What Chinese Pens Are You Using Today?

[Joe_C]

I bought a Jinaho X450 and assumes it would be junk, but at $10 i figured, WTH (what the farm). It has a broad nib and appears to be a medium flow. I am very, and I mean very impressed! This is my favorite pen. I have Montblanc's, Pelikans and various Esterbrooks in my small collection, but i am actually thrilled when I write with that pen. To be honest I also have a Montverde that is it's equal, so i use the Jinhao for black ink and the Montverde for the blue ink. I plan on purchasing several other Jinhao's (note, i'm from West Texas, so this is not a paid political advertisement for China, but my honest opinion.

[pienaar]

I just got a Baor 574. Very nice pen, the nib is to wide for my tastes. I have been using my Guanleming, I think that Guanleming is one of the most under rated pens around. We hear all the time about the Hero 616 but I think the Guanleming is a far better pen.

Edited June 2, 2012 by pienaar

[palendra]

I'm using a Jinhao x750 today. It writes a lot smoother than I was expecting it to.

[lovemy51]

i've been out of town for a while and didn't bring a chinese pen with me. but three days ago, in an antique store in Fort Bragg California, i bought a Hero 616 clone: a P"51" for $20. that's what i've been using for the last few days. :embarrassed_smile:

[richardandtracy]

:roflmho:

 

Fantastic price.

 

Regards,

 

Richard

[reval]

A Jinhao 159 I recently got. Pleasantly surprised by it. (although I am not that surprised anymore by a Chinese pen that is a good pen in general and writes quite nicely too)

[wing6]

Still using the Hero 100 bought 30 years ago. Still going very well. Started using a Baoer 388 after a complete overhaul last week.

[nickapos]

I find that my Baoer 388 is a lot drier when compared with my Hero pens (Hero 266 for example) while using the same ink would you agree?

[ParkerNutter]

I seem to be a bit overwhelmed with Sonnet clones today..

 

I've got the Sonnet, a Baoer 388, a Duke 209, a Hero 5020 and a Kaigelu 356 with me today. I have a review of them all going together at the moment, just want the photos. Now, I've been using a Parker from my first real pen at the age of 8, so I'm finding it hard to recommend a Kaigelu 356 in preference to the bottom of the range Parker Sonnet, but I have to.

Regards,

Richard

 

I look forward to the review. Your other reviews have been very informative.

 

Today I've been using my brand new Baoer 79 "Starwalker clone".

 

Hisnibs web site have very good review of the pen, which they call "black rectangles".

Click here to see the His Nibs pictures of the pen.

 

Mine came from China via eBay. Sold for a little less tha Hisnibs, who sells it for $20.

 

For that price, it's a very nice pen. Quality to me is surprisingly good, but the one I got doesn't have that neat floating Baoer logo.

 

Still, not bad for under $20.

 

 

http://hisnibs.com/black_rectangles.htm

Edited June 3, 2012 by ParkerNutter

[Redbarchettayyz]

 

 

Today I've been using my brand new Baoer 79 "Starwalker clone".

 

Hisnibs web site have very good review of the pen, which they call "black rectangles".

Click here to see the His Nibs pictures of the pen.

 

Mine came from China via eBay. Sold for a little less tha Hisnibs, who sells it for $20.

 

For that price, it's a very nice pen. Quality to me is surprisingly good, but the one I got doesn't have that neat floating Baoer logo.

 

Still, not bad for under $20.

 

 

http://hisnibs.com/black_rectangles.htm

 

 

That's a good choice! The Baoer 79 was one of my first FPs, and I could say good things about it all day. I find the section on that pen especially comfortable. This past weekend I didn't use any Chinese pens at home, just German, but at work I had been using a Jinhao 159 (MB 149 "understudy"), and I've been very satisfied with it. The 149 size does seem comically large when compared to my other pens, but it is very comfortable for long writing sessions. Thanks to reading this thread on sunday, I also ordered two new chinese pens - the Crocodile CR28, which I'm fairly sure is the same as the Crocodile Outre posted upthread, and a red and silver Jinhao 3000, because everyone needs something ridiculously flashy sometimes.

[Aramchek]

I currently have three Chinese pens inked. A GLM956 (I found out from this thread that GLM is short for Guanleming!), which is rather scratchy and tends to cut out paper fibers - the weird thing is that it varies how scratchy it is and I can't figure out what causes this. It gets less scratchy if I use very little pressure, but I have poor motor function and if I use that little pressure, I end up with waves instead of lines!

Another is the Wing Sung 322 with a nib that appears somewhat "inspired" by Shaffer. I like this one, it writes well, and seems reliable. Most Wing Sungs I have have been good.

