# Kitless Rollerball Nib



## EBorraga (May 12, 2011)

Is there any difference with a rollerball nib compared to a ballpoint nib. I ask because i'm gonna make some rollerballs, and i'm not interested in buying a kit just for the nib.


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## soligen (May 12, 2011)

its the same size hole for the refill tip, but the step drilling shoulder in the nib is what controls how far the point sticks out, as opposed to a ball point where it is the length to the transmission.  This is becasue the spring is behind the refill.

What I did is leave the stepped hold a little shallow, then snuck up on it drilling a little at a time.

Use your caliper and take lots of measurements.  I'm sure you can 'get er done'

BTW I used 4 bits to do the step drilling for a schmidt 888.  A casual glance and it looks like you would only need 3, but there was a slight buldge that needed a bit of relief.


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## workinforwood (May 13, 2011)

If your not confident to make your own there is someone that sells a component part roller nib using a fountain cartridge which also means. Inside pen lenght not critical


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## EBorraga (May 13, 2011)

workinforwood said:


> If your not confident to make your own there is someone that sells a component part roller nib using a fountain cartridge which also means. Inside pen lenght not critical


 

Jeff, I have purchased a bunch from that person. I really like them, but was looking to get a little crazy and make my own nib for the rollerball. Doin some trial and error work in my downtime from work. I'll just have to keep good notes so when I sneak up on it I know what I did:biggrin:.


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## IPD_Mr (May 13, 2011)

Ernie - For this very reason I have purchased some Schmidt rollerball nose cone front ends.  I have them in gold trim and chrome trim.  They fit the 5888 and the 888 perfect.  The problem is the threads are M8.5x1.  I was not going to introduce these until I got some taps made as that is a custom size.  I thought about chasing the threads with an M8x1 but have not had the time to do that yet.


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## skiprat (May 13, 2011)

Ernie, you should cheat like I do and sneak up on it from the outside. Drill your unshaped nib so the refill 'just' sticks out. Now instead of trying to drill a tiny bit deeper each time, simply face off a thin bit from the tip. I find this much easier to sneak up in much smaller steps.:wink:


Milke, your nibs sound intrigueing. Are they male or female thread? 
Either way, have you figured out how to hold them while re-chasing without marring the plating?
What about making little brass couplers that can be pressed into various sized tubes, ( and just screwed into/onto the nibs) but have the same M8.5 thread?


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## IPD_Mr (May 13, 2011)

skiprat said:


> Milke, your nibs sound intrigueing. Are they male or female thread?
> Either way, have you figured out how to hold them while re-chasing without marring the plating?
> What about making little brass couplers that can be pressed into various sized tubes, ( and just screwed into/onto the nibs) but have the same M8.5 thread?


 
Steven - The body of the rollerball nib is plastic which is where the male threads are. I think it can be hand held as you chase them. It is the last 11/16" or 17mm of the nose cone that is plated gold or chrome.

EDIT:
Here is a quick and dirty photo of what I am talking about.


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## DurocShark (May 13, 2011)

Could one of our machinist types here make a step drill that would fit an 888 cartridge? Rather than use multiple bits?


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## skiprat (May 13, 2011)

Mike, you should have said before!!
If you don't already have an M8 x1 die, then you are more than welcome to stick a fistfull in an envelope and I'll gladly run a die over them and send them back. ( I'll keep one or two to play with :wink

Also, what about 'removing' the threads so they can be pressed/glued into a 7mm tube?


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## EBorraga (May 13, 2011)

Interesting Mike, I ran across those for sale on Richard's site, but i'm not fond of the gold. But chrome i'm interested in, and I have the right tap I need for that. 

Steven, my thoughts exactly on sneaking up on the right size. After watching you video on youtube, I figured that's how i'd tinker with it. Now I only need a couple of days off to do some destruction in the shop:biggrin:.


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## PenMan1 (May 13, 2011)

Ernie:
Do you have the PSI step bit set made for making european rollerballs? I have successfully used that bit set to make a roller ball nib from aluminum. It took a small bit of redneck engineering, but it worked quite well.


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## workinforwood (May 14, 2011)

What Steve says is basically all I do. I dont do a ton of step drilling. I drill one hole for the inside threads. I drill a second hole to fit the body of the refill and another hole for the end of the refill. I always start with the smallest hole too, and don't drill it all the way through you section of metal! So you drill the small hole one end, then flip the rod section and drill the other two hole sizes.  Then if the hole for the tip to come out is too deep, you just part a bit off the end.

I dont see how a person could make or buy a step drill combo for this job. Although your tip hole will be the same, you are not stuck with a specific size for the body hole and especially for the threading hole. How you going to know how fat or skinny a person wants their pen to be? It's not universal.


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