Type 28 Pen

[Dan Carmell]

I liked the look of the Hero 856 and bought one. It has a number of classic design elements, like the stepped metal end caps and ball clip, giving it a wonderful vintage look. While waiting on it, I read a translated blog that referred to the Type 28 fountain pen made by Golden Star and others, and still made by Hero. Am I correct that the 856 is the modern Type 28?

 

So then I had to get the Golden Star to compare and they are virtually the same pen, with different nibs, imprints, and two visibly updated parts. Photo of both below, Hero is the top pen. 
 

The blog gave me the impression that the Type 28 was something of an icon in the Chinese pen world, so I thought it was possible the very knowledgeable people here might have some additional information and perspectives on this pen. I did search FPN and didn’t see ‘Type 28’ but my apologies if this has been discussed before. 

[Dan Carmell]

I can’t resist adding that I held the two pens in my hand for several moments, admiring them and appreciating their girth. My eye goes to the barrel again and again, seeking the lever filler or the seam of a blind cap, because it is so much of that classic era. I think that any person who used a fountain pen between 1920 and 1940, in any corner of the world, would instinctively feel comfortable with this pen. 

[OCArt]

@Dan CarmellI have the same pen and have always enjoyed how comfortable it is to write with. They do look like they'd have a button or lever filling system rather than the squeeze-style they employ. I'm thinking about yanking the ink sack out and turning it into an eyedropper pen. I don't like fine nibs so I ground mine to a stub but they appear to take a number 6 nib.

[catbert]

I have the same pens — you've reminded me to ink them up. 🙂

 

This video from the sadly inactive Seele2015au provides some background about Type 28 pens.

 

 

[Number99]

The following Chinese blog post has a description of the "type" of a Chinese fountain pen.

 Reproduction is prohibited, so the contents cannot be written here.

https://zhuanlan.zhihu.com/p/368394904

 

 There is an attached image explaining "26 type" (26) in this.

 Other than, the translation of the image material is shown. ↓ ↑

 ↓

 Type 26 includes large (28), medium (26), and small (24). Represented by a Type 26 Venus Gold Pen (Figure 1). This type of fountain pen is the most widely available on the market, with gold pens, iridium pens and fountain pens being mass-produced. It features a simple structure, a simple appearance, and ease of use. The absorption structure is generally a snap head spring type, but there is also a foldable type. The water absorption capacity is 1.5 to 1.6 ml for large size, 1.1 to 1.2 ml for medium size, and 0.75 to 0.85 ml for small size. The material of the pen barrel is mainly cellulose acetate. The pen sleeve has 1 to 3 thin circles. The pen tip is tile type. The disadvantage is that the leakage temperature difference is small.

 

 Pen clip

 

 Pen item

 

 pen

 

 Tail cap

 

 Nib pen cover

 

 Pen circle

 

 Water absorption mechanism

 

 Figure 1 Type 260 fountain pen

 ↑

 

 Please find the corresponding image. Then read the description along with the figure.

 Alternatively, long tap the image and use Google lens to translate the text in the image.

 This description includes "26 type", "24 type" (24型), "26 type" (26型), "28 type" (28型), and it is explained that the difference between them is "size".

 

 If these "26-type" characteristics match or almost match the characteristics of the corresponding pen, I think the answer will be closer.

 Did the structure and size of the pen match or almost match the figure?

 Strictly speaking, type 28 seems to be part of type 26.

 

 There was another related thread.

https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/topic/323335-hero-856/

 

 

 

 

 I'm still ignorant of these pens, so I just end up providing this information.

 

 

 

 

Edited April 22, 2022 by Number99

[Seele]

Well, I am still around both here and at YouTube, it's just that my new place does not allow for easy filming for having dreadful lighting.

 

The more modern Type 28 examples (and identical ones under other appellations) in my video can be considered a retrograde step when compared to the pre-war originals, which were usually made out of celluloid with ebonite bits, and most - if not all - were button fillers; the materials and manufacturing techniques were appropriate for their periods. More modern ones used injection molded thermoplastics and are bulb fillers, and are much much lighter. But they still work quite well nonetheless. One or two of the examples shown were obviously "bin ends", and they actually benefited by the fitting of properly vented Ahab feeds. If you can source them directly from China, it would be nice to have a selection of them showing how a design was shared by many makers, something a bit difficult for us in the west to understand.

[Number99]

I found a commentary on the origin of Type 26 (including 24 and 28).

 The article with the first link.

 The second answer to the question is a detailed commentary.

 However, I think these comments are just for reference.

 

 In addition, in the article of the second link, the classification of type 24, type 26, and type 28 is only large, medium, and small.

 There is a discussion that the size notation of the origin is the tire size of the bicycle.

 

 Both articles agree on(No discrepancy)

 what the origin of the fountain pen is.

 

 However, there are times when the story does not seem to come together. If you hit various things including advertisements, you can see that all large pens(Has a certain shape), including ballpoint pens, tend to use the word "type 28".

 

 There is no end.

 

https://www.zhihu.com/question/433082819

 

http://www.penmuseum.net/forum.php?mod=viewthread&tid=96789&page=1

 

 

 

 

 

Edited May 8, 2022 by Number99
Translation correction.

[antoniosz]

Is this the famous Dan Carmel?     Good to "see" you around Dan. 

Antonios Z. 

[Dan Carmell]

9 hours ago, antoniosz said:

Is this the famous Dan Carmel?     Good to "see" you around Dan. 

Antonios Z. 

Someone I remember! Nice to revisit the scene of so many pen discussions. I hope you are well!

[Tefolim]

Well, Venus used 2/4/6/8 to classify their Venus pens.

 

In 1936, Venus’s products were numbered under the following rules.
x2 means lady pen.
x4 means small.
x6 means medium.
x8 means large.
1x means it is not a Venus, it is an Ay-kou (愛國 means Patriotic). Black pen with single ring.
2x means black pen with single ring.
3x means black pen with double ring.
4x means single colour with double rings. 6 kinds of colours.
6x means colour with double rings. red and green.
8x means moderne xxx and pearl with triple rings.
10x means it is a 國權 (means sovereign right, I did not find its romanization).

 

Similar pens made by many other factories were classified as 24/26/28 later.

Golden Dragon used a different classification.

[hari317]

Nice to see you posting Dan

I still have the Pilot Sterling Elite you sold me so many years back

 

Hari

[Dan Carmell]

On 6/8/2022 at 12:58 AM, hari317 said:

Nice to see you posting Dan

I still have the Pilot Sterling Elite you sold me so many years back

 

Hari

Hair, nice to hear from you! It’s a gorgeous pen, isn’t it? I still have the other as well.