What Chinese Pens Are You Using Today?

[Ubungs]

So any thoughts about the J 159 in terms of the mechanics (as opposed to cost of upgrade)? Would it be difficult to replace both the nib and feed instead of just the nib? In this case with the Bock 250 and accompanying feed?

 

Edit: I went ahead and bought the hardware: nib, feed and converter. I'll come back and let everyone know how it worked out. I realize it's sort of crazy to put high(er) end components in a cheap Chinese pen, but it seemed like a fun project, so what the heck.

Edited December 10, 2012 by Ubungs

[flugella]

Inked up two Hero 616 jumbos in Scribal Workshop's Kraken and Zhulong for note taking

[J.R.]

Inked up my Haolilai 601F this morning, first time in several months. It's a good tool for writing, but (to my eyes) it looks like something I brought won at a carnival. I seriously doubt that I ever use this thing long enough to ever put any "wear" on it.

 

Take care,

 

J.R.

[doggonecarl]

My first venture with Chinese pens started Friday, with the arrival of:

• 
   
  
• Jinhoa 159
  
• Hero 395
  
• Hero 110
  
• Hero 616
  
• and two Wing Sung 233s
  

 

Cleaned and dipped them all. They all write fine, the Jinhoa much broader than I expected, but nice.

Inked one of the Wing Sung's and am amazed that for a cost just a little bit more than a Uni-ball Signo (DX) UM-151 gel pen, I've got a decent writing fountain pen.

[JemC]

So any thoughts about the J 159 in terms of the mechanics (as opposed to cost of upgrade)? Would it be difficult to replace both the nib and feed instead of just the nib? In this case with the Bock 250 and accompanying feed?

 

Edit: I went ahead and bought the hardware: nib, feed and converter. I'll come back and let everyone know how it worked out. I realize it's sort of crazy to put high(er) end components in a cheap Chinese pen, but it seemed like a fun project, so what the heck.

If the section on the Jinhao 159 and Bulow 530 are the same, internally, then the nib will definitely work. I'm not sure about the feed. On the Bulow it's got one flat side, barely, so you have to line things up right. If this is standard with Bock feeds, then you'll be fine.

 

Is there anything wrong with the Jinhao's feed, though?

 

Last, I think the Jinhao 159 (/Bulow530) is one of those Chinese pens where there's a lot of great value in it, but some of the fit/finish inconsistencies drive down the perceived value. If you hold this pen in your hand and it pleases you, putting a nicer nib (and maybe feed) is just going to make the experience that much better.

[Sailor Kenshin]

It's been a while.

 

Today, writing out a Guanleming Demo filled with Skrip Blue, which is a lovely little pen but it just needs a rest. and just filled a green Hero 616 with Waterman Green...nice match!

[cuza]

None are in my current rotation. -- cuza

[flugella]

Hero 616 for a full day of studying. I can't believe how economical on ink use it is!

[Ubungs]

So any thoughts about the J 159 in terms of the mechanics (as opposed to cost of upgrade)? Would it be difficult to replace both the nib and feed instead of just the nib? In this case with the Bock 250 and accompanying feed?

 

Edit: I went ahead and bought the hardware: nib, feed and converter. I'll come back and let everyone know how it worked out. I realize it's sort of crazy to put high(er) end components in a cheap Chinese pen, but it seemed like a fun project, so what the heck.

If the section on the Jinhao 159 and Bulow 530 are the same, internally, then the nib will definitely work. I'm not sure about the feed. On the Bulow it's got one flat side, barely, so you have to line things up right. If this is standard with Bock feeds, then you'll be fine.

 

Is there anything wrong with the Jinhao's feed, though?

 

Last, I think the Jinhao 159 (/Bulow530) is one of those Chinese pens where there's a lot of great value in it, but some of the fit/finish inconsistencies drive down the perceived value. If you hold this pen in your hand and it pleases you, putting a nicer nib (and maybe feed) is just going to make the experience that much better.

 

Many thanks for your feedback! Glad to hear a definitive word on the nib at least.

 

I don't really know what to expect on the feed. Not too long ago, I saw a Youtube demo of the J 159 where the flow seemed seemed to vary to some degree despite even pressure; not sure what was driving that, and maybe replacing the nib and converter would take care of that issue (if it winds up being an issue at all) but I thought I might as well pick up a feed at the same time as I ordered the converter and nib. No big loss if it doesn't fit, or isn't really necessary, but I have my fingers crossed.

[richardandtracy]

I have the Huashilai A053 with me next to my P&B Duofold Centennial. Not using the A053 much today as I really prefer my Duofold. Not like when I have the K316 with me at the same time as the Duofold, where I don't mind which I use.

 

Regards,

 

Richard.

[seffrican]

Today I'm using my first Chinese pen, a newly arrived Jinhao 159. My curiosity was piqued by the long review thread on this pen, so I ordered one and it arrived today, after one day short of four weeks.

 

Aligned the tines, dipped it, it wrote OK, so I filled it with my own custom blend of vintage Quink (roughly one part Royal Blue to two parts Blue-Black) and it writes a smooth, slightly shaded line that's on the broad end of medium.

 

Contrary to what I was expecting from the reviews, I find the pen much more comfortable to use posted because the cap moves the balance up slightly, and the weight is not an issue while writing, the balance being very good for my grip.

 

It's going to be a desk pen, though. No way am I trying to carry it around anywhere!

[Linsolv]

Jinhao 159 and Hero 336 arrived yesterday. I've had a chance to write with both now, and I can honestly say that I wish the 159 was finer. I'm a huge fan of super-fine nibs, though. So there's that.

