A cheap TRULY REFILLABLE roller ball VS the Bic Cristal ball point
UPDATE 08/07/2023: Here is a late but much needed report on how long lasting this pen is. I used this pen every day for many months for general writing. Refilled it many times. I discovered that after that much use the roller ball actually wears out. The fine lines it used to produce got thicker and thicker over time. Becoming more like a 0.7-1mm pen nib by the end of it. It was very slow and did take lots of use. But in hindsight this whole environmental aspect of this video seems rather silly. I'm just very biased against the Bic Cristal.
I bought some cheap refillable "Fountain Pen-type Gel Pen 0.38/0.5mm Transparent Calligraphy Signature Pen Replaceable Ink Sac and Can Absorb Ink Pen", off Aliexpress, yes that's what they called it. Which is basically a truly refillable roller ball pen. Unlike most 'refillable' ball point/roller balls which use replaceable internal pens also known as 'refills'. I also talk too much about the Bic Cristal and then call the other refillable pen a ball point too because I'm dumb. Then I sketch some bad art. You're welcome.
I've found him. The dankpod of pens. Love your content!
I never expected to see a Dankpods reference on a random pen video. What a weird world.
Best channel for weird art nerds. I am one. And I love your videos.
My BIC just ran out. My wife suggested refilling it with fountain pen ink. I thought that sounded perfectly potty but squirted some Platinum Carbon in anyway. The pen is glorious! Super smooth. No skipping. None of the drag you usually get with biros. A bit like a rollerball but you can tell the ink is better quality. I'm sure it'll leak everywhere when I'm not looking, though :)
It looks like a lamy safari copy. Since there is metal on metal wear in the tip, it might be worthwhile looking into what kind of anti-wear additives go into water-glycol based hydraulic fluid. Hydraulic systems also have lots of metal parts that rub together. Propolene Glycol is a good choice for starters because it is one of the glycol bases for water-glycol hydraulic fluid (and it's non-toxic). Some additives you can look at are ZDDP, phosponates, polymers like PAG, and borate esters.
Great informative video, the ink view port is for the normal international cartridges rather than a converter. Then obviously ditto for the transparent body as the original was opaque. But yeah, good video.
The trick with Chinese stuff is that China makes really high quality stuff... exclusively for the Chinese market. So yeah when you find a really good Chinese product, it's not a fluke. You were just not meant to have access to it.
That was hilarious. Well-done and thanks, on the path to using up a ton of ink and stop throwing away pens
The intro was brilliantly tragic information. Now I am side-eyeing my Pilot Acro 300 😂.
I like these pens. Good night!
Have you tried other inks? I've tried 4 inks so far with mixed results. All of mine have taken time to start writing, if they do. Noodlers eel black doesn't work. Diamine Writer's Blood only works in the .5 correctly, in the .38 it's super light. Both pilot inks work for both sizes, better in the .38 though.
can you use nanquim ink for those pen or it will clog the pen?
Looks like they took a shell of a knockoff Lamy Safary, and installed there a different feeding mechanism most likely those are parts normally used for disposable rollerball pens, and it's a bad sign. Because the disposable rollerballs or ballpoints can only write so long. Actually, there's a similar pen from Pilot, you can refill them like this one and also change the tip. Some people have already tested long term use of rollerball on Pilot's product, and usually a fresh rollerball tip will be able to handle only several refills. In the Pilot's implementation you can actually replace the feed together with the rollerball tip, so it's a bit better solution. Eventually the ball wears down and needs replacement. Also consider that besides the friction the ink itself eats away at the ball because those inks frequently have corrosive properties. That's why they try to make fountain pen nibs with iridium on the tip (a very, very resilient material). Either way having a reusable rollerball pen doesn't seem possible for now.
I now agree with you on all points. I used one for ages after making this video and the thing didn't last. Sometimes I wonder if I should delete this video. As I no longer agree with the overly positive spin I put on it.
Can this or anything like it be found on Amazon? Thanks. 😊
I prefer fountain pens to rollerballs. With fountain pens, there is no ink beading at the tip, and I find them much smoother than any rollerball. Fountain pen nibs also last much longer. P.S. I don't see the point in drawing with ballpoint pens. Graphite is more consistent (no ink beading, for one) and far more archival.
