roller balls

Am I alone in that I have never, never been able to make a roller ball
pen work properly for very long?

They always seem to stop putting out ink in a very short order. Even
before that, they tend to either not flow fast enough or make blots and
feather.

I don not usually have such problems with fountain pens, individual pens
may have temporary problems, but not consistantly with the breed.

Regards,

DAve

"DaveW" wrote in message
news:VIx_c.730$Q44.227@trnddc09...
Am I alone in that I have never, never been able to make a roller ball
pen work properly for very long?

They always seem to stop putting out ink in a very short order. Even
before that, they tend to either not flow fast enough or make blots and
feather.

Many moons ago, I started with Pentel rbs then switched to the disposable
Faber-Castell Uni-ball Micros and tried a Pilot V-ball. All were reliable
and lasted a reasonable length of time.

Last month, jcii convinced me to try a FINE Parker rb. It's very nice.
Others recommended Pelikan, rOtring, Waterman, or Cross.

Several remarked that the medium Parker rb refill isn't worth the
aggravation.

Which have you tried?


--
~~Bluesea~~
Spam is great in musubi but not in email.
Please take out the trash before sending a direct reply.

I use rollers successfully at work...find the fine Pelikan, and the Omas
to be the nicest and smoothest.
There are also many disposable ceramic rollers I use.
Now "gel rollers" I have no luck with...they just blot too much.

Regards,
Pelikanyo Paul

"Bluesea" wrote in message
...

"DaveW" wrote in message
news:VIx_c.730$Q44.227@trnddc09...
Am I alone in that I have never, never been able to make a roller
ball
pen work properly for very long?

They always seem to stop putting out ink in a very short order. Even
before that, they tend to either not flow fast enough or make blots
and
feather.

Many moons ago, I started with Pentel rbs then switched to the
disposable
Faber-Castell Uni-ball Micros and tried a Pilot V-ball. All were
reliable
and lasted a reasonable length of time.

Last month, jcii convinced me to try a FINE Parker rb. It's very nice.
Others recommended Pelikan, rOtring, Waterman, or Cross.

Several remarked that the medium Parker rb refill isn't worth the
aggravation.

Which have you tried?


--
~~Bluesea~~
Spam is great in musubi but not in email.
Please take out the trash before sending a direct reply.

On Sun, 05 Sep 2004 05:44:21 GMT, DaveW wrote:

Am I alone in that I have never, never been able to make a roller ball
pen work properly for very long?

For years I used Parker fine RBs and had no trouble. When the Rotring
RBs appeared I used them. They worked fine when new, but soon lost the
ball entirely ! they still worked, just awfully scratchy. Maybe the
natural state of allRotrings is to de-evolve into a tubular nib? 8-)
--
Smert' spamionam

I used to buy the Uniball, in boxes of a dozen, only because I have to
write on 3 to 5 page NCR forms all day long. The fine point model
worked quite well for this purpose.

I only stopped buying them because I rebelled and computer-scanned
most of those bureaucratic NCR forms and now fill them out on
computer. I ordered a supply of the 3 or 5 part NCR paper sets and
run them through my computer printer, just so other people up the food
chain can have their signatures show through the carbons.

I even insert a graphic of my signature when printing out these forms.

Bluesea wrote:

"DaveW" wrote in message
news:VIx_c.730$Q44.227@trnddc09...

Am I alone in that I have never, never been able to make a roller ball
pen work properly for very long?

They always seem to stop putting out ink in a very short order. Even
before that, they tend to either not flow fast enough or make blots and
feather.


Many moons ago, I started with Pentel rbs then switched to the disposable
Faber-Castell Uni-ball Micros and tried a Pilot V-ball. All were reliable
and lasted a reasonable length of time.

Last month, jcii convinced me to try a FINE Parker rb. It's very nice.
Others recommended Pelikan, rOtring, Waterman, or Cross.

Several remarked that the medium Parker rb refill isn't worth the
aggravation.

Which have you tried?



I couldn't possibly come up with a complete list. Uni-balls are what we
have at work. But even a vintage Sheaffer gives me trouble. They do not
so much run dry as they refuse to put ink down in certain parts of the
paper, leaving letters out of words, for example. Even trying to go over
the "bad spot" several times doesn't work.

I realize that lots of folks out there use and love roller ball pens.
I'm just wondering if I am the only one who is jinxed.

