How Many Of You Would Like To See Flex ?

[EdT]

Would you buy a Jinhao or Baoer with Noodler's Ahab type flex or TWISBI italic stub ?

 

I know someone that has direct contact with the owners of Jinhao/Baoer and they are solicting feedback from fountain pen users in North America and Europe.

 

Please list what you would like to see in your ideal Jinhao pen ?

[usk15]

Please list what you would like to see in your ideal Jinhao pen ?

 

First of all they should improve quality and quality control, then develop your own design, create your own website where customers can communicate their wishes, sales representing in USA, Europe and all over the major market...

After you've done all of this, you can come and ask your customers what they want.

[Moshe ben David]

usk15: Bravo!

 

could not have said it better!

[richardandtracy]

The things I'd like to see in order of importance:

1. Better plating.
2. A choice of nib sizes, F, M & B to start with.
3. Better Plating
4. More attention paid to pen balance.
5. Better plating
6. Flex nib.

The plating on that Jinhao Century of mine started to show visible signs of wear after 3 weeks. This plating wear makes you feel bad about your purchase pretty quickly - and I'd feel happier to get more pens if they didn't look old & tatty so soon. Makes you feel you've wasted your money on cheap rubbish. The thing is, I know the rest of the pen is good, just want it to stay looking good. The K316 I use regularly is better, in that some of the plating remains after 2 years of regular use, but it's nowhere near as good as on a cheap Parker. As China makes most of the world's PVD machines and carbide machine tool inserts, it should be possible for Jinhao to find someone who will do the 'gold' plating in Titanium Aluminium Nitride (the gold colour on carbide machine tool inserts) to a 4 micron thickness, and that will last decades on a pen.

 

With regard to the balance of the pen, don't have dirty great lumps of brass at the ends of the barrel & cap - try to mould these from plastic if possible. I have a Jinhao Century that is a great pen except for two things, the plating is poor/dreadful and the balance is appalling due to the weight of the barrel finial (see review here: https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/index.php?/topic/220345-jinhao-century-mk-2/ ). I have a Jinhao 5000 that is a heavy pen, but as it's heavy all the way along, its balance is good, and there is no excessive extra weight at the ends.

 

Regards,

 

Richard.

[Aysedasi]

No interest in flex at all here.......

[Fabienne]

What do I want in a Jinhao? That it works. I have owned 3 and all 3 have hit the trash because not one could write for more than half a page. I would not buy another one.

[wlwilcox]

I have quite a few Jinhao's, and what Iwould like to see is pens like the X750,X450 that are postable.

Also would like different nib choices and flex nib.

I enjoy these pens greatly and hope that their quality standards continue to improve as they go forward.

[KBeezie]

What do I want in a Jinhao? That it works. I have owned 3 and all 3 have hit the trash because not one could write for more than half a page. I would not buy another one.

I'm curious which models those of were, I've not had that problem with a X750,X450,159 or a 611,but I always wash my pens before I first use them to get rid of any oils or other residue left over from the warehouse or manufacturing. Some of them do get dry if I don't use them for a few days but once started back up it just keeps writing until I'm done.

[KBeezie]

I have quite a few Jinhao's, and what Iwould like to see is pens like the X750,X450 that are postable.

Also would like different nib choices and flex nib.

I enjoy these pens greatly and hope that their quality standards continue to improve as they go forward.

The X750 has no problems posting, the x450 on the other hand socks at posting.

On almost all my larger jinhaos (450,750,159) I've replaced the nib with either goulet or monteverde #6 nib ranging from extra fine to 1.5 stub, only one silver x750 I have has the original jinhao nib, and that's only because I have not replaced it yet (will probably get a 1.1 or 0.9 stub, but I can probably grind down one of my four spare jinhao nibs as an experiment).

 

If the feeds in general could be improved then most of those jinhao pens would be very nice especially with a nib replacement. You would need a very good feed if planing to adapt a flex nib to one.

