Kaigelu 316 White With Black Stripe

June 13, 2014

I bought a K316 White with Black stripe. I must admit it was with some misgivings as I believe the material is very transparent, but as I haven't got the colour and YCPens was very cheap, I thought 'What the Heck?", and bought it.

Anyway, when the pen arrived, I was right to be so chary of it. The material is way too transparent & the innards can be seen through the material, giving a horrible colour cast:

http://i771.photobucket.com/albums/xx356/richardandtracy/Kaigelu%20316%20Review/Sdc13206a_zpsb97a28fc.jpg

I felt quite disappointed, see this comparison with my Parker Duofold Centennial, Pearl & Black:

http://i771.photobucket.com/albums/xx356/richardandtracy/Kaigelu%20316%20Review/Sdc13210a_zps71499e76.jpg

Not nice. So what to do about it?

Well, I like broad italic nibs, well balanced pens and NON TRANSPARENT bodies.

Out with a JoWo nib & turn it into a broad italic, use one of my finials on the barrel & spray car body undercoat through the barrel & cap and... The pen is transformed:

http://i771.photobucket.com/albums/xx356/richardandtracy/Kaigelu%20316%20Review/Sdc13211a_zps22a37b1a.jpg

I love it. It's gorgeous & looks like the Norman Rockwell LE Duofold, that I'll never be able to afford in a month of Sundays. I don't know how long the paint will last inside the cap & barrel, but it has made a huge difference to the look. In practice there is even less of the gold 'bleedthrough' through the barrel than the photo shows.

So, it is possible to make even the most horrible variant of the K316 into a gorgeous pen.

Regards,

Richard

June 13, 2014

That was an innovative idea, and you've turned it into a nice looking pen. You must have quite a collection of Kaigelus by now.

June 13, 2014

A few.

I have 4 K316's, and do want another 2, so that I have an unused version of each colour, as well as a 'for use' version.

Actually, I think I have fewer Kaigelus than my wife. She has 15 that I know of (but is a bit secretive and doesn't always tell me when she gets a new one), and the only one we have in common is the gold nibbed 319. Hers is white with brown stripe while mine is blue with brown stripe.

Regards,

Richard.

June 14, 2014

So Richard, you were right about seeing the brass through the body and cap. I'll try and post a pic of mine. The converter is chrome and the section threads are soon to be chrome. This leaves just the nib, pocket clip, and trim rings in gold still.

It writes and balances perfect, thanks to the light finial you made for me. Thanks Richard.

Paul

June 14, 2014

I've noticed this too, the transparency was what put me off the white 316 so strongly.

June 14, 2014

I did hold off for quite a time with this colour, and while I do now like the pen I still am a bit dubious. I still think that there is a question on the durability of the paint, particularly on the threaded parts, and once the paint comes off it'll return to looking horrible. Ho hum.

Regards,

Richard

July 29, 2014

I've just got a 316 described as "Century Stars grey celluloid black swirls", which translates as black with pearlescent grey patches. It's wide-bodied and quite heavy, but surprisingly it's exactly the same length as a Parker 45 closed and only 1mm longer open! I've seen the comments from several people about the heavy brass finial, but I find it balances well unposted.

It got a quick flush with clean water, then inked and it wrote well immediately, a medium line. I'm impressed so far, the worst thing is that it takes three full turns to uncap it, and as richardandtray mentions the barrel threads for the cap and the section are back-to-back, so the barrel wall is quite thin there and I can see the plastic stripping fairly soon - no evidence, just a feeling! It feels very solid and well-made, and in this colour combination isn't see-through at all.

Looking forward to a longer acquaintance with it

July 30, 2014

I have the black version & have used it almost continuously for nearly 3 years. The threads are still OK, but the plating has gone rather silvery-grey. Otherwise, with a replaced finial it's gorgeous. The pearlescence is superb. And it feels exactly like the Parker Duofold Centennial (one of my favourite pens).

OK, for a month & a half report on the paint durability:

I have been very surprised, it's still intact and doing the job. This pen is now rotating regularly - I have 3 K316's inked up and the Duofold, and select any two every day. It's rather good.

Regards,

Richard

August 4, 2014

This reminds me a lot of the Monteverde Prima which, with a stub nib, is one of my favourite pens. I have the Tiger Eye version. Does anyone own both of these pens? How do they compare? Obviously the Monteverde is more expensive; but otherwise?

How do you change the finial without damaging the pen, and where do you get another finial from?

Does this pen take a standard No 6 nib?

Thanks.

Catherine

August 13, 2014

Sorry for the late reply (been on a very wet camping holiday - the remains of Hurricane Bertha did our tent no good at all), but yes, it does take a standard #6 nib.

