write at all. As hard as I've tried, I just can't stand it anymore!
<Rant Mode Off>

So... I am looking for non-pressurized replacement cartridges for my pens. Most of my pens take those short multi-pen refills. The others need a Sensa ballpoint cartridge, which I think is the same as a Fisher cartridge.

I'm hoping you folks can give me some advice on a few pen-related things...

What other cartridges, besides the Sensa and Fisher, will fit in a Sensa ballpoint (Classic and Zephyr models)? Which of those other cartridges writes the most smoothly and reliably?

Which multi-pen refills write the most smoothly and reliably?

I would appreciate any guidance you can give me.

--Bob Q
 
I thought it might also help to mention that I have a real fondness for rollerballs and my limited experiences with gel pens have been very positive too. I'd love to find replacements of either type that would work.

--Bob Q
 
The Fishers are crap. My fave refills are by Lamy, though I don't know what pens the Lamy refills will or won't fit. Ditto the multipen refills ... After buying a bunch of multipen refills, I'm pretty sure the one in my pen right now (which was far and away the smoothest-writing refill) was the Lamy.
 
I used to use Fisher but I had some bad ones too, and I went back to Parker. Parker has improved their cartridges; they're really good now. I'm using Cross in my pens that take that kind.
 
I have a rather expensive ballpoint that I got maybe 15 years ago, and use mostly for ceremonial occasions ;) but from time to time I reach for a pen and there it is. The Parker refill writes immediately and cleanly. I've had good luck with all my Fisher's though. I just put a Zero Gravity through the washer AND dryer (GDI!) and it wrote perfectly, warm from tumbling for 40 minutes, and didn't leak at all.
 
Joe Talmadge said:
The Fishers are crap. My fave refills are by Lamy, though I don't know what pens the Lamy refills will or won't fit.
Click to expand...
Lamy refills only fits Lamy shafts. They will not fit the Fisher or Sensa bodies. You can pick up a cheap Lamy BP for around $10-$15 to give the BP a try. Best is the M16B's (Broad points). Writes way smoother than the Mediums.
 
I favor Fountain pens but...

I like ballpoint pens that take Parker type refills, there are many available (both pens and refills) from different makers and easy to find, some are very good, including the original Parkers and the Spanish made Inoxcrom, I recently bought some Inoxcrom Gel Ink refills that fit Parker ballpoints and they are quiet nice.

My EDC ballpoint is a Fisher Bullet Clone that takes the Parker refills.

Luis
 
Thanks for the information! Sounds like I'm stuck on the Sensas, but I will pick up a few Parker and Lamy multi-pen refills to try out.

--Bob Q
 
bquinlan said:
but I will pick up a few Parker and Lamy multi-pen refills to try out.
Click to expand...
Don't bother with the Lamy Multi-points. They're pretty much like the others. The best BP refill from Lamy is their full size one, the M16.
 
I own quite a few "nice" pens...and my personal preference leans to roller balls, as opposed to ball point or fountain pens (And I want to emphasize "preference" as this is definitely a matter of personal taste).

I have several "short" pens including several of the Retro 1951 Tornados (fun and inexpensive), and a Monteverde (also relatively inexpensive). For those pens, I've begun using a roller ball refill, which was just recently "re-released." It's refered to as a "Parker style", and this one is made by Itoya. Schmidt also makes an excellent refill, in pretty much any size you need.

I like the Parker-style roller balls so much I've begun using them in a few of my better pens as well (I have them in one of my Auroras, in a cool Tiger Striped limited edition Bexley, and my limited edition all black Delta). I've come to learn that expensive doesn't necessarily mean better when it comes to roller balls refills. Pilot makes a great refill, one of my favorites...it's a gel roller ball, called the G2 (and all of the aforementioned refills are quite inexpensive as well...averaging no more than a $1 buck or so apiece...some less).

Having said all that, I think your best bet is to just get over to a decent pen store. I'm sure they'll be more than happy to let you try out a few until you find what you like. I did a quick Google on Austin, TX and found what looks to be my kind of pen store:
http://www.paradisepen.com/paradise/

Give them a try...Take your pens along with you to insure you get the correct refills. That'll solve the whole issue in one stop. ;)


Dennis Greenbaum

Yeah Baby! :cool:
 
tonyccw said:
Don't bother with the Lamy Multi-points. They're pretty much like the others. The best BP refill from Lamy is their full size one, the M16.
Click to expand...

Hmmm... I can tell you that my Lamy multi-pen refill completely outclasses Rotring and Fisher multi-pen refilles, and in fact approaches the smoothness of full-size cartridges. I've tried two of the Lamys, and a whole bunch of the Rotring and Fisher multipen refilles.
 
Joe Talmadge said:
Hmmm... I can tell you that my Lamy multi-pen refill completely outclasses Rotring and Fisher multi-pen refilles, and in fact approaches the smoothness of full-size cartridges. I've tried two of the Lamys, and a whole bunch of the Rotring and Fisher multipen refilles.
Click to expand...
That may be the case, but they still suffer from skipping and drying out. That and the horrendous short supply of ink. I have been a Lamy user for a long time, and I've never liked the Multi-points and the roller balls. The new M21, a shorter version of the M16, as used in the Pico, is a much better alternative than the Multi-point. Still waiting for Lamy to have a decent supply of them. I'd rather carry a couple of Pico's with different inks and have the main with a M16, than use a Lamy Multi-point.
 
Dennis Greenbaum's suggestion is a great one. I went to a local stationary store and got just what I needed. You pay a little more for the service and knowledge and save yourself from buying a bunch of refills that don't meet your needs.

$4.25 seemed like a lot of money for a rollerball refill until I considered how much it would cost to "test drive" the stuff at Wal-mart or Office Depot ;)
 
I"ve been planning to pick up a Pico to see how it does. BTW, my Lamy multipen refills both write very smoothly, no obnoxious skipping. I might've just gotten lucky. Obviously, it won't take long for the ink to run out
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top