The Jinhao 599 – A Stylish Chinese Pen With Strangely Familiar Germanic Leanings…

[Jamerelbe]

The more curved nibs that you'll find on the plastic Jinhao 599s are more of a Fine/Medium than Fine (in my experience), but they're also very smooth writers - and much easier to interchange #5 nibs from other manufacturers. Good pens either way!

[suite800]

Glad you liked yours. Mine turned out to be a dud.

[Jamerelbe]

I've had 4 or 5 of the metal pens in my hand - all of them, without exception, well constructed and excellent writers. The plastic versions I've found a little more variable in quality.

 

Bottom line, though, these mass-produced Chinese pens are always going to have duds. That's why I prefer to buy mine from a reputable online store, who guarantee to repair or replace any pens that fail to perform to standard - though I pay a little more for the privilege!

[OCArt]

I, like others, just don't seem to hold this kind of pen at the correct angle. In the past I have adjusted the angle by adding an O-ring where the front section fits onto the barrel. Tonight I just tried to twist the nib unit, and low and behold, Jinhao made it rotate easily. Grip problem solved

[henkc]

The FPR flex nib fits on the demonstrator orange one that I have.

 

Is this the FPR #5.5 flex nib?

 

Another question about the 599. One of mine was sold as a 599 Calligraphy pen. There appears to be no difference between this and my other two. Should there be?

[Jamerelbe]

 

Is this the FPR #5.5 flex nib?

 

Another question about the 599. One of mine was sold as a 599 Calligraphy pen. There appears to be no difference between this and my other two. Should there be?

You can order a FPR flex nib, which lays down a fine line without pressure. Or you can order "regular" nibs in a range of widths (EF,F,M, B or 1mm stub).

 

I've never heard of a calligraphy 599 - I suspect that was creative marketing!

[Jamerelbe]

Sorry, misread your question! Yes, the #5.5 nibs should fit in your 599...

[titrisol]

I bought these for my kids as Xmas present. If they lose them or damage them it was not a big deal.

 

I was quite impressed by the heft of the pens, the metal body gives it a lot of balance and makes the girls slow down which makes their handwriting better.

The nibs seem to be bullet proof, which is a plus in case they fall to the floor.

The pens write nicely, with the infinite black ink (xfountainpens) that came with them.

 

The clip in the JH599 is nicer than in the Lamy and the finish is painted over metal so it feel weird.

 

But all in all good pens for kids

[dragonmanus]

I currently have two Jinhao 599 metal pens (black and blue in color), ass well as a blue clear demonstrator 599a. Love all three and have been catching myself using them repeatedly even though I'm trying to empty other pens so they can be cleaned and stored for later use. Love the pens and have even used a fine nib on the one with the #6 nib. oddly enough, some use a crimp on nib and a few use the #6 nib that is easily replaced. all write perfectly and flow well. I've had nothing but joy out of all three.

 

would eventually love to get the other clear 599a's but have had to put a hold on that till later.

[titrisol]

Update:
after about a month of use both kids are complaining of scratchy nibs.

I looked at them and yes they have feedback and scratch,

I do not know if I can fix them, or else use the body with a lamy nib.

 

I bought these for my kids as Xmas present. If they lose them or damage them it was not a big deal.

 

The clip in the JH599 is nicer than in the Lamy and the finish is painted over metal so it feel weird.

 

But all in all good pens for kids

[Jamerelbe]

My guess would be that sometime in the past month your kids may have done something to knock the tines out of alignment - pressing too hard, dropping the pen (my 13-year old son did this to the 18K gold nib on a PIlot Vanishing point - ouch!), or in some other way getting things off kilter. Or, the pens may need a good flush (decreased ink flow can create the impression of feedback sometimes, too!).

 

The best way of assessing the tines is to use a jeweller's loupe - if you don't own one, you can buy a cheap and nasty piece of junk (that will still work, sort of) for peanuts, or splash out on a good quality BelOMo 10x loupe for US$50ish!

 

I don't use my 599 pens a lot, but they're all still working fine - except for the one I dropped nib-first... [Edited to add: like son, like father?]

Edited January 30, 2016 by Jamerelbe

[titrisol]

Yeah, I followed the alignment instructions and it imporved quite a bit

They press the nibs too much....

[Jamerelbe]

Yeah, I followed the alignment instructions and it imporved quite a bit

They press the nibs too much....

 

A good reason for getting them started with a pen like this - not too many tears shed if you have to (eventually) buy a replacement!

[JanKafka]

I recently ordered two (and received three) Jinhao 599s. I don't have any experience with Lamy pens and have not used the Jinhaos extensively but from my experience, I'd say the pens are worth all of the $2.63 average cost and more. The line weight is to my liking and the nib is remarkably smooth. A much more enjoyable pen than my initial fountain pen purchase, the Pilot Metropolitan (or whatever it is called), which has been nothing but a pain in the backside since day one: Excessive skipping, hard starts, nib creep....The only thing I like about the Pilot is the heft of it, which is the only thing I dislike about the Jinhao. The Chinese pen is a little light for me but I can learn to live with it.

 

Love my new Jinhao 250 though....

[CreepyPotatoesinc]

Does the Lamy nib fit on this pen?

[jekostas]

Does the Lamy nib fit on this pen?

 

No, but it will fit on the Hero version.

[ImCannibal]

I love my plastic 599 collection. I've given away several of them to friends along with leather bound journals as birthday presents and the like. I keep my blue one full of blue/black Eagle ink and use it to fill out paperwork every day at work, it just keeps getting better the more I use it. I like a pen that writes fine/medium while still hitting the goldilocks zone of wetness for my speed of writing block lettering and every jinhao I own (except the x250 I cannibalized to repair my father's college graduation pen) seems to hit right in that sweet spot.

[titrisol]

Further, I got a set of 9 from amazon for $7.50 (can't beat that). These are the plastic version and have the rounded nibs; even a couple were translecent, which I saved for my daughters.

All of them came with converters which is a BIG plus to me.

I gave a few away to young kids in my office who are curious about me using fountain pens and why not might as well convert them....

 

Me.... just inked one, and writes fine with Pelikan ink. The nib is a lot finer than my daughters but seems to be ok.

[titrisol]

The nibs are not as tight as the metallic ones in the plastic set I bought, the nib and the feed kept losing alignment

had to push them real hard to get them to stay and to have a good flow of ink

 

 

Jinhao 599 dissasembly

[dogpoet]

People prefer the metal ones to the plastic ones, then? I have one of the plastic ones (transparent orange: fifteen years ago I'd have said it was imac looking) and it's okay, but I've used much better Jinhaos.