Originally published at: https://boingboing.net/2018/12/16/put-an-inexpensive-gel-refill.html
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Isn’t the ink and delivery system in the Space Pen cartridge part of what makes the pen special? I writes in zero gravity, under water, through grease, etc…?
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Of all the Kickstarters that I backed, the one’s for pens that take just about any cartridges were some of the most useful (also exceeded expectations). Rather than link to one, you can search for one and then see if the company made it, the key is something that adjusts to meet the refill back. They tend to be a little more complicated than that, including hex keys, weights, sleeves and caps, but it let’s me try the random refills from non-profit in town that sells recycled extra art supplies and other materials for “art”.
I don’t want to seem like I am shilling for some finished Kickstarter here, hence why I didn’t provide a link or product name.
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Thanks, Seamus. I love my Space Pen, but those refills are pricey and I use it under mundane conditions anyhow.
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I do (did they as they have hidden themselves in the house well) similar for my Retro51 pens. Generic gel pen refills are cheaper and same shape and size as the official refills.
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People talk about “space pens”, but it’s really the cartridge that counts, it having a gas inside that forces the ink out, which allows for the use in space etc.
I got one, the case looked like a generic ball point pen case. I wasn’t happy, it’s still a ballpoint pen, which I long ago moved away from. But I carried it in my pack for emergencies, until the cheap case broke, it was plastic. So I still have a “space pen”, the cartridge, though it’s not really comfortable.
I think there are other pens now that work the same way, but I’m not certain.
The cartridge will fit other pens, at least with an adapter.
I just stay with a Sharpie pen. I’m not going I to space, and it works better than ball point pens, and probably works upside down. I liked the idea of a space pen, but can’t stand ballpoint pens anymore, so I’m not going to buy one of the space pens with a fancier casing. That doesn’t make it the pen.
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get one of these space pens then.
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Alternatively, purchase a pack of decent gel pens for a quid or two.
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I’ve lost my Space Pen…
(Actually, my girlfriend lost it but I’m not bringing that subject up again!)
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In this computer age, I hardly ever write with a pen so I have spent a trivial amount on my space pen ink despite it now being my main pen. It is the most comfortable pen for my pocket and it has only failed me once, never leaked. I am happy with the oem refills.
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But what if I want to write upside-down, underwater on a greasy surface? Doesn’t it defeat the purpose of a space pen if a mod like this is not capable of things like that? I carry one around with me everywhere and it’s nice that it doesn’t run out of gas in the middle of whatever I’m writing with it. I hate it when a pen does that.
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That’s what I thought. THe space pen as a pen is small, slippery and thin and for my bear paws not comfortable to write with at all. If you’re going to put a generic non-pressurised gel refill in, writing with an intact generic gel pen is likely to give a better experience overall.
These days I write with a pricey Sailor fountain pen for best, sharpies for collaboration, and Palomino Blackwing pencils for notes.
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Them’s good pencils. I like their smooth intensity.
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I have a space pen, but I’ve realized that my lifestyle is simply not cool enough to justify it.
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I’m a southpaw and fountain pens hate me. Mechanical pencils too, unless they’re the bic sharpwriters, which the lead has some spring to it.
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Get a pack of cheap distinctive opaque pens. Hide a twenty or fifty dollar bill in one. Or two. Shuffle them. Now all your pens are potentially valuable, so you’re less willing to let them out of your sight. Low theft potential, high liquidity. If you have a cash emergency, useful. If you come across similarly designed pens, you’ll tend to accumulate them, so you’ll always have pens, and won’t have spent a large amount of money on a pen.
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Former office supply store shill here. Lots of people love the space pen’s outer design since it is so small and shiny, and many could care less about the internals… For them, by all means, throw a knock-off cartridge in there…
But a few artists I know who draw in ball-point swear by the fisher refill for it’s consistent line and lack of “gunkyness.” For them, a gell or roller-ball refill wont do, since those produce a solid dark line straight out of the pen, almost like a fountain pen. Ballpoint ink is its own strange and viscous substance that lets you slowly and lightly build up to the full-strength black line. Sometimes just the bic or papermate disposable it just what you want for drawing.
Ah different tools for different ends 
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ISTR that those “erasable pens” also use a pressurized cartridge. That might work almost as well for most purposes.
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Just use a pencil.
I’ll get my coat
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Nothing against PBs, but I like to promote Staedtler Noricas for peeps like me who like much darker lines.
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