#9 Jun Lai Nib

[Dan Carmell]

A thousand words and all that…

[hari317]

3 hours ago, Dan Carmell said:

A thousand words and all that…

superb, is it already out on the market?

[hari317]

 

This is a kanwrite no 9 nib measuring 45mm long. Other nibs are an Ambitious 40mm nib, Kanwrite 35mm nib and an Ambitious 28mm nib.

[Dan Carmell]

5 hours ago, hari317 said:

superb, is it already out on the market?

Yes! 

https://a.aliexpress.com/_m0J2jC8

[Dan Carmell]

5 hours ago, hari317 said:

 

This is a kanwrite no 9 nib measuring 45mm long. Other nibs are an Ambitious 40mm nib, Kanwrite 35mm nib and an Ambitious 28mm nib.

When I asked on Reddit what other pen maker produce a #9 nib, Kanwrite was the most frequent response, people showed photos of both the gold and steel #9 Kanwrite, very impressive. 
 

I learned that there will be a steel #9 nib for this pen, hopefully lowering the price considerably. There will also be an ebonite version of the 900, probably a completely different pen built around that #9 nib, which comes as a Jun Lai traditional nib or the heartbeat nib. 

[hssqq]

I truly hope that Kanwrite can be sold by a detailer for a reasonable price in China. 

Import tariff is over 20% for individuals, so buying from the maker is not acceptable for most.

[inkstainedruth]

So, I have a question.  Is there a reason for having these huge nibs (other than maybe looking more balanced esthetically on a larger pen)?  I ask because the only "large" pen I have is the vintage Sheaffer Balance Oversize that had belonged to my husband's grandfather.  

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

[Dan Carmell]

57 minutes ago, inkstainedruth said:

So, I have a question.  Is there a reason for having these huge nibs (other than maybe looking more balanced esthetically on a larger pen)?  I ask because the only "large" pen I have is the vintage Sheaffer Balance Oversize that had belonged to my husband's grandfather.  

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

None at all, Ruth, as far as I know. It’s sheer display and size-ism—but I’m a fool for that!

 

Your OS Balance is a big pen, with a nib properly proportioned to the pen. After a certain point, size becomes a hindrance and thus just a luxury good, not really a working pen. 

[inkstainedruth]

Yeah, I figured as much, but thought I'd ask to be certain. 

The Balance Oversize is the largest pen I have, but is very lightweight for its size -- lighter in weight than any of my TWSBIs.   Hmmm.  I should put it back into rotation at some point because I recall it being a decent writer.  That's the pen I would like to keep in the family if at all possible -- maybe leave it to one of my husband's great nieces or nephews.

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

[sodul]

I might be wrong but I do believe that for flex nibs a larger nib is better because you will have better support for the flex. I do have vintage small-ish gold nibs with flex, but these are vintage, most modern flex nibs are steel.

 

 

For regular, stiff, nibs there is not that much difference since most of the ink will flow through the grooves on top of the feed, right under the middle of the nib.

 

So yes, for stiff nibs, having a big nib is indeed mostly for show. I have large hands and I like larger pens with larger nibs like the Jinhao X159 but lately my daily carry is a Majohn A1 Metal with grid pattern finish.

 

[lukeap69]

I am now very sceptic about these JunL's gold nibs. I have #6 14K and #8 18K and both suffered from tine misalignment. The ebonite bodies are really well done though. 

 

The steel nib in my WS 630 flat top is very good. So they can make good nibs. Just not my two gold nibs. 😁

[hssqq]

3 hours ago, lukeap69 said:

I am now very sceptic about these JunL's gold nibs. I have #6 14K and #8 18K and both suffered from tine misalignment. The ebonite bodies are really well done though. 

 

The steel nib in my WS 630 flat top is very good. So they can make good nibs. Just not my two gold nibs. 😁

Based on my own experience, in most of the cases, misalignment is caused by assemble-person casually shoving the nib and feed into the collar. I fixed mine steel-nib JunL 600 by reassembling, but I do not trust myself with the gold-nib ones.
JunL is so unaware of the situation. They actually do not admit misalignment as defect.

