Decent Pen Refills

[dylskee]

Hello everyone, fairly new pen turner here and very new to the forum. I have been using the PSI pen kits and have been relatively happy with the quality of the kits themselves, but I'm having serious issues with the ink cartridges! They skid and stutter and most times won't work unless they're straight up and down. Even then they still perform terribly and this si starting to be an issue with pens I have out there. I'm getting phone calls now saying the pens don't work or it's an intermittent problem. So I contacted the customer service, and they are great by the way, no complaints there! But I was told the better quality refills are the Private Reserve, so I ordered a few of those to replace the Parker, and Rollerball that I was having issues with, and those are not much better? Can anyone recommend a good Gel or any decent refill at this point to replace a Parker, RollerBall, and Cross Style refill? I just want the refill to do what is intended, and nothing more! The beautiful pens we make are useless if they will not perform their most remedial task, right?

If anyone could lend me a hand and give me your experiences on a good refill for our great pens we make, I would greatly appreciate it.
Thank you,
Dylan

 

[budnder]

I've found the Schmidt Easy Flow 9000 for ballpoints to be the best and I like Pilot G2 Gel for rollerballs... so I always swap those in for what comes with the kit. The G2 Gels work as is for many rollerball kits, though require a small tweak to fit a few.

I've not found any Cross refills that compare to those two, and I tend not to do Cross requiring pens as a result. . I do have a few Cross refills from Schmidt that I recall thinking were passable.

Last time I stocked up on the G2 Gel's, it was cheaper to buy the disposable Pilot G2 pens in bulk, and then discard the pen, saving the refill. For the Schmidt 9000, I tend to buy my kits from Exotic Blanks, and use the option to upgrade to the 9000 for an extra $1.50. Exotic will also let you upgrade rollerballs to a Schmidt 5888, so I assume that's what some people feel to be the preferred rollerball refill.

 

[dylskee]

I've found the Schmidt Easy Flow 9000 for ballpoints to be the best and I like Pilot G2 Gel for rollerballs... so I always swap those in for what comes with the kit. The G2 Gels work as is for many rollerball kits, though require a small tweak to fit a few.

I've not found any Cross refills that compare to those two, and I tend not to do Cross requiring pens as a result. . I do have a few Cross refills from Schmidt that I recall thinking were passable.

Last time I stocked up on the G2 Gel's, it was cheaper to buy the disposable Pilot G2 pens in bulk, and then discard the pen, saving the refill. For the Schmidt 9000, I tend to buy my kits from Exotic Blanks, and use the option to upgrade to the 9000 for an extra $1.50. Exotic will also let you upgrade rollerballs to a Schmidt 5888, so I assume that's what some people feel to be the preferred rollerball refill.

Thank you very much, that was very helpful and I really appreciate that! I'll get them ordered in the morning, I have people waiting for these pens so I would like to get them fixed up and out the door. That's pretty funny about buying the disposable pens and taking the ink and tossing the pen, I never thought of doing that! I used to love those Pilot G2s! Thanks again for the quick reply and the useful info @budnder ✌