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#11
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Long-term storage of ballpoints
Well then spray in an inert gas too, just incase oxygen has anything to
do with it? Mike S. wrote: Thanks for all the thoughts, folks. In trying to strategize I'm first trying to understand the nature of the process that makes ballpoint refills dry up and stop working. For instance: is it evaporation of solvent? chemical reaction with oxygen (oxidation), ozone, or other component of the air? a self-sustaining chemical change that is smewhat independent of the environment? My understanding is that ballpoint ink contains a mixture of volatile and non-volatile solvents. If the evaporation of solvent is what causes aging, then anything which prevents that should help. I came into this quoting a web site that advocated placing refills in evacuated zip-lock bags. To my mind, that would _increase_ evaporation of solvent by increasing the vapor pressure of the solvent in an evacuated environment. A _pressurized_ storage vessel might do better. If it's reaction with oxygen or other component of ambient air, then (as was pointed out here) an "airtight" container made of a material that actually allows slow diffusion of air would not do very well in the long term. For my part, I'm trying zip-lock bags which are then placed in a food storage tub having rubberized seals along the mating surfaces. |
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#12
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Long-term storage of ballpoints
"Jimmy" wrote in message ... "Bluesea" wrote in message ... snip thread back-story The other method is to dip the metal refill point-first into hot water for a few seconds. It should not be boiling - think hot tea temperature. Hot tea that's at a drinkable temperature? Black teas are properly brewed using boiling water. I've noticed that Parker and Papermate are both much tougher to write with when they are cold than when they have been in a shirt pocket. That makes sense because temperature affects viscosity and a shirt pocket lends bodily warmth. Hot tea must be *less* than 100 deg C. After 3 minutes infusing, it might be 98 deg, or 95 deg. It's not boiling. Thanks for the clarification. I wasn't sure if you meant the boiling water that's used to start the steep or the temperature after steeping or the temperature when cool enough to drink. Are you a tea fan? I like Whittard (UK), which came perilously close to failure. Yes, I like a variety of loose teas: black, green, and white. I buy most of them from uptonteas.com because what's available where I live isn't much. What's going on with Papermate? You can buy the metal refills anywhere here, but if you want the pens, you have to buy second-hand on eBay, or (as I did) find a pristine boxed sample in a charity shop. Gee, I haven't noticed. I gave up on them many years ago when I started exploring other bps and never went back. I tried a friend's in 2002 and promptly bought her a Sensa (Minx? It's a short pen.) with a Fisher Space refill because her Paper Mate gave her a huge writer's bump. She loves the Sensa and didn't go back to her Paper Mate that she had been using for journaling. It may just be your locale. The website shows new pens: http://www.papermate.com. -- ~~Bluesea~~ Spam is great in musubi, but not in email. Please take out the trash before sending a direct reply. |
#13
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Long-term storage of ballpoints
"Bluesea" wrote in message
... "Jimmy" wrote in message ... "Bluesea" wrote in message ... snip thread back-story The other method is to dip the metal refill point-first into hot water for a few seconds. It should not be boiling - think hot tea temperature. Hot tea that's at a drinkable temperature? Black teas are properly brewed using boiling water. snip Hot tea must be *less* than 100 deg C. After 3 minutes infusing, it might be 98 deg, or 95 deg. It's not boiling. Thanks for the clarification. I wasn't sure if you meant the boiling water that's used to start the steep or the temperature after steeping or the temperature when cool enough to drink. Are you a tea fan? I like Whittard (UK), which came perilously close to failure. Yes, I like a variety of loose teas: black, green, and white. I buy most of them from uptonteas.com because what's available where I live isn't much. What's going on with Papermate? You can buy the metal refills anywhere here, but if you want the pens, you have to buy second-hand on eBay, or (as I did) find a pristine boxed sample in a charity shop. Gee, I haven't noticed. I gave up on them many years ago when I started exploring other bps and never went