Richard

August 13, 2014

It's funny how the same quality can evoke different reactions, in one of his YouTube reviews, the penhabit guy is very enthusiastic about the transparency!

Catherine, the barrel at the finial end is very thick acrylic, I think you would be very hard pressed to damage it. Hot water will help break the glue bonding the brass lump in place.

I've a suspicion that whether or not a no.6 nib will fit depends on the tolerances each pen leaves the factory with. in his review, Matt mentions that he couldn't fit a no.6, and IIRC someone said the same thing on this board. Richard's obviously fits. I had to sand the section sleeve's internal diameter just to get the standard nib and feed to fit without the fins being squished on one of my pens (doesn't take long, though). Certainly, there is miles of space inside the cap for a longer nib.

September 3, 2016

I bought a K316 White with Black stripe. I must admit it was with some misgivings as I believe the material is very transparent, but as I haven't got the colour and YCPens was very cheap, I thought 'What the Heck?", and bought it.

Anyway, when the pen arrived, I was right to be so chary of it. The material is way too transparent & the innards can be seen through the material, giving a horrible colour cast:
http://i771.photobucket.com/albums/xx356/richardandtracy/Kaigelu%20316%20Review/Sdc13206a_zpsb97a28fc.jpg

I felt quite disappointed, see this comparison with my Parker Duofold Centennial, Pearl & Black:
http://i771.photobucket.com/albums/xx356/richardandtracy/Kaigelu%20316%20Review/Sdc13210a_zps71499e76.jpg

Not nice. So what to do about it?
Well, I like broad italic nibs, well balanced pens and NON TRANSPARENT bodies.
Out with a JoWo nib & turn it into a broad italic, use one of my finials on the barrel & spray car body undercoat through the barrel & cap and... The pen is transformed:
http://i771.photobucket.com/albums/xx356/richardandtracy/Kaigelu%20316%20Review/Sdc13211a_zps22a37b1a.jpg

I love it. It's gorgeous & looks like the Norman Rockwell LE Duofold, that I'll never be able to afford in a month of Sundays. I don't know how long the paint will last inside the cap & barrel, but it has made a huge difference to the look. In practice there is even less of the gold 'bleedthrough' through the barrel than the photo shows.

So, it is possible to make even the most horrible variant of the K316 into a gorgeous pen.

Regards,

Richard

How did you paint the inside of the cap & barrel?? What type of brush did you use?

September 4, 2016

Richardandtracy,

I would like to take this opportunity to appraise Richardandtracy for their presentation of the various modifications of an already great pen, namely the Kaigelu 316 fp. May I add a few comments:

- As far as the barrel modification is concerned: Beauty is in the eyes of the beholder, so you can't go wrong whether you like the opalescence of the modified barrel or the translucency of the original one. The barrel modification presented here by Richard, definitely makes the whole pen stand out better than the original translucent barrel; either way, though, I personally find the ivory Kaigelu too flashy for daily use as it is. This may sound peculiar, and I apologize for this beforehand, but I usually avoid using my ivory Kaigelu because people do not know and think the pen is so expensive while I am holding it in my hands, and in my work environment It is not wise for me to show off with my fountain pens.

- Concerning the barrel finial replacement: Although I have not tried it, I think this is a modification that would definitely improve the pen as it would make it lighter to use. Personally I use my Amber Kaigelu 316 mostly for note taking and not for prolonged periods of time, so the heavy original finial is not too cumbersome for me, still I would definitely want to try the new lighter finial. I was wondering if Richard could let us know if he currently has any finials available.

- Concerning the nib replacement: I think that perhaps Flounder (post #11) was right, there might be variations within the Kaigelu nib unit and feed, that may make replacing the existing nib with a #6 nib feasible or not. I have had experience with three Kaigelu 316, two are mine and one was my nephew's; I could not insert a #6 nib in the pen without considerable grinding of the feed, the nib or the internal surface of the nib unit. That is why I ended up with replacing the whole Kaigelu nib unit with a new Bock one, comprising of a new nib, feed and nib housing which luckily fit perfectly inside the pen's grip section, plus a new converter.

- Concerning the pen's converter: This may be irrelevant to the modification presented here by Richard, but may be worth noting since there are other Kaigelu 316 funs that may read this post. It is worth noting that sometimes the 316 pens may leave the factory with a converter that doesn't screw correctly in the section, and this can lead to ink leakage. This has been the case with my nephew's Kaigelu. The solution to this problem has been presented elsewhere in this forum by another member and involves simply replacing the original Kaigelu screw converter with a Jinhao 159 converter.

Best regards,

Frank66

Edited September 4, 2016 by Frank66