 

The 159 is a massive behemoth and Lord do I love its size. Writes smooth (after a very slight tine adjustment). Very broad, though, at least for me (noting of course that the only other nib I had that was anything larger than Fine was a Pilot VP in Medium). As I said above, I'd love something finer. If anyone has any tips on nibs I can grab that I can use to modify it, I'd love to hear them, since I don't have the confidence to just try grinding the nib at this point. Maybe if I get considerably more bored. ;D Though come to think of it, if I were to get that bored, this would make a good candidate for an Arabic grind, since it's so darn big and I've been wanting an Arabic nib for, you know, my Arabic class... ah, man. I should never have thought that.

 

The 336, on the other hand is a joy. I like the line it lays down and I like the look of it, and it writes quite dry without skipping (well. Sometimes it has had problems starting cleanly. Like, I'll get halfway through a letter before it goes 'oh I'm writing.' Which is better than, say, my Noodler's Creaper, so it's not a big problem, and it's a dry enough line that I don't worry about laying down too much ink in going back over the letter afterwards). I would absolutely buy another Hero '51' knockoff. Great stuff.

[Sailor Kenshin]

An immediate fix for dry-writing pens is a dip in water or ink. Longer-term solutions include figuring out which ink and paper combo suits thenpen,

[lovemy51]

today i'm using my jinrong 192-1 that's been a very fuzzy writer, but somehow is behaving quite nicely today. i had it stored for a while and desided to take it out for a spin...

 

it sports a very interesting looking nib -the performance, as mentioned, has been less than desirable, tho'. i had to do a lot of flushing and tweaking to get it to write.

http://i338.photobucket.com/albums/n419/peterpaul_rguez/PC110063.jpg

[51ISH]

today i'm using my jinrong 192-1 that's been a very fuzzy writer, but somehow is behaving quite nicely today. i had it stored for a while and desided to take it out for a spin...

 

it sports a very interesting looking nib -the performance, as mentioned, has been less than desirable, tho'. i had to do a lot of flushing and tweaking to get it to write.

http://i338.photobucket.com/albums/n419/peterpaul_rguez/PC110063.jpg

 

 

Wow......Interesting looking nib shape.....I have seen that shape before....but not sure where...

 

Looks kind of like...... a Guitarshark

[JemC]

The 159 is a massive behemoth and Lord do I love its size. Writes smooth (after a very slight tine adjustment). Very broad, though, at least for me (noting of course that the only other nib I had that was anything larger than Fine was a Pilot VP in Medium). As I said above, I'd love something finer. If anyone has any tips on nibs I can grab that I can use to modify it, I'd love to hear them, since I don't have the confidence to just try grinding the nib at this point. Maybe if I get considerably more bored. ;D Though come to think of it, if I were to get that bored, this would make a good candidate for an Arabic grind, since it's so darn big and I've been wanting an Arabic nib for, you know, my Arabic class... ah, man. I should never have thought that.

xfountainpens.com sells Knox K35 nibs of various sizes, including EF, that should fit easily into the Jinhao 159.

 

No affiliation with them, just a pleased customer.

[Renfield]

The 159 is a massive behemoth and Lord do I love its size. Writes smooth (after a very slight tine adjustment). Very broad, though, at least for me (noting of course that the only other nib I had that was anything larger than Fine was a Pilot VP in Medium). As I said above, I'd love something finer. If anyone has any tips on nibs I can grab that I can use to modify it, I'd love to hear them, since I don't have the confidence to just try grinding the nib at this point. Maybe if I get considerably more bored. ;D Though come to think of it, if I were to get that bored, this would make a good candidate for an Arabic grind, since it's so darn big and I've been wanting an Arabic nib for, you know, my Arabic class... ah, man. I should never have thought that.

xfountainpens.com sells Knox K35 nibs of various sizes, including EF, that should fit easily into the Jinhao 159.

 

No affiliation with them, just a pleased customer.

 

Is there a European seller that sells those nibs?

[Linsolv]

Ok, so the Knox #6s should fit? I'll put off buying one for a couple weeks, but I was hoping someone would say "oh just buy a nib."

 

And since I'm hoping to pick up a Micarta in a few weeks and those are apparently well-served by getting a Knox nib, as well... I may yet do that, we'll say.

 

Thanks for the tip.

 

Oh, I meant to mention in my earlier post, somewhat in response to seffrican's post. About posting. This thought is getting a little weird at this point. Anyways, I find that it's hard to post the 159 because the cap falls off about half the time. If I can get it pressed on and write a few sentences, by that point it will usually have demonstrated itself to stay on, and it won't fall off until I re-cap the pen (and then re-post it later, obviously).

Edited December 12, 2012 by Linsolv

[lovemy51]

today i'm using my jinrong 192-1 that's been a very fuzzy writer, but somehow is behaving quite nicely today. i had it stored for a while and desided to take it out for a spin...

 

it sports a very interesting looking nib -the performance, as mentioned, has been less than desirable, tho'. i had to do a lot of flushing and tweaking to get it to write.

http://i338.photobucket.com/albums/n419/peterpaul_rguez/PC110063.jpg

 

 

Wow......Interesting looking nib shape.....I have seen that shape before....but not sure where...

 

Looks kind of like...... a Guitarshark

i just realized it is made by Guanleming. http://www.ebay.com/itm/Guanleming-Jinrong296A-Fountain-Pen-/330841496748?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item4d07b09cac

[tutelman]

I am using a Hero 2016 I recently picked up from Speerbob (Robert Speerbrecher). It has an attractive marbled blue/purple resin body and a smooth 14K nib. What more can ask for $36 plus shipping? (And as a satified repeat customer, I can tell you he still has a couple left on his website.)

 

 

Photo by Speerbob