back. I tried a friend's in 2002 and promptly bought her a Sensa (Minx? It's a short pen.) with a Fisher Space refill because her Paper Mate gave her a huge writer's bump. She loves the Sensa and didn't go back to her Paper Mate that she had been using for journaling. It may just be your locale. The website shows new pens: http://www.papermate.com. Uh oh - another brand taken over by Sanford. Perhaps it is just a local thing. I'm OK until I break or lose my one anyway. Papermate rolls more easily than Parker and Cross. I only need a ballpoint for outdoors and short notes. When I tried a Fisher Space Pen a few years ago, it started out really well, but soon took to making blobs. It could have just been a bad one. -- Alan |
#14
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Long-term storage of ballpoints
"Jimmy" wrote in message ... "Bluesea" wrote in message ... "Jimmy" wrote in message ... "Bluesea" wrote in message ... snip thread back-story What's going on with Papermate? You can buy the metal refills anywhere here, but if you want the pens, you have to buy second-hand on eBay, or (as I did) find a pristine boxed sample in a charity shop. Gee, I haven't noticed. I gave up on them many years ago when I started exploring other bps and never went back. I tried a friend's in 2002 and promptly bought her a Sensa (Minx? It's a short pen.) with a Fisher Space refill because her Paper Mate gave her a huge writer's bump. She loves the Sensa and didn't go back to her Paper Mate that she had been using for journaling. It may just be your locale. The website shows new pens: http://www.papermate.com. Uh oh - another brand taken over by Sanford. Perhaps it is just a local thing. I'm OK until I break or lose my one anyway. Papermate rolls more easily than Parker and Cross. I only need a ballpoint for outdoors and short notes. When I tried a Fisher Space Pen a few years ago, it started out really well, but soon took to making blobs. It could have just been a bad one. Yes, Sanford got it a while ago. I go through more fines, but haven't had problems with any mediums, either. I've noticed that people complain either about Fisher or Eversharp; they like one or the other. For me, Eversharps leak and blob while Fishers work well. Until... My latest is a Telescoping pen and it was going along fine; I had gone through the Fisher refill that came with it and am on the second. I was doing a lot of stop-and-go writing in January and decided to simply lay the pen down instead of retracting it while I thought and read. I forgot it overnight and when I picked it up, it had blobs. Long story short, I experimented and found that when I left the tip extended, it leaks and develops blobs. When I retract the tip, it doesn't! It doesn't make sense to me because there's no cap and the tip is exposed to air whether extended or not. I don't think that was the problem with the Eversharp refills because I had one in the Parker Jotter I keep in my car and have the tip extended only while I actually use it. shrug -- ~~Bluesea~~ Spam is great in musubi, but not in email. Please take out the trash before sending a direct reply. |
#15
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Long-term storage of ballpoints
"Bluesea" wrote in message
... snip thread back-story What's going on with Papermate?.... snip It may just be your locale. The website shows new pens: http://www.papermate.com. Uh oh - another brand taken over by Sanford. snip When I tried a Fisher Space Pen a few years ago, it started out really well, but soon took to making blobs. It could have just been a bad one. Yes, Sanford got it a while ago. I go through more fines, but haven't had problems with any mediums, either. I've noticed that people complain either about Fisher or Eversharp; they like one or the other. For me, Eversharps leak and blob while Fishers work well. Until... My latest is a Telescoping pen and it was going along fine; I had gone through the Fisher refill that came with it and am on the second. I was doing a lot of stop-and-go writing in January and decided to simply lay the pen down instead of retracting it while I thought and read. I forgot it overnight and when I picked it up, it had blobs. Long story short, I experimented and found that when I left the tip extended, it leaks and develops blobs. When I retract the tip, it doesn't! It doesn't make sense to me because there's no cap and the tip is exposed to air whether extended or not. I don't think that was the problem with the Eversharp refills because I had one in the Parker Jotter I keep in my car and have the tip extended only while I actually use it. shrug When the point is retracted, there will be *less* evaporation, because there will be less exposure to air currents. That's the only difference I can think of. Maybe I should try a Space Pen again. I've not seen the Eversharp, only the Fisher models over here. I also got a Montblanc ballpoint a year or so ago. I had low expectations, but it's really very good - no blobbing (yet), and relaxing, easy writing. It is far too fancy to use in the field, though, and I have not managed to fit or force the refills into anything else. Any ideas? -- Alan |