The third is another Wing Sung, a 612. I think everyone can figure out which model inspired that one... It too is rather scratchy.

 

http://img269.imageshack.us/img269/1386/fpnk.jpg

 

I also have the Lily combo, which I enjoy using, although it is not currently inked. One problem is that the space "wasted" on a ballpoint causes this pen to have a fairly low capacity for ink. Also, the ballpoint part has dried out, and I've no idea where to get refills.

[estonian]

http://www.upload.ee/image/2403770/P1210097.jpg

http://www.upload.ee/image/2403772/P1210099.jpg

ffff, used so far two times, must speed up writing or I'll keep forgetting what I've written before.

Edited June 5, 2012 by estonian

[richardandtracy]

Been using the Kaigelu 356 today. Superb whether for doing puzzles in a magazine, writing my journal or staying in my shirt pocket while building a brick building for my kids or on a walk.

 

Regards,

 

Richard.

[ParkerNutter]

Well my new Baoer 79 dried out on me during a meeting.

 

So I opened it up, gave the converter a slight twist and it burped a big blob of ink at me. Made quite a mess.

 

I don't blame the pen, but the convertor is a bit suspect. I plan to try again with a Waterman cartridge.

[richardandtracy]

Had a Duke 209 with me today, as well as the K356. Summat's been happening to the Pelikan Turquoise in the K356 convertor. I know it's a pretty acid ink, and it may be reacting with a metallic ball in the convertor to give a green copper carbonate colour deposit in the c/c and in the ink when it fed through. Peculiar. The ball in the c/c is now less spherical than it used to be and is totally black now. I have flushed & re-loaded to see if the same thing happens again.

 

Richard

[studiohead]

Had a Duke 209 with me today, as well as the K356. Summat's been happening to the Pelikan Turquoise in the K356 convertor. I know it's a pretty acid ink, and it may be reacting with a metallic ball in the convertor to give a green copper carbonate colour deposit in the c/c and in the ink when it fed through. Peculiar. The ball in the c/c is now less spherical than it used to be and is totally black now. I have flushed & re-loaded to see if the same thing happens again.

 

Richard

 

Interesting, I have a problem when I flush out a Kaigelu 300 convertor so hence why I feel Duke is much better in terms of quality.

 

https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/index.php?/topic/218285-chinese-convectors/

[Hex]

I too just got a Jinhao X450 and was impressed at how it appears and writes.

As mentioned above, it did start skipping a bit and the converter has a loose spring in it that rattles.

I am thinking that the spring worked loose somehow. It also is in the wrong place I think. It's between the pad on the end of the rod and the end of the converter that plugs into the section. It's taking up some of the same space as the ink.

Maybe I can take it apart and see if I can figure out where it goes.

When it writes, which is most of the time, it's a beauty and I wonder why I spent so much on my other pens.

It's a damn well made pen with a wonderful feel.

 

In the same shipment I got a Jinhao 800, principally because I wanted an inexpensive EF nib. It's a tad wider than I had hoped but still a very attractive useful pen.

 

I think I got them both for about $12.00 shipped.

Edited June 6, 2012 by Hex

[inky7712]

I've been using my Cross Bailey Medalist a lot lately. For something made in China, it's very heavy and durable. Lots of chrome and gold plate:)

[studiohead]

I too just got a Jinhao X450 and was impressed at how it appears and writes.

As mentioned above, it did start skipping a bit and the converter has a loose spring in it that rattles.

I am thinking that the spring worked loose somehow. It also is in the wrong place I think. It's between the pad on the end of the rod and the end of the converter that plugs into the section. It's taking up some of the same space as the ink.

Maybe I can take it apart and see if I can figure out where it goes.

When it writes, which is most of the time, it's a beauty and I wonder why I spent so much on my other pens.

It's a damn well made pen with a wonderful feel.

 

In the same shipment I got a Jinhao 800, principally because I wanted an inexpensive EF nib. It's a tad wider than I had hoped but still a very attractive useful pen.

 

I think I got them both for about $12.00 shipped.

 

The spring or ball is used to break the surface tension of the ink in the convertor so that the ink is not stuck to the walls of the convertor. (This would make true ink flow to prevent skipping) That is the intended purpose, companies like Parker also have either a spring or ball in their convertor. The issue seems that the Kaigelu balls seem to have a quality defect which either makes them rust or something. We can easily replace with a international standard convertor.

[lovemy51]

today: this jinhao (don't remember the model name or number)...

 

http://i338.photobucket.com/albums/n419/peterpaul_rguez/KGrHqZigE5gvn7g9DBOdt67cu-g60_3.jpg

Edited June 7, 2012 by lovemy51