[Dan Carmell]

18 minutes ago, hssqq said:

Based on my own experience, in most of the cases, misalignment is caused by assemble-person casually shoving the nib and feed into the collar. I fixed mine steel-nib JunL 600 by reassembling, but I do not trust myself with the gold-nib ones.
JunL is so unaware of the situation. They actually do not admit misalignment as defect.

This is interesting, thank you! The assemble-person, that’s at the retailer, not the factory, and that’s why Jun Lai isn’t aware of the problem?

 

I have 5 JunL gold nibs (some marked WS but all made recently) and several WS #6 gold nibs that are a few years older and none have had misaligned tips so I’ve been lucky. I did hear that there were production problems with both the #8 and #9 nibs, but that’s inherent with any new and complex manufacturing. My JunL nibs have been long blades and EFs, the EFs being as narrow as a Japanese EF and very beautifully finished tipping—long tines on at least one. 
 

You mention a steel #8 for your 600; only gold nibbed 600s are available on AliExpress, I think. Could you show a photo of your steel nib? Is it stamped the same as the gold nibs with the V JunL nib?

 

I will take a few macro photos of my EF nibs and share them in this thread, later in the day—off to chores now!

[lukeap69]

IIRC my experience was echoed by Shanghai Knife Dude. So I concluded that my issues were not specific to me only. I had tuned quite a few of my nibs but the JunL ones needed more work. BTW, to those who have both #6 amd #8 JunL gold nibs, have you noticed that the #6 is softer than the #8? My #6 is as almost as soft as my Pelikan M1000 in my view.

[hssqq]

On 10/20/2024 at 1:34 AM, Dan Carmell said:

This is interesting, thank you! The assemble-person, that’s at the retailer, not the factory, and that’s why Jun Lai isn’t aware of the problem?

 

I have 5 JunL gold nibs (some marked WS but all made recently) and several WS #6 gold nibs that are a few years older and none have had misaligned tips so I’ve been lucky. I did hear that there were production problems with both the #8 and #9 nibs, but that’s inherent with any new and complex manufacturing. My JunL nibs have been long blades and EFs, the EFs being as narrow as a Japanese EF and very beautifully finished tipping—long tines on at least one. 
 

You mention a steel #8 for your 600; only gold nibbed 600s are available on AliExpress, I think. Could you show a photo of your steel nib? Is it stamped the same as the gold nibs with the V JunL nib?

 

I will take a few macro photos of my EF nibs and share them in this thread, later in the day—off to chores now!

Apologies for mixing up 630 and 600. I did not realize until I searched on Taobao. There is no steel-nib 600, yes.

 

Just for your reference, the ebonite one, JunL 600 was first called 630 to celebrate that Mr. Zhang, owner of JunL, had been doing stationery business for 30 years. But people from chat groups thought using a hundreds number would be better for the first No.8 pen. Upon releasing Mr. Zhang accepted the advice. So you may see Chinese people being exceptionally more confused about the names.

 

||||

 

The 'assemble-person' refers to the JunL factory employee who assembles the pen. They really don't care enough about good alignment. They also do not admit scratchy nibs and misalignment as defects, as long as ink flows and the pen writes. 

 

However, if you try it out dry without dipping ink, JunL do accept returns under the policy of ‘refunds without providing any reason within 7 days', which is by the e-commerce laws in China.

 

I actually just returned my 900 to factory and bought a new one. For the ebonite JunL 600, I returned one scratchy and received another scratchy, which I sent to a nib shaper. It was really frustrating experience and I do hold a grudge (ˉ﹃ˉ).

 

edit: attached pics of my scratchy JunL 600 and JunL 900

 

[lukeap69]

The first 600 nib looks terrible. I hope your second one was fixed by the nib master.