Mix And Match Hacks

[truthpil]

I just changed the Hero 829's nib with the Parker's.

 

And I bought SDN dye for resin on Amazon Japan and stained the Hero 249-1 demonstrator, Wing Sung 618 demonstrator and Penbbs 323 ghost plant(cellulose acetate).

 

I used the brown dye.

 

Penbbs 323

Hero 249-1

Wing Sung 618

The brown on the 618 looks great!

 

Speaking of hacks, is there any other pen that can take the gold nib from a Hero 100? Mine has a great nib, buy I'm not a fan of the pen itself.

[JayHomeBody]

I'm not sure if this would be considered a real "hack" but I recently bought a parker 51 liquid lead pencil. And I pulled out the old LL refill. But I took a small ballpoint pen, stole it's ink refill, trimmed it shorter, and used THAT in the pencil. Now I have a tiny little parker 51 ballpoint pen.

[Tefolim]

The brown on the 618 looks great!

 

Speaking of hacks, is there any other pen that can take the gold nib from a Hero 100? Mine has a great nib, buy I'm not a fan of the pen itself.

Hero 616 and Hero 110(12k) has the same nib size with Hero 100, but the ink holder should be modified because of the hook on Hero 100's nib

[Mech-for-i]

Hero x Gold Star by Mech for i, on Flickr

 

There was quite a few vintage hooded nib pens and certainly several different one with calligraphy nib, but I want a more robust one than the typical plastic barrel and I want a wet writer. So into the parts bin and ... hmm ... this is how I come up with a better hooded ( Calligraphy ) nib pen. The pen part is from a Gold Star 703 with the nib replaced with a Hero calligraphy nib of the same size ( which can be sourced or pirated off the Hero 335 ). The barrel take some trial and error , and finally I've settled for one from Hero 6155 ( black lacquered brass ), and I replace the cap with a gorgeous satin gold one from Hero 442. The pen instantly look the part and the weight and girth the barrel gives substantially change the tactile feedback. it work very good, better than my Hero 335 and much more robust and classier looking

Edited April 21, 2018 by Mech-for-i

[truthpil]

That is a beautiful looking pen! I'm sure it writes beautifully too. Great work!

[Mech-for-i]

hacking does not need to be complicated , and here's my Penton F20 Smoke, with both the cap and barrel end finale retrofitted with solid black version pirated off one of the F20 solid color LE of the same pen, while retaining the barrel end O ring seal of the Demonstrator. A thin black O ring was added on the section thread end and this serve to seal the cap when screwed on better but mostly seal it against any ink blurping out limiting the ink inside the cap if one choose to ED the pen. The cap finale got silicone grease generously applied on the thread to seal too. A hero no.5 ( type 26 ) slim leaf type nib was retrofitted.

 

Penton F20 upgraded, on Flickr

[Sailor Kenshin]

Best thread ever!

[loubapache]

Hero 100 cap on a small Hero 616.

 

My (genuine) Hero 100 was a huge disappointment. It writes about the same as most of my 616s. Then the section cracked only after about a month. I used the gold nib from the 100 in other 616s and it does not perform any better than the steel nibs.

[Mech-for-i]

well, Hero 100 pen parts , including just the hood / section can be fairly easily sourced. I would not be surprised that people find 100 write similar as 616, after all they are from the same company , designed around the same vintage, based on the same principle ( hooded nib ), and by all account, gold nib on most Chinese fountain pen model is there for corrosion resistance, cushioning and luxury offering purpose, and not usually intended to provide property like flex or alike ( which in itself is not a needed property when writing Chinese, in fact likely could be a negative when this is taken into consideration ).

 

I think many outside of East Asian region had neglected the fact that most Chinese, Japanese, & Korean fountain pens are primarily design to serve their respective home language first and foremost. They might or might not serve writing cursive the way people desired.

[truthpil]

Here's a mix and match question...

 

I'm considering getting one of the yellow Hero 616-2s (I think the new ones are the same size as the small 616) and converting it into a cartridge/converter pen because I saw a picture of one hacked that way.

 

First of all, how would I go about doing this? The pen would be easy to take apart, but what size converter would it fit and what would have to do to get it to fit?

 

Secondly, would the gold nib in my 100 fit in the 616-2?

[Mech-for-i]

Well I do recall I've seen mod kit for 616 ( std/large size ) for converting the pen to C/C filling , those though are in Stainless Steel or Titanium. Was not sure if any that's tailored for the small size 616 but I figure it could be done. I'll have to go back and check ... and No, the Hero 100 14K nib will not work on the 616 unless you mod it ( basically the index hook part ).

Edited May 7, 2018 by Mech-for-i

[Sailor Kenshin]

Here's a mix and match question...