Edited April 17, 2014 by KBeezie

[Paul80]

Hi

 

I also have a few Jinhao Pens, the usual suspects 450, 750, 159 and all have been faultless in their use, I might have just been lucky but all mine are fine as are most if not all of the other Chinese pens I have. The only ones I have any issue with have been the ones made to a lower standard, even by Chinese standards they where very low standard, a hero 100 and a Wing Sung spring to mind as a couple of low quality offerings, but the Jinhao have been fine.

 

Different nib widths would be of more interest to me than flex and I suspect the vast majority of pen users no longer or never wrote in a style that needs flex, especially those who learned to write in the last 50 years, to me flex is for the more ornate writers out there so not a very big market, which is why virtually every other make does not offer a flex option either.

 

Paul

[WaskiSquirrel]

I really want to like Jinhao. I'm learning Chinese, and want to like their pens. I love their heavy feel, but I don't love much else.

 

My biggest complaint is the nib: too broad. My second is either a nib or feed problem: they don't start well, no matter what ink I put in them. My third is that this substantial pen has such a tiny, cheap converter. I prefer a piston filler, but can live with a converter, but I hate this one. I also dislike their appearance. I'm not artistic enough to explain it, but something about them just makes me go "meh." I wish they would more embrace their unique Chinese origin (see my last paragraph for something Jinhao did well). This is not just a Jinhao thing. For some reason, I have the same reaction to Montblanc pens. I look at them and go "meh."

 

I don't like that this pen which is so horrible at starting splashes so easily when I cap or uncap the pen.

 

All that said, I did purchase a porcelain pen from Jinhao. It still has the cheap converter, but all the other problems I listed are not present. It's a great pen, writes well (if still a little too wide), and I love the dragon on it. It just looks like a Chinese pen.

 

As for flex: the pens may not be like a Noodler's pen, but there is a little bit of flex in the nib. Maybe if the other problems were dealt with, I'd be interested.

Edited April 17, 2014 by Waski_the_Squirrel

[KBeezie]

As for flex: the pens may not be like a Noodler's pen, but there is a little bit of flex in the nib. Maybe if the other problems were dealt with, I'd be interested.

I've never had a Jinhao with "some flex", sure the tines might spread a tiny bit if you apply some pressure or feel softer, but none of them I've had, had any "flex" compared to nib I've used with *some flex*, trying to make most of the Jinhao flex with their default nib is risking permanent damage, hence why if a flex nib does come out in a #6 for them, I'll still use other brand of nibs simply because the Jinhao ones aare more likely to snap than even noodlers nibs.

 

Far as variety of widths you can already do that, just not with the pen from the get go, and it's not profitable for the Chinese to offer more than one nib per model at their prices.

[Guest Ray Cornett]

This is a poor photograph but this is something I shot after I was messing with my Jinhao 159 one night a while back. It got scratchy on me as you can see by most of the lines. The tines had gotten a little out of alignment. I straightned them out and flushed the tines to make sure nothing was stuck in the slit and look. Somehow it turned into a very wet pen with a bit of flex as you can see by the wider curved line.

 

https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/uploads/imgs/fpn_1397781328__2014-03-27_223848.jpg

[WaskiSquirrel]

I've never had a Jinhao with "some flex", sure the tines might spread a tiny bit if you apply some pressure or feel softer, but none of them I've had, had any "flex" compared to nib I've used with *some flex*, trying to make most of the Jinhao flex with their default nib is risking permanent damage, hence why if a flex nib does come out in a #6 for them, I'll still use other brand of nibs simply because the Jinhao ones aare more likely to snap than even noodlers nibs.

 

Far as variety of widths you can already do that, just not with the pen from the get go, and it's not profitable for the Chinese to offer more than one nib per model at their prices.

Mr. Brian Goulet reports "some flex" in the Jinhao pens, though he does use a different term.

 

http://www.inknouveau.com/2013/12/jinhao-x750-fountain-pen-review.html

Edited April 18, 2014 by Waski_the_Squirrel

[I like mango cheesecake]

pretty much what everyone else said.

 

I got a 159 that was supposed to be a B nib and someone else I know ordered an M nib and they are identical. I examined the tip under a loupe and the slit is not cut down the middle so the iridium ball is bigger on one side than the other.

