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A comment on A Chinese company now manufactures stainless steel tip cases for ballpoint pens.

Re:A Chinese company now manufactures stainless steel tip ca... by rfdub on Wednesday May 10, 2017 @07:26PM (#14312659)
I don't really think "innovation" can be defined as replicating manufacturing processes developed 100 years ago. This is simply playing catch up in terms of manufacturing processes and quality control.
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Re:A Chinese company now manufactures stainless steel tip ca... by blackguardx on Wednesday May 10, 2017 @07:29PM (#14312670)
There is also the material science of the rolling ball itself. I assume it has similar constraints to high quality bearings.
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Re:A Chinese company now manufactures stainless steel tip ca... by nom on Wednesday May 10, 2017 @08:22PM (#14312946)
Good point. But if they can't manufacture ballpoint pens, how can they make bearings? Maybe it's due to their small size?
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Re:A Chinese company now manufactures stainless steel tip ca... by ohazi on Wednesday May 10, 2017 @08:49PM (#14313082)
This article is talking about the tip casing, not the actual ball.
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Re:A Chinese company now manufactures stainless steel tip ca... by blackguardx on Wednesday May 10, 2017 @09:10PM (#14313201)
I took that to mean the ball and the housing around it. The casing would function similarly to a bearing race and the ball to well, a bearing ball.
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Re:A Chinese company now manufactures stainless steel tip ca... by blackguardx on Wednesday May 10, 2017 @09:11PM (#14313210)
Ballpoint pens might be a hard problem. The article didn't say they couldn't make them, it said they couldn't make them as well as others.
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Re:A Chinese company now manufactures stainless steel tip ca... by nom on Wednesday May 10, 2017 @08:21PM (#14312938)
From the article, they've been lacking good sources of quality steel and/or the steel manufacturing techniques required to make the tiny and super hard steel balls used in ballpoint pens.
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