Dykem Applicator Try an empty Sharpie.

[jjr2001]

The brush in the Dykem can is a bit stiff for my liking and leaves a heavy layer of dye on the parts.
Sharpies are quick and easy to use but they are not as durable as Dykem.

I found that the top of my large Sharpie was threaded so a very easy to use applicator was at hand.
Use care when filling the Sharpie with Dykem. You can over fill it. If you do, just pour the excess back in the Dykem can. It also occurs to me that the ink for ink jet printers could be used to re-fill a screw on top sharpie. Black and Magenta should work well. I think that ink jet ink is more of a permanent ink since it is so hard to remove it from your hands if you happen to get some on yourself. Not sure if alcohol would remove it.

I find the new Dykem Sharpie unit to work well. It leaves a light and even coat of dye on the parts.
Removal using alcohol is quick and complete.

Don't try this in the kitchen......I suggest doing the re-fill over some news paper in the shop and wear a pair of latex gloves. Keeps the stain off your hands.

My sharpie was not totally empty so I have a mix of red and blue but it still seems to work well. I think the dilution of the Dykem with the red sharpie ink is not quite as durable as pure Dykem. So it might be worth cleaning out or purge all of the old red prior to refilling with Dykem to get a tougher film. I don't think I will do that but some might want to. I find that both Dykem and Sharpie ink is very soluble in alcohol. I use the high concentrate stuff from the hardware store.

Happy layout and

Cheers, JR

[DIYer]

Thanks jjr2001! We've added your Dykem Applicator to our Measuring and Marking category,
as well as to your builder page: jjr2001's Homemade Tools. Your receipt:

Dykem Applicator by jjr2001

tags: marking

[Paul Jones]

JR,
This looks like a good alternative to the Dykem brand 2 oz. felt tip applicators. I have been using these in blue and red but the color film doesn't flow on as dark as the ones with a brush. These seems to work a little btter when stored with the cap end down. Unfortunately the Dykem felt tip sections have to be pried-off for refilling and not worth the effort. I like the Sharpie advantage with a threaded applicator top.
Paul

[jjr2001]

Thanks for your comments Paul. I am not sure if all of the larger Sharpies have removable tips. I have used the Magnum Red as shown in my pictures and I just unscrewed the top from a black one labeled as King Size. Hope they continue to use threaded tops.

One thing to note is that the threaded tops do not seal. If any excess liquid is still in the tube and it is set with the point down then the excess liquid will drain out. I work around this by "draining" the refilled sharpie back into the bulk Dykem can to make sure all of the liquid was absorbed by the felt inside the sharpie can.

Right now I want to use up my refilled sharpie so I can get a better blue color out of it but it works fine as is.

Cheers, JR

[Al8236]

You can buy empty refillable markers for about the same price as what a Jumbo Sharpie costs, Just search Refillable Marker.

[Toolmaker51]

Refillable Makers; who knew? I was unaware of Dykem brand markers, but Marks-Alot have been OK for me. I use red for grinding operations, blue or black elsewhere. Not sure why two colors...red shows best on ground surfaces. Did some ultrafine boring past couple days. Marking used on each spring cut, locations and size repeated so closely the mark was removed only where the previous finish at .006 per rev and .0015 actually intersected with a zero radius boring tool. A comparison might be two threads of the same diameter but different pitches.

And while the topic is running. I found a "PILOT SC-6600" refillable to mess with; no pun intended. Barrel is about 1" diameter x 4", felt tip is 10mm. Still available, in the 6 buck range. There also is the "MOLOTOW" line---and when I say line I mean line; up to 60mm wide, that's a mean line awright! Not priced on their site. Its a pump style, like a paint marker.
Others; Angelus, Montana...applications specify paint or dyes. Paints need viscosity less than milk; comparable mammalian version not specified.

Our collective workaround has traction already at work; being able to walk around with Dykem or scribe-able equivalent in a pocket. No one seems all that thrilled with the brush in cap applicator.

[Frank S]

I don't know if you can still get them, but I remember back in the early 80s having a Holbien graphic arts marker that had a felt that was about 1 1/2" wide Refilling it was a bit of a bother, as I would suspect most refillable markers would be

[jjr2001]

One and a half inches wide. Now that would be a good one and I shall try to see if they are still around. The Marks a Lot always impressed me. Seems like they have a lot of ink in them and would be a good choice for a throw away type.
Thanks for all the great comments.

Cheers, JR

[jjr2001]

Ok, the only Holbien I found were "collectors" items and priced accordingly....Yikes.

So I did find a wide one that is 15mm wide on the bay and it is:
MOLOTOW MASTERPEICE 460PI - SPEEDFLOW INK MARKER - 15MM WIDE NIB - PERMANENT
From GB and costs almost as much for shipping as the cost of the marker but that is not unusual for eBay.

Also found a 60mm wide one in the UK:
MOLOTOW MASTERPEICE 760 - COVERSALL INK MARKER - 60MM WIDE NIB - PERMANENT
On the bay also.

Cheers, JR

[Frank S]

JR the next time you just happen to find yourself shopping 'gasp' in which ever store you are dragged kicking and screaming into. Mosey over to the floral flagrance air freshener department. My wife used to buy a particular one that had a 1" wide felt wick in it when it was empty I used to unscrew the top and pull out the wick, it was about 2 ft long then after they had completely dried, when she wasn't looking I would toss them in the laundry, once they were washed and dried they made excellent swarf stops or way protectors on my lathe.
Upon thinking about the dykem ink dispenser it somehow made me think of those. it has been several years since she bought them but if thye are still available I imagine one might make a fair dinkem extra wide dykem ink marker