 

I ended up grinding it off and now it is a 1.5mm stub. Way better than the factory nib.

 

Don't have a 450 or 750, but have handled them in person and would like to see them postable and probably not so hard to uncap as well.

 

I'd like to see super flex, not the lousy (bleep) that some other manufacturers claim as flex.

[KBeezie]

 

Mr. Brian Goulet reports "some flex" in the Jinhao pens, though he does use a different term.

 

http://www.inknouveau.com/2013/12/jinhao-x750-fountain-pen-review.html

 

I usually call that springy or something like that, For example when I bought my Montblanc 225, the seller said the nib had flex, it didn't it was just simply soft enough to be springing but shows no line variation. I wouldn't expect anything from the Jinhao nibs even if you can see the tines move apart, especially as I haven't (and they're probably more likely to break from stress than most other steel nibs).

 

PS: Micro-mesh and mylar paper is probably handy for Jinhao Nibs though (but it won't make it a flex )

[WirsPlm]

Balance is the biggest issue for me with Jinhaos, the pens just are too top heavy and I can't write with them for long enough to be useful every day pens (the Jinhaos I've tried were also hard starters or had a tendency to skip, but if the balance was fine I could overlook that).

[wlwilcox]

The X750 has no problems posting, the x450 on the other hand socks at posting.

On almost all my larger jinhaos (450,750,159) I've replaced the nib with either goulet or monteverde #6 nib ranging from extra fine to 1.5 stub, only one silver x750 I have has the original jinhao nib, and that's only because I have not replaced it yet (will probably get a 1.1 or 0.9 stub, but I can probably grind down one of my four spare jinhao nibs as an experiment).

If the feeds in general could be improved then most of those jinhao pens would be very nice especially with a nib replacement. You would need a very good feed if planing to adapt a flex nib to one.

 

I do have to say that I don't own an X750 so I didn't know that it posted. I do agree with you that the feeds could be improved. Maybe ebonite feeds? Or friction fit feeds would be fantastic!

[wlwilcox]

Also as a side note. I too have changed out nibs on some of my JH pens with Goulet nibs. My 159's all have broad nibs and my X450's two of them have Goulet two toned Medium nibs. All of my JH's have worked very well out of the box, I just am having fun experimenting with different nibs.

[KBeezie]

I do have to say that I don't own an X750 so I didn't know that it posted. I do agree with you that the feeds could be improved. Maybe ebonite feeds? Or friction fit feeds would be fantastic!

 

The 3 biggies from the X450 to X750 since I have both were.

 

1) On the X750 the cap is quite a bit easier to get on and off the pen, no work out at the gym required.

2) The Cap on the X750 easily 'snaps' onto the back of the pen, but even without the snap/click feeling it still posts well and snug (this is true of all 8 X750s I've had)

3) The section on the X750 is smooth all the way around as opposed to a 3-way section of ridges on the X450's grip. I prefer the smooth.

 

One subtle difference I noticed on the X450 is that the nib on them (similar to that of the 159) appear to be ever so slightly thicker. So trying to put one of the Jinhao monotone nibs on it, tends to cause nib creep right around the base of where the nib meets the section. Using a Goulet Nib or Monteverde Nib in the X450 is not a problem as it seems to feel that gap just like the X450's original nib. (which also means those nibs are slightly more snug in the X750). I've also noticed of course on both, the feed may vary in terms of design.

 

The X450, X750, 159, etc are all friction fit #6 feed/nib, but yes it would be cool if there was some kind of third party friction fit feed for them, but since the feed style is specific to the pen/model, I don't think anyone is really going to find it profitable to make 3rd party feeds for them. Nibs on the other hand are easier because quite a few brand/models take #6 without having to be specifically designed for the variety of sections/feeds the pens come with.

 

So far on the Chinese pens, the Nib and Converter can be replaced, and that does help quite a bit, the main removable component that's left is the feed, which can attribute to most of the flow issues people may have (Especially if they didn't bother to clean the feed/section/nib with some dish soap first to get rid of oils and other residue).

 

Makes me wonder though if there's any quick 'hacks' to modify the feed for better flow though.

Edited April 19, 2014 by KBeezie