Majohn P136-Ef, F, M, and 1.1 Stub

[ChrisN]

On 8/30/2022 at 2:46 AM, Karmachanic said:

Wondering if the tool is necessary for the nib.  The current MB 146/9 have the housing notches, but can be unscrewed by hand.  If the nibs can be removed by hand there is no need for the tool, as one can lubricate the piston from the front end.

 

The nib variety is encouraging.  Perhaps we'll see more from other Chinese brands.

 

The tool came in handy to loosen the nib, especially for the initial removal. The fins on the feed are extremely tall and thin, and they can bend very easily. The tool allows you to loosen the nib without the danger of applying too much pressure on the fins.

[Karmachanic]

3 hours ago, ChrisN said:

The fins on the feed are extremely tall and thin, and they can bend very easily.

 

Happy to report that all the fins on my feed survivied intact.  Perhaps, in part, due to familiarity with the procedure.  Pelikan, Conid, Montblanc, Ranga, Santini, Tamenuri, Eureka, and so on.

[jchch1950]

ChrisN: thank you for the comments,maybe you can post more detail views and photos after using them  for some time. I think they will be useful for some of us that are waiting to place an order.

[Jamerelbe]

On 9/15/2022 at 11:28 PM, ChrisN said:

My order through Taobao arrived yesterday. Here's my impressions so far:

• The posting experience is terrible. The cap basically sits loose on the end of the pen. If you press it on forcefully, the cap will wedge on, but it is very easily dislodged.
• The colors are not as vibrant as the pictures show. Especially the blue - it is a more "dusty" dark blue-gray than the pictures imply. The green and red colors are slightly less vibrant as well, but not nearly as noticeable as the blue.
• The writing experience is unremarkable. Here are my impressions of what I have inked:
  • Standard EF: Smooth, a bit dry
  • Standard F: A bit scratchy, nice and wet
  • 1.1 Stub: Smooth writer, good line variation
  • #35 EF: Smooth, a bit dry
• Here is what I observed about the difference between the standard and the #35 nibs:
  • The standard nibs have holes punched in the ends to retain them, the #35 nibs do not.
  • The #35 nibs are 1-2mm longer than the standard nibs
  • There does not seem to be an appreciable difference in how the nibs write.
  • Other than cosmetics (only #35 nibs have two-tone available) I don't know what the selling point is for the #35 nibs over the standard nibs.
    • Edit: One possibility I just thought of is that the #35 style might be compatible with generic #6 nibs. I will have to test this theory.

 

 

 

My Aliexpress order arrived yesterday - it's a bit hard to capture the colour under the lighting I have available (it's a darkish green), but here's a picture:

 

 

Initial impressions line up with @ChrisN, with a caveat or two:

• I only ordered one pen (with one nib): the EF, which was a smooth and pleasant writer, but feels more like F to me.
• I didn't find the Green less lacking in 'vibrancy' than the pictures - the pictures suggested a darker (rather than more muted) green, and that's what I received.

It's a very "serious" looking pen, and feels comfortable in the hand - a bit back-weighted, though I don't notice it while writing, but I'm pretty happy with what I've gotten for the money.  Definitely agree, the pen is *not* designed to post - the cap sits loosely on the back of the pen and rattles around while you write.

 

Should I have waited for the price on the pen to drop before I ordered one? Probably - but I'm pretty happy with what I've got.  I'll wait a little while to buy the disassembly widget for the piston mechanism, though... and maybe a stub nib while I'm at it?

 

[clear1]

My tool is too rough and the plastic is too weak. I only used it once and already got some damage on the plastic surface.

[Flounder]

Just received the 1.1 stub and the tool; not great news I'm afraid - big gap between nib and feed means it will never start reliably, and it's the biggest nominal 1.1 stub I've seen - the tipping is 1.26 across, measured with decent MAPRA calipers. Even famously flaky Kaweco has sent me 1.1 stubs closer to stated size.

 

[garyc]

19 hours ago, Flounder said:

Just received the 1.1 stub and the tool; not great news I'm afraid - big gap between nib and feed means it will never start reliably, and it's the biggest nominal 1.1 stub I've seen - the tipping is 1.26 across, measured with decent MAPRA calipers. Even famously flaky Kaweco has sent me 1.1 stubs closer to stated size.