 

I'm considering getting one of the yellow Hero 616-2s (I think the new ones are the same size as the small 616) and converting it into a cartridge/converter pen because I saw a picture of one hacked that way.

 

First of all, how would I go about doing this? The pen would be easy to take apart, but what size converter would it fit and what would have to do to get it to fit?

 

Secondly, would the gold nib in my 100 fit in the 616-2?

I would first try this hack with a same-sized 616 you were willing to mess with...then simply see which carts or converters you have on hand would fit.

 

Let me know if you try this!

[truthpil]

Well I do recall I've seen mod kit for 616 ( std/large size ) for converting the pen to C/C filling , those though are in Stainless Steel or Titanium. Was not sure if any that's tailored for the small size 616 but I figure it could be done. I'll have to go back and check ... and No, the Hero 100 14K nib will not work on the 616 unless you mod it ( basically the index hook part ).

 

Sure enough, the photo I saw of a converted one is with the larger 616. I have no idea what will work with the smaller one.

Now I'm regretting throwing out the leftover parts I had from a broken one a few years back....

 

A search in Chinese for 616 converters didn't bring anything up, although there are lots of conversion kits for the 100.

 

I have enough frustration in life, so I may not go down this road...seeing is this is supposed to be what I do to relax haha.

 

I really want a pen that looks like the limited edition yellow Wing Sung 601 but without the 601's filling system.

[Proto]

So I haven't tried this myself, though I did see a picture on Reddit. Apparently the "nib unit" of the Jinhao 991/992 will fit into a Pilot Metro section with very little effort. The picture I saw was of the hooded nib unit on a Metro and it looked very interesting.

[truthpil]

Well I do recall I've seen mod kit for 616 ( std/large size ) for converting the pen to C/C filling , those though are in Stainless Steel or Titanium. Was not sure if any that's tailored for the small size 616 but I figure it could be done. I'll have to go back and check ... and No, the Hero 100 14K nib will not work on the 616 unless you mod it ( basically the index hook part ).

 

Ok, how about a simpler hack. I like everything about the look of the yellow 616-2 except for the yellow jewel on the cap. It would look so much better if it was the same color as the clip or if there wasn't any jewel at all. Are there any other pens that have either gold caps or caps with gold trim (including jewel) that will fit the 616-2? I believe the current 616-2 is the same size as the current "small" 616. Unfortunately the gold-capped 616 is only available in the larger sizes.

 

More specifically, would the cap from a Hero 110 fit on the 616-2? The 110's cap is exactly what I'm looking for, however the pens are a little overpriced.

If the 110's cap fits, then I could do a real mix up and put both the 110's cap and 12k nib into the 616-2...

Edited May 8, 2018 by TruthPil

[truthpil]

Hero 100 cap on a small Hero 616.

 

My (genuine) Hero 100 was a huge disappointment. It writes about the same as most of my 616s. Then the section cracked only after about a month. I used the gold nib from the 100 in other 616s and it does not perform any better than the steel nibs.

 

How is the 100's cap working for the small Hero 616? Is the seal perfect so no drying out?

[loubapache]

 

How is the 100's cap working for the small Hero 616? Is the seal perfect so no drying out?

Yes, perfect. Always write.

 

BTW, the 616-2 size is bigger than the small 616 but smaller than the regular (jumbo) 616. I have a couple coming and will confirm.

 

The Hero 100 barrel fits Hero 131 so I think it should also fit Hero 329, etc.

Edited May 8, 2018 by loubapache

[truthpil]

Yes, perfect. Always write.

 

BTW, the 616-2 size is bigger than the small 616 but smaller than the regular (jumbo) 616. I have a couple coming and will confirm.

 

The Hero 100 barrel fits Hero 131 so I think it should also fit Hero 329, etc.

 

Thanks! I was wondering about the size issue. Some sellers say the small 616 and 616-2 are the same size, while others say the 616-2 is 10mm longer.

I wonder if that affects the cap fitting at all.

 

Below are (from left to right): 616-2, small 616, medium 616.

 

 

It gets so tricky trying to change parts between the 616 variants because there are so many variants, especially if you take into account previous (I wouldn't go as far as saying "vintage") versions.

 

The kind of cap I want to put on a yellow 616-2 would be either the gold-trim cap for the old 110 or the gold-trim version of the current 100. I think the 110 might have a better seal due to the nature of how the clip is installed.

Edited May 8, 2018 by TruthPil

[loubapache]

I will know the cap size for the 616-2 in a few days once they arrive.

[truthpil]

I will know the cap size for the 616-2 in a few days once they arrive.

 

Looking forward to hearing about what kind of swappability you find with this pen!

 

Since I'm already in China and they are dirt cheap, I just ordered a 616-2 and the 666 which has a fude nib.

I'm hoping to swap both the cap and the nib to make a nice chrome and yellow pen that writes a broad line.