#16
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Long-term storage of ballpoints
"Jimmy" wrote in message ... I notice the Parker broad refills are back in production. Demand, or just marketing whim? Originally they did broad, medium, fine and extra fine - I tried them all in school. I think it may be attributed to the current trend. For example, I have to be careful that another mp doesn't walk away because I can't find mps that take ..5mm lead in the local stores anymore. While .5mm refills are available, mps are only .7mm or 1.0 mm. -- ~~Bluesea~~ Spam is great in musubi, but not in email. Please take out the trash before sending a direct reply. |
#17
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Long-term storage of ballpoints
"Jimmy" wrote in message ... "Bluesea" wrote in message ... snip thread back-story What's going on with Papermate?.... snip It may just be your locale. The website shows new pens: http://www.papermate.com. Uh oh - another brand taken over by Sanford. snip When I tried a Fisher Space Pen a few years ago, it started out really well, but soon took to making blobs. It could have just been a bad one. Yes, Sanford got it a while ago. I go through more fines, but haven't had problems with any mediums, either. I've noticed that people complain either about Fisher or Eversharp; they like one or the other. For me, Eversharps leak and blob while Fishers work well. Until... My latest is a Telescoping pen and it was going along fine; I had gone through the Fisher refill that came with it and am on the second. I was doing a lot of stop-and-go writing in January and decided to simply lay the pen down instead of retracting it while I thought and read. I forgot it overnight and when I picked it up, it had blobs. Long story short, I experimented and found that when I left the tip extended, it leaks and develops blobs. When I retract the tip, it doesn't! It doesn't make sense to me because there's no cap and the tip is exposed to air whether extended or not. I don't think that was the problem with the Eversharp refills because I had one in the Parker Jotter I keep in my car and have the tip extended only while I actually use it. shrug When the point is retracted, there will be *less* evaporation, because there will be less exposure to air currents. That's the only difference I can think of. Maybe I should try a Space Pen again. I've not seen the Eversharp, only the Fisher models over here. I also got a Montblanc ballpoint a year or so ago. I had low expectations, but it's really very good - no blobbing (yet), and relaxing, easy writing. It is far too fancy to use in the field, though, and I have not managed to fit or force the refills into anything else. Any ideas? I didn't like the Eversharp pen because it was heavier than I like. The refills, though, cost less than the Fisher refills. The discount store that carried the Eversharps closed a couple of years ago so they're no longer available in my town, either. Since you didn't like the Fisher before, if you're thinking of buying a new pen to try it again, I suggest that you buy a Parker Jotter or another less-expensive-than-a-Fisher-Space pen that uses Parker-style refills and a separate Fisher refill which comes with a white plastic adapter for Parker pens. That way, if the Fisher doesn't work out for you, you can still use the pen with the original refill which is fairly universal and wouldn't have wasted the cost of a Fisher pen. I can't think of anything for your Mont Blanc at this time. Because the refills are proprietary and the pen's too nice to take to the field, your options are limited. I keep a Parker Jotter with a Fisher refill in my car and the Fisher X-750 in my Day-Timer. The Telescoping pen is my carry pen when I don't take a fp. Other than that, I use fps which I also use with my Day-Timer. Supposing that you take your planner and/or journal to the field, that leaves your car, your desk at home, or dress-up occasions for your MB. I wouldn't leave it in my desk at the office, if I were you, unless your desk has a good lock. -- ~~Bluesea~~ Spam is great in musubi, but not in email. Please take out the trash before sending a direct reply. |
#18
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Long-term storage of ballpoints