Regards,

DAve

"DaveW" wrote in message
news:1QQ_c.2172$Va5.404@trnddc01...
Bluesea wrote:

"DaveW" wrote in message
news:VIx_c.730$Q44.227@trnddc09...

Am I alone in that I have never, never been able to make a roller ball
pen work properly for very long?

They always seem to stop putting out ink in a very short order. Even
before that, they tend to either not flow fast enough or make blots and
feather.

Many moons ago, I started with Pentel rbs then switched to the
disposable
Faber-Castell Uni-ball Micros and tried a Pilot V-ball. All were
reliable
and lasted a reasonable length of time.

Last month, jcii convinced me to try a FINE Parker rb. It's very nice.
Others recommended Pelikan, rOtring, Waterman, or Cross.

Several remarked that the medium Parker rb refill isn't worth the
aggravation.

Which have you tried?


I couldn't possibly come up with a complete list. Uni-balls are what we
have at work. But even a vintage Sheaffer gives me trouble. They do not
so much run dry as they refuse to put ink down in certain parts of the
paper, leaving letters out of words, for example. Even trying to go over
the "bad spot" several times doesn't work.

I realize that lots of folks out there use and love roller ball pens.
I'm just wondering if I am the only one who is jinxed.

I used to buy Uni-balls by the box and never had problems. Sounds like it's
the paper. Do you have that same problem with bps? Have you tried a Fisher
Space bp refill? They write practically everywhere and with a little plastic
adapter, it'll fit in a Parker-style bp pen.

How about gels?

--
~~Bluesea~~
Spam is great in musubi but not in email.
Please take out the trash before sending a direct reply.

DaveW, have you tried ink rollers? The type where it's a roller ball and
you slap in a short international cartridge? Just wondering -- particularly
if it would make any diff or not.

How "short order" do you mean? I've had roller balls go anemic on me after
about a month's use in a daily journal. I've found that some paper --
particularly the cheap journals I used at the time -- will gunk up a roller
ball pretty quickly. D'ya think that might be a culprit?

Cheers,
Jimmy.

"DaveW" wrote in message
news:VIx_c.730$Q44.227@trnddc09...
Am I alone in that I have never, never been able to make a roller ball
pen work properly for very long?

They always seem to stop putting out ink in a very short order. Even
before that, they tend to either not flow fast enough or make blots and
feather.

I don not usually have such problems with fountain pens, individual pens
may have temporary problems, but not consistantly with the breed.

Regards,

DAve

"DaveW" wrote in message
news:1QQ_c.2172$Va5.404@trnddc01...

I couldn't possibly come up with a complete list. Uni-balls are what we
have at work. But even a vintage Sheaffer gives me trouble. They do not
so much run dry as they refuse to put ink down in certain parts of the
paper, leaving letters out of words, for example. Even trying to go over
the "bad spot" several times doesn't work.

I realize that lots of folks out there use and love roller ball pens.
I'm just wondering if I am the only one who is jinxed.

Another thought:

Do your co-workers have the same problem? Do you have a habit of slicking
back your hair from time to time while you write? It might be a simple
matter of washing your hands before you write so that perspiration, body
oils, food remains, etc. aren't gumming up random spots on your playing
field.

--
~~Bluesea~~
Spam is great in musubi but not in email.
Please take out the trash before sending a direct reply.

If it is a feathering problem than the paper is more at fault than the pen.
However, a RB works just like BP. It deposits ink onto media by rolling. As
oppose to FP that do so by capillary action. The later method is superior.
In the former case, residue ink always collect on the opposite direction of
the pen stroke. That is why you get blots whenever your pen stroke changes
direction. And what you get is a rather untidy writing unlike FP lines. For
me, RB, BP or GP, they don't work for me. I need at least a broad point in
order to get a decent write. Maybe it is because I hold the pen at a very
low incline.

--
Best regards,
Free Citizen
http://www.freewebs.com/fpnet/

"DaveW" wrote in message
news:VIx_c.730$Q44.227@trnddc09...
Am I alone in that I have never, never been able to make a roller ball pen
work properly for very long?

They always seem to stop putting out ink in a very short order. Even
before that, they tend to either not flow fast enough or make blots and
feather.

I don not usually have such problems with fountain pens, individual pens
may have temporary problems, but not consistantly with the breed.

Regards,

DAve