Will someone please explain?

[msvoma44]

Other than the obvious difference in price, what are the differences between a ballpoint kit and a rollerball kit. I haven't made any rollerball kits yet and would like to know if that jump is worth it to me. I don't sell many pens, it is more of a hobby for me.

Mike

 

[Akula]

writing with a rollerball is so much nicer, the ink flows so smooth

I think the ballpoint uses a ink based oil and can blob up. Advantage is it will dry quick. Rollerballs are so smooth, no blobbing or skipping and require less pressure to write. Ink does not dry instant, it a few seconds. I have noticed the ink goes out faster in a rollerball. Now I don't know if it's because they get used more or hold less.

 

[Andrew_K99]

I made my first rollerball on Sunday (Jr. Statesmen II) and IMO you should try at least one if you haven't tried one before, it writes very nicely!

 

[Richard Gibson]

As far as the pen turning process, there is not really any difference. I think most people would pefer a rollerball when it comes to comparing how they write side-by-side.

 

[renowb]

Yes rollerballs are smooth writers. Not much difference in the turning part though.

 

[S.A.Mappin]

Try turning one, but make sure its not an extremely cheap one. Try something like a jr. Gentleman, or something similar. You just may get hooked!

 

[randyrls]

To join the thread; If you do one be sure the replace the Hauser ink that comes with the pen. A Schmidt 888 or 5888 will not skip nearly as much! Some high end kits are now coming with Schmidt ink kits!

 

[JohnU]

When I made my first rollerball it was just to make something different. The difference between the two are more preference than which is better. Some prefer a larger pen with a removable cap. They look fancy plus its capable of being switched out to a fountain pen. There are also some blanks made for these type of pens, like the scrolled "Jeff Powell" blanks. Variety is good. Personally I just wanted to make as many types of pens as i could. I thought it would be nice to give different styles of pens to my friends and family.

 

[Smitty37]

A Few Mechanical

Other than the obvious difference in price, what are the differences between a ballpoint kit and a rollerball kit. I haven't made any rollerball kits yet and would like to know if that jump is worth it to me. I don't sell many pens, it is more of a hobby for me.

Mike

Primarily rollerballs are capped and ballpoints are not. That leads to some differences in style. Turning is about the same - transmissions are a bit different.

The Writing characteristics are a matter of preference. For instance if you are writing on multi level forms, making carbon copies or tend to write with heavy pressure on the pen a ballpoint will probably work better for you. If you need fewer skips and smoother looking writing or you like to write with very little pressure rollerball is probably for you.

 

[zig613]

If you don't want to incurr the expense of a rollerball pen (e.g., JR Gent II) make a cigar or similar pen that takes a Parker refill and replace the stock refill with a Schmidt (or Private Reserve) Easy Flow 9000 refill. The Easy Flow refill writes real smoooooth. A vast improvement over the regular Parker refill and close to being as smooth as a rollerball refill.

Wade

 

[srf1114]

The info I was lead to believe is such:

Ball point Pen ink is oil based, flows through capillary action (will write upside down), not as affected by minor temp swings.

Roller Ball Ink is water based, flows through gravity feed (wont write upside down), it can freeze and ruin the ink, this may also rupture the ink tube or pop the roller ball out of the tip (big mess either way), as already mentioned, tends to write smoother.

 

[ldb2000]

Most ballpoints WON'T write upside down and neither will rollerballs . The only pen refills that will write upside down is the Fisher Space pen refills . They are pressurized to 35 psi and the pressure forces the ink to come out at any angle . They also use a special kind of ink as well .
I replace almost all of the kit ballpoint refills with Fisher refills and they are the only refills I will use in my custom pens , they write much better and last longer , well worth the added expense , in bulk they cost about $4 but people love the way they write .

The info I was lead to believe is such:

Ball point Pen ink is oil based, flows through capillary action (will write upside down), not as affected by minor temp swings.

Roller Ball Ink is water based, flows through gravity feed (wont write upside down), it can freeze and ruin the ink, this may also rupture the ink tube or pop the roller ball out of the tip (big mess either way), as already mentioned, tends to write smoother.

 

[Smitty37]

Not that much

Other than the obvious difference in price, what are the differences between a ballpoint kit and a rollerball kit. I haven't made any rollerball kits yet and would like to know if that jump is worth it to me. I don't sell many pens, it is more of a hobby for me.

Mike

There really isn't that much difference in price...Driven mostly by the differences in style. The difference in retail price of Schmidt 5888 rollerball and easyFlow 9000 ballpoint refills is about 50 cents.

 

[msvoma44]

Thanks for all the input guys. I do make Jr. Gent II pens but I didn't realize that they were considered rollerballs.

 

[azamiryou]

what are the differences between a ballpoint kit and a rollerball kit.

The difference in the kits is that a rollerball has a cap, a ballpoint usually doesn't. (Are there any ballpoint kits that have caps?) Instead, the ballpoint has a mechanism to retract the point into the pen.

It's a different refill with different writing characteristics. Compared to a ballpoint, a rollerball will write with hardly any pressure, the ink takes a little longer to dry, and the ink refill will run out a lot quicker. And if left uncapped, a rollerball can dry out.