Making a ballpoint pen

It’s often misplaced, casually discarded or chewed on, but who knew there could be a complicated procedure behind making an instrument that’s just several inches tall and a few millimetres wide?

First, the materials. Various components make up a ballpoint pen — metals, plastics for its body and various pigments, dyes, lubricants, surfactants, thickeners, and preservatives for the ink.

The ball on its tip which transfers ink onto a writing surface is made of textured tungsten carbide, a superior material not easily deformed. The ball is intended to be a perfect sphere that can grip most writing surfaces.

The points on most ballpoint pens are made from brass, a very strong material that is resistant to corrosion, has an aesthetically pleasing appearance, and has the ability to be easily formed. Brass, an alloy of copper and zinc can also be used for other parts such as the ink cartridge, spring and the body that holds everything together. Other manufacturers sometimes prefer aluminium to make the pen body and stainless steel for the components. Made-to-order and bespoke pens might have precious metals and stones plated or embedded onto the pen body.

For ballpoint pens that are mass produced and intended to sell at the cheapest price, plastic is the basic raw material because it is inexpensive, easily formed, resistant to corrosion and lightweight. They are used on almost all parts of the pen except the spring and part of the tip. Different kinds of plastics may be used. Thermosetting plastics remain permanently hard after they are formed and cooled, ideal for the external parts of the pen such as the body and cap. Thermoplastics on the other hand remain flexible, making them suitable for the pen components.

Manufacturers use their own special formula for making the ink, which must be slightly thick, slowly drying in the reservoir and free of contaminants. These characteristics are what makes the ink flow continuously to the writing surface without clogging the ballpoint.

Each manufacturer might have their own procedure for making ballpoint pens, but the basic steps include:

1. Compounding or making the ink by batches following a specific formula
2. Constructing the pen components, then cleaning and cutting the formed pieces
3. Moulding the housing
4. Assembling the main parts together and filling the reservoir with ink
5. Assembling external components, coating and decorations to the main body of the pen
6. Final cleaning before the pens are packed by batch or individually
7. Packing the pens into bags or boxes and shipping them to distributors

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