"Bluesea" writes:
I can't think of anything for your Mont Blanc at this time. Because the refills are proprietary and the pen's too nice to take to the field, your options are limited. I wonder what kind of field work we are talking about? I have to admit to living dangerously with my MontBlanc. It's just that I like writing with it so much that I prefer to take it out to the "field" (which is just my University and in a backpack). Ironically, the one time I did damage it wasn't because of the field work, but because I left it in my pocket once and it went through the dryer. That wasn't a pretty thing to see, though most of the pen was just fine. -- Aaron W. Hsu | http://www.sacrideo.us "Government is the great fiction, through which everybody endeavors to live at the expense of everybody else." -- Frederic Bastiat +++++++++++++++ ((lambda (x) (x x)) (lambda (x) (x x))) ++++++++++++++ |
#19
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Long-term storage of ballpoints
"Aaron W. Hsu" wrote in message ... "Bluesea" writes: I can't think of anything for your Mont Blanc at this time. Because the refills are proprietary and the pen's too nice to take to the field, your options are limited. I wonder what kind of field work we are talking about? Actually, I don't remember him saying. I'm just used to that expression being used by U.S. Army personnel. He could be an archeologist or a surveyor for all I know. I have to admit to living dangerously with my MontBlanc. It's just that I like writing with it so much that I prefer to take it out to the "field" (which is just my University and in a backpack). Sorry, IMO, school is too civilized to qualify as "the field." More dirt, rocks, rough terrain and the possibility of walking in mud past your ankles or thigh-high grass would qualify. Ironically, the one time I did damage it wasn't because of the field work, but because I left it in my pocket once and it went through the dryer. That wasn't a pretty thing to see, though most of the pen was just fine. OUCH! How did your clothes come out? Blue? -- ~~Bluesea~~ Spam is great in musubi, but not in email. Please take out the trash before sending a direct reply. |
#20
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Long-term storage of ballpoints
"Bluesea" wrote in message
... "Jimmy" wrote in message ... "Bluesea" wrote in message ... snip thread back-story Maybe I should try a Space Pen again. I've not seen the Eversharp, only the Fisher models over here. I also got a Montblanc ballpoint a year or so ago. I had low expectations, but it's really very good - no blobbing (yet), and relaxing, easy writing. It is far too fancy to use in the field, though, and I have not managed to fit or force the refills into anything else. Any ideas? I didn't like the Eversharp pen because it was heavier than I like. The refills, though, cost less than the Fisher refills. The discount store that carried the Eversharps closed a couple of years ago so they're no longer available in my town, either. Since you didn't like the Fisher before, if you're thinking of buying a new pen to try it again, I suggest that you buy a Parker Jotter or another less-expensive-than-a-Fisher-Space pen that uses Parker-style refills and a separate Fisher refill which comes with a white plastic adapter for Parker pens. That way, if the Fisher doesn't work out for you, you can still use the pen with the original refill which is fairly universal and wouldn't have wasted the cost of a Fisher pen. I can't think of anything for your Mont Blanc at this time. Because the refills are proprietary and the pen's too nice to take to the field, your options are limited. I keep a Parker Jotter with a Fisher refill in my car and the Fisher X-750 in my Day-Timer. The Telescoping pen is my carry pen when I don't take a fp. Other than that, I use fps which I also use with my Day-Timer. Supposing that you take your planner and/or journal to the field, that leaves your car, your desk at home, or dress-up occasions for your MB. I wouldn't leave it in my desk at the office, if I were you, unless your desk has a good lock. Well, I just got a Fisher Space Pen refill. I already had a metal Parker body handy, so I put it in that, with the adaptor, like you suggested. I got it cheap (half-price), but for a bad reason. One of the two local pen shops is closing down, and trying to get rid of stock. I snapped up two bottles of Diamine ink (Royal Blue and Scarlet) as well. The blue looks like a good alternative to Noodler's plain blue. The Space Pen feels loose and easy to roll. I'll try it instead of the Papermate for a bit, and see how it shapes up. -- Alan |
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