Hongdian N1S

[kpong11]

As I don't see any review on this pen in FPN. Anyone here have this pen in hand, I'd like to know your feedback. BTW from the ads, I see this pen in yellow, do they available in other colors?

[A Smug Dill]

25 minutes ago, kpong11 said:

Anyone here have this pen in hand, I'd like to know your feedback.

 

It's a better-made piston-filler than the Majohn T5. (I have multiple units of both models.)

 

26 minutes ago, kpong11 said:

do they available in other colors?

 

Only in orange.

[kpong11]

@A Smug Dillthanks for your input

[mke]

On 12/7/2021 at 11:36 AM, A Smug Dill said:

 

Only in orange.

 

On 12/7/2021 at 11:02 PM, kpong11 said:

thanks for your input

 

Actually, it is more yellow than orange.

It looks like a nice pen. If it is long-time stable, the future will tell us.

The nib is a dream - if you like EF nibs - fine and wet, a rare combination. Even Pelikan Royal Blue looks good with it.

I wish I could replace some nibs of my pens with this nib.

[A Smug Dill]

14 minutes ago, mke said:

The nib is a dream - if you like EF nibs - fine and wet, a rare combination.

 

Not fine enough. Not even close to how the smaller HongDian EF steel nibs (e.g. on the 1850 and 6013 models) write. It benefits from (and produce better results when) using paler inks such as Pilot Iroshizuku Yu-yake; but I wouldn't want to be writing in black with that nib.

 

As for the colour, it's pale, but actually more orange (as opposed to yellow) than I'd expected from looking at the marketing images alone. Closer to what Italian pen manufacturers' like to market as ‘arancio’ (yes, I know it means ‘orange’) than to, say, Pelikan's Vibrant Orange.

[mke]

@kpong11

Pictures can explain better than words. A comparison of the Hongdian EF with a Pilot F.

The Hongdian is inked with Pelikan Royal Blue, the Pilot is inked with Pilot Blue-Black.

 

 

 

[kpong11]

Thanks @mke, any problem with ink capacity? Seem the piston head is extend too much in the barrel

[garyc]

On 1/4/2022 at 1:49 PM, kpong11 said:

Thanks @mke, any problem with ink capacity? Seem the piston head is extend too much in the barrel

I haven’t actually inked mine yet, but from approximate measurements of the piston diameter and length of travel (by observing against a bright light), the capacity could be a bit disappointing at around 0.6ml by my estimation. I estimate the diameter and length to be 6.5mm and 18mm respectively. If correct, that would make the capacity slightly less than a short international cartridge.

[A Smug Dill]

7 minutes ago, garyc said:

the capacity could be a bit disappointing at around 0.6ml by my estimation.

 

It's about 1.4ml for the unit of the N1-S I'm using. (I measured it with a syringe with graduated markings.)

 

The other, yet uninked, unit I have should have a capacity that is a smidgen larger.

 

But, just to be clear, I believe your estimate of the capacity of your unit. I have good reason to believe there is a high degree of variability between units. 🤔

[garyc]

1 hour ago, A Smug Dill said:

 

It's about 1.4ml for the unit of the N1-S I'm using. (I measured it with a syringe with graduated markings.)

 

The other, yet uninked, unit I have should have a capacity that is a smidgen larger.

 

But, just to be clear, I believe your estimate of the capacity of your unit. I have good reason to believe there is a high degree of variability between units. 🤔

I will try tomorrow to verify by doing a fill and weighing the pen before/after.

 

But it did seem just by inspection that the piston tube diameter is narrower than you would find in something like a Wingsung 698. But thinking about it, there is probably some element of optical distortion from viewing through curved plastic that will make the diameter measurement (in particular) less than precise!

[mke]

9 hours ago, garyc said:

weighing the pen before/after

 

The only accurate method !

 

I used the pen a lot today -> 👍

It is the only pen - together with Pelikan Royal Blue - which can be used with even my worst paper. What a pleasant surprise. 

[garyc]

I did a before/after weighing and came up with 14.75g full, 13.55g empty for the barrel+section+nib, so 1.2g of ink or 1.2ml approx. Which obviously will include all the ink, including in the feed.

 

But, interestingly, the diameter of the visible ink looked bigger than I remembered the piston width, so I re-measured it at 9.5mm. That gives an estimated piston volume of about 1276 cubic millimetres, or 1.276ml. 

 

I filled it with Diamine Raw Sienna and the nib is definitely on the Fine, rather than EF, side. I compared it with the F nib on the Hongdian 960 and can't see much difference. On pure vertical strokes, maybe the 960 nib is finer, but on horizontal, the N1S is marginally finer. I tested it on a Rhodia 80gsm pad, Tomoe River 52 and Kokuyo notebook. It is a smooth writer, but there is still plenty of feedback (not scratchy at all, but you can feel and hear it as you write). 