I have 2 of this roller ball pen but it skips during writing 😢😢😢
Doesn't matter, my work place and my sweaty hands were never friendly to water based ink so I still have to lean over to a good old ballpoint.
I bought 15 of these last week for around the price a packet of Bics. Glad I bought the 0.5 Bullet. Could you please draw a Mrs Mac's with a Vegemite topping next to a Crownie. Thanks 😃
I don't know. Condensing that much of Australia on a single piece of paper might be dangerous.
i dont want to ruin your dream but those roller pen still have moving parts so the ball tend to wear off after 20 refils pretty much, if they don't clog before that... fountain pens in the other hand will work longer without moving parts.(especialy if you have an eye dropper pen. (i think the 0.5 version feels better as well)
Can I get the name of the refillable rollerball? I want one.
You have made me curious too .... would you plz link the pen or tell what the pen is called? Compared to the Iso/Rapidograph.... how is it like?
This was the one I bought: www.aliexpress.com/item/1005001498863713.html?spm=a2g0s.9042311.0.0.27424c4d4XvtU3 Or if you search for something like: 'Piston Fountain Pen Style Gel Pen' and similar items should appear on Ali-express. Compared to the Rotring Isograph it might be able to give off similar results but doesn't feel as smooth and deliberate. The tiny ball on mine gently tells me about every microscopic feature on the paper, even more than my 0.35 Rotring, doesn't feel scratchy though ... And it does have the advantage of being able to do extremely quick sketches with it unlike the Rotring.
@@Ashsibe Thanks for the links :) I'll make that a project for 2022. Right now I'm testing some Lamy fountain pens and if they are any good for sketch/doodle and transporing around.
6:38 aww cute
Actually, from what I've read online about refillable rollerballs, you'd still need to buy another pen from time to time. The reason is simply that if you keep refilling it, the mechanism that holds the ball in place _will eventually wear out_ and the pen will start gushing ink. Ballpoints/Rollerballs unfortunately aren't engineered to last ^u^. (And yes, I assume that it's fixable if you use better materials that don't wear out/wear out less) Noodlers and a few others (Like Schmidt) also sell refillable "rollerball units" that fit in their fountain pens, so you buy less plastic each time. It's also better if you think that everything chinese is inherently bad thanks to sinophobia. Noodlers also sells a line of lubricated inks, they *might* decrease wear on the "rollerball clutch"? Oh, and there's also some french company with a refillable rollerball. But from reviews, it seems to be worse than all the others.
That's a good point about the ball wearing out. Especially since I put a pigmented ink in it for the extra abrasiveness. Well see how long it lasts as I might give an update on it later on. I seem to be using it every day for writing. Also I don't know what you mean with the 'sinophobia' comment. Sorry if came across as sinophobic if that was the case. I was more talking about the capitalistic drive to produce disposable products.... most of which come out of china... which I then buy and then I often get impressed by their value.
@@Ashsibe What's sinophobia?
@@Bum_Numba_One Something to do with fear and or hatred of China I think.
The noodlers eel inks don't work in these rollarball pens.
@@collins3D Sad
I'm gonna buy another one and I DARE you to stop me.
Wheres the damn link to buy?
Didn't Noodler's make one of these?
Except you have to throw it away when the ball wears out. Sigh. Replaceable balls?
It’s an interesting review of this pen, but it’s strange that you spent more than 13 minutes and never mentioned what the name was. It’s very similar to the Pilot Hi-Tech rollerball refillable pens.
This pen is actually really really cheap in China and neighboring countries. I’m in Taiwan and I got it for 1NZD or 60cents USD
Do you remember what the pen is called? Or the brand?
Why not 'cannibalise' aload of bic pens for their ink and inject said ink into your ballpoint pen?
The ink in the Bic pens is really viscous. Imagine honey on a cold day. I don't think it would flow too well.
Yeah with this drawing you can sell any pen.
Ballpoint pens use oil-based inks. Inks used here were water based. This is just a refillable rollerball pen 👎