How ballpoint pens are made
China made 38 billion ballpoint pens in 2017, yet for years imported the tiny tips from Germany, Switzerland and Japan.
- stations
- 7
- things upstream
- 77
- raw sources
- 27
- steps from the ground
- 8
The short version
A ballpoint pen is a tube of thick ink with a tiny ball seated in a socket at its tip. The ball, made of steel, brass or tungsten carbide, is set in a brass or steel holder. A plastic barrel is molded, the ink tube is filled, and the parts are snapped together and tested for writing.
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Machine the tip socket
A tiny holder is cut from brass or steel with a socket inside. The socket must hold the ball loosely enough to roll and tightly enough that it stays put.
Goes in -
Drop the ball into the socket
A very small ball, often tungsten carbide, is placed in the socket, and the metal is crimped to hold it. Too tight a socket stops the roll, and too loose lets ink flood out.
Goes in -
Mix the thick ink
Ink for a ballpoint is a thick paste, not a thin liquid, so it dries fast on paper but does not run through the tip.
Goes in -
Mold the barrel
Barrels, caps and clicking parts are injection-molded in plastic.
Goes in -
Fill the ink tube
A narrow plastic tube is filled with ink and fitted to the tip.
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Snap the pen together
Refill, barrel, spring and cap come together in a machine that makes many pens a minute.
Goes in -
Test the scribble
Machines draw lines to confirm each pen starts, writes smoothly and does not leak.
Worth repeating
- For years China had to import the precision tips from Germany, Switzerland and Japan, at a cost of 120 million yuan a year.
- The 1945 Reynolds Rocket was the first commercially successful ballpoint pen, and cost 12.50 dollars.
Back to the ground
Follow every input upstream and ballpoint pen starts as these 27 raw sources.
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Sources
Cite this page: "How ballpoint pens are made." Assembly Line, 2026-11-03. https://assemblyline.org/make/ballpoint-pen