 

I actually also have the C/C N1 (bought by mistake, thinking it was the piston N1S) and there is very little to choose from between the N1, N1S and 960. I think I actually prefer the look of the F nib on the 960.

Edited January 6, 2022 by garyc
corrected full weight

[mke]

7 minutes ago, garyc said:

did a before/after weighing

Thanks. 1.2 g in EF writes a "few" words. 

[A Smug Dill]

7 hours ago, garyc said:

But, interestingly, the diameter of the visible ink looked bigger than I remembered the piston width, so I re-measured it at 9.5mm. That gives an estimated piston volume of about 1276 cubic millimetres, or 1.276ml. 

 

The maximum length of travel of the piston plug in the HongDian N1-S varies (sometimes significantly) from unit to unit as supplied, from my first-hand observation; and for that reason it is not meaningful in coming up with a figure for the ink capacity of the pen model (as opposed to a specific unit of it, which any other person who orders a new pen won't be getting). Even coming up with the maximum potential ink capacity for the pen model is meaningless, unless one is prepared to perform a full teardown of the product, and then reassemble with care and with that specific priority in mind.

 

The quality of manufacture in terms of material, fit and finish of the N1-S is good, as long as one does not expect the manufacturer to realise/deliver the maximum potential ink capacity for the design; and, to be fair, I have not seen any design specifications for the pen model to state the ink capacity that one (i.e. any purchaser or user) can reasonably expect at a minimum.

[DrScholl]

Hi all ! I like this pen a lot, but a EF or F nib might be too fine for me. The nib looks like a #6, anyone knows if other #6 nibs are adaptable ?

[A Smug Dill]

19 hours ago, DrScholl said:

The nib looks like a #6, anyone knows if other #6 nibs are adaptable ?

 

Not about to pull the nib out of my HongDian N1-S to check, sorry. However, it uses the same larger-sized nib as the model 960 and N1, etc. so if you're familiar with those already, then there's your answer.

 

Most users don't regard all pens as glorified nib holders for an imaginary near-universal standard for nib sizes and geometries, I'm afraid, when there isn't even one for converters; “international standard” doesn't hold sway with the vast majority of Japanese and Chinese pen brands, and even a Pelikan (“international standard”) converter won't fit — or perhaps gets terribly stuck — in a Faber-Castell Essentio that takes “international standard” converters. Not a chance that #6 is treated as a standard with Chinese pens, when even JoWo and Bock cannot agree between themselves what that is. However, most of the relatively larger (of two sizes) open nibs in Chinese pens are nominally 35mm long, and at least some Chinese nibs are easily interchangeable between brands.

 

I'd be happy to wager that a Jinhao 35mm nib can be easily made to fit inside the HongDian N1-S (cf. adaptable), assuming one is not expecting ready reversibility, or to take it back out and put it inside a Jinhao pen at a moment's notice. Bending (if necessary) and putting a different (i.e. broader than Fine) Chinese nib into the N1-S once and for all should not be a problem.

[mke]

18 hours ago, DrScholl said:

The nib looks like a #6

It certainly is a "#6" - or a "#35".

Below, find a comparison of a Kaigelu #35, the nib in question and a Yiren #25 (which corresponds to a #5).

[DrScholl]

Thanks a lot for your answers.

One more question if I may : I already own a Hongdian 960, and though it has a fine nib I kept it on because it is smooth and wet.

I find the 960 very good on the whole, but after a while the section threads tens to rub against and irritate my medium finger (yes I know I'm a pain). Are the section threads (or is it threading ?) similar on the N1S ?

[A Smug Dill]

3 hours ago, DrScholl said:

I find the 960 very good on the whole, but after a while the section threads tens to rub against and irritate my medium finger (yes I know I'm a pain). Are the section threads (or is it threading ?) similar on the N1S ?

 

I don't think you are (being) a pain. My own pen hold makes me particularly sensitive to how a the rim on a metal connector that sits between (the visible/main part of) the barrel and the gripping section (on other pen models, not the HongDian N1-S) can irritate the crook of my thumb, when it would seem to bother nobody else.

 

Anyway…

 

I don't have ready access to my HongDian 960 pens right now, but to my recollection, they are practically the same as the c/c-filled N1 model, except for the finials and the presentation of the nib face. What I can tell you is that the external thread on the N1-S's barrel is set approximately 1.3mm further back (from the front end of the gripping section) than that on the N1, even though the N1 and N1-S look identical from the outside when capped.

 

[mke]

On 1/4/2022 at 10:49 PM, kpong11 said:

any problem with ink capacity?

Absolutely not - it took me a week to empty it. Difficult to say how many pages I wrote but it is sufficient. 

I recommend this pen.

 

If you have bigger ink capacity needs, how about this here: https://www.instagram.com/p/CY9gbFavBoD/ ?