 

 

That gap is unfortunate - I received mine the yesterday and it writes perfectly, while the written line is pretty much bang-on 1mm (as best as I can measure it), the actual nib measures about 1.23mm across. It is wider than a Pilot Pluminix italic (1mm), two Bock 1.1s (1.05 and 1.03mm). But the widest 1.1s I have are a Jowo (I think it's not marked) at 1.35mm and a TWSBI 580 AL I bought with an italic was similarly broad at 1.36mm - so much so that I swapped it out for a F. The closest to 1.1 I have is a Lamy, which is 1.08mm, but another is 0.93mm. Of all of these, I prefer the Pilot size, then the Lamy.

 

But the Majohn 1.1 does write a little wider than I would like, so I took to using it slightly canted at an angle to the page to reduce the line a bit. I may decide to stick with the original F at some point.

[socialmoth]

Can't say I've used a Montblanc before, but I'm loving mine.

That said: Although I got it with an EF nib installed, it writes a lot closer to MF. I'd complain, but that's my favorite nib width.

 

Ergonomics are great, if not back-weighted; you can't really post; it just nestles itself as an extension to your hand. It's got a pleasant pencil-like feedback that I love, too, so that's a plus.

[socialmoth]

3 minutes ago, socialmoth said:

Can't say I've used a Montblanc before, but I'm loving mine.

That said: Although I got it with an EF nib installed, it writes a lot closer to MF. I'd complain, but that's my favorite nib width.

 

Ergonomics are great, if not back-weighted; you can't really post; it just nestles itself as an extension to your hand. It's got a pleasant pencil-like feedback that I love, too, so that's a plus.

Update, but I can't stress this enough: Like PenBBS, the feed's fins are *really* fragile. One of mine just bent when I capped the pen-- just narrowly grazed the threads, and I use negligible force for that.

 

Just something to take note. I feel like the tool's essential for swapping units because of that.

[A Smug Dill]

4 minutes ago, socialmoth said:

Like PenBBS, the feed's fins are *really* fragile. …‹snip›… I feel like the tool's essential for swapping units because of that.

 

Thanks for sharing that information! I think it's the right thing, then, that Majohn is offering a specifically made tool for it, when nib-swapping by a more-than-usual proportion of owners seems to be expected as part and parcel of choosing this pen model, and also not including it as standard (and covered by the pen's price) in the retail package à la HongDian, but putting a non-trivial retail price on the optional item in recognition that it isn't necessary to swap nibs and not what everyone will attempt as a matter of course.

 

[elkoko_pen]

Received the P136 F from AliExpress. Also Ordered the M & 1.1 stub 

 

Swapped nibs carefully. Now using the 1.1

[Flounder]

On 10/4/2022 at 10:29 PM, Flounder said:

Just received the 1.1 stub and the tool; not great news I'm afraid - big gap between nib and feed means it will never start reliably, and it's the biggest nominal 1.1 stub I've seen - the tipping is 1.26 across, measured with decent MAPRA calipers. Even famously flaky Kaweco has sent me 1.1 stubs closer to stated size.

 

 

 

If anyone else is interested in these nib units, my defective one came from the store linked to below.

 

The seller never did send either a replacement or a refund, just a lot of vague replies spaced over as much time as possible; you have probably seen the same sort of thing before. Anyway - avoid.

 

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005004691997056.html

[J120]

New Glacier Colorway

The bottom two are the Montblanc knock offs that have been available on Aliexpress for a month.

 

I am not sure the fakes see coming out of the same factory as the clones but food for thought. 

[HobbitLife]

I ordered the Jowo compatible housing for my P136 a while back, and it finally arrived yesterday. Put a Franklin-Christoph Nagahara stub in there, screwed it into the section, and voila! Works like a charm. I actually liked the Majohn F nib it came with, but having the option to use native Majohn housing specifically designed for Jowo nibs and feeds is a big win in my book. I haven’t tried putting a Jowo nib in the original housing so can’t speak to how different they are, but can say the Jowo ones at least work well. 

[BlueJ]

The not-so-precious resin of the P136 is unfortunately very brittle: look what happened to mine after dropping it about a meter onto a hardwood floor! I did salvage the nib unit, cap and piston mechanism in case I decide to replace it.

 

[Karmachanic]

The original precious resin has been known to exhibit this chatacteristic.