Pens can often pick up paper fibers that gum up the works. In the case of ballpoints I can see this being a pretty permanent problem once it builds up enough to stop up the pen
The ink can dry out or some contaminant can get on the ball and preventing it from rolling. What I usually do is run the ball along the sole of my shoe (or use anything that has high friction material) 9 times out of 10 it makes the pen work again.
Usually this means the ball part is stuck and/or the ink surrounding it has dried out.
Here's a close up of how they work: https://youtube.com/shorts/7KGqGAlxwJs
If no ink gets transfered unto the ball, it's not able to write anything.
The ink gets all stiff and gunky and doesn’t transfer to the ball. The ball might not even spin at that point. Lick it.
By design by Big Pen
Big Bic energy
Pens can often pick up paper fibers that gum up the works. In the case of ballpoints I can see this being a pretty permanent problem once it builds up enough to stop up the pen
The ink can dry out or some contaminant can get on the ball and preventing it from rolling. What I usually do is run the ball along the sole of my shoe (or use anything that has high friction material) 9 times out of 10 it makes the pen work again.
Why can my car stop running forever when there's still a full tank of gas?
Ballpoint pens: known for being just as complex as cars.
China produced cars before ballpoint pens
Well, duh. I’ve seen movies, they write with paint brushes, why would they need pens?