Smooth F Nib

[Stu L]

Guys, I'd like to try something new and thought some of the Chinese pens on eBay might fit the bill.

 

I want a western ef , so I guess a f from china? Top priority is as smooth as possible. Under $30

Had thought about kailegu 318 but its only available in an m. Dunno if it'd be a bit wide for my tastes.

 

What do you recommend?

[Kevan]

The only Chinese pens I've used with thin F or EF nibs have been Hero or Wing Sung. Of those, the Heros have been smoother. The other Chinese pens I've used (Jinhao, Kaigelu, Baoer, Duke )have all had nibs between a F and M or are (more often) equivalent to a western M.

 

Honestly, look at Japanese pens if you want a nib size that small. A Pilot Metropolitan is $15. A Pilot 78G is like $10-$12. Japanese fines are typically western extra-fines. A Medium is a Fine....etc..

Edited December 19, 2014 by Kevan

[Stu L]

Hehe, I have both a metro and a 78g. I'm not specifically set on something from china - I'll repost in the general section and see if that throws up more options...

[hbdk]

I have a Jinhao X450 with a fine nib, like this:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/NEW-JINHAO-X450-DEEP-BLUE-TWIST-CARVEN-FINE-NIB-STUDY-OFFICE-FOUNTAIN-PEN-/390968769021?pt=UK_Home_Garden_PensPencils_WritingEquipment_SM&hash=item5b078df9fd

It is quite nice - after a little smoothing...

[FountainPages]

Try a Hero. Oldest Chinese pen company, makes own nibs...sweet.

[KBeezie]

Chinese nibs don't tend to have a consistent size so can't really say "Chinese F", you mean Japanese F as that's equal to a Western EF typically. China tends to put out nibs that are sometimes western sizing, sometimes Japanese sizing.

 

Typically if you get one of the pens that look more classic/contemporary they tend to have western sizing on the nib (usually a Western Medium) pens like the Jinhao X450, X750, 159, etc are going to be the larger size. But The smaller pens with smaller nibs tend to be sized for the Japanese Market, like a Hero 616, Jinhao 611, etc is more like a Western EF or Japanese Fine than most of the larger heavier pens with an open nib.

 

Personally if you want a Japanese Fine, get a Japanese Pen, even a Pilot Petit1 or Varsity with a Fine performs better than a lot of the Chinese pens I've owned. One of the reasons I've cleared out my Chinese pens (probably owned about 60+ of them when I was on a buying binge early on) was because they are mostly aimed at Western sizing, or if they are finer they tend to be very fussy.

Edited January 4, 2015 by KBeezie

[TimTheZaj]

Personnaly, if you are going to get a chinese fine, I would try the hero 110 ( with a solid gold nib) or save up for a hero 100 ( also solid gold) at around 35$. They both are Ef to F and are very smooth nails. The quality of the plastic is great too but it does tend to crack if you don't get lucky. The cons are that the shipping will be long if you don't order from isellpens, and from the wrong seller, you can get fakes. Other than that, they are absolutely great pens, and a better value than any of the western or Japanese pens!

[TimTheZaj]

If not you could try Hero 711 with 10 k gold nib from speerbob:http://www.ebay.com/itm/230799200250?_trksid=p2055119.m1438.l2649&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT

Or, in my opinion even better are the Beijing jinxing 26 or 28, not a gold nib, but what a good steel nib:http://www.ebay.com/itm/VINTAGE-BEIJING-JINXING-26-Fountain-Pen-Fine-Nib-/111516350512

Hope this helps, tell us what you gonna get.

[topen]

I just received a Duke 620 Uranus Fat Man Atomic Bomb Fine (gotta love the name)... I am quite new to FPs but from what I can tell and experience it is quite smooth... hope this helps!

[Stu L]

If not you could try Hero 711 with 10 k gold nib from speerbob:http://www.ebay.com/itm/230799200250?_trksid=p2055119.m1438.l2649&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT

Or, in my opinion even better are the Beijing jinxing 26 or 28, not a gold nib, but what a good steel nib:http://www.ebay.com/itm/VINTAGE-BEIJING-JINXING-26-Fountain-Pen-Fine-Nib-/111516350512

Hope this helps, tell us what you gonna get.

 

 

Interesting - I've never come across the Beijing Jinxing before. Two good options there - I'll give them some thought.

 

Meantime I picked up a Jinhao X450, just because it was silly cheap. We haven't started out the best of friends - the cap is so tight that it's difficult to get off, and I've found its a hard starter. Might be the ink I'm using in it (BSB - thought it could be my dedicated pen), but then if I rotate the nib slightly it writes well. But because of the grip I can't write like this.

I think I need to try pulling the nib out and rotating it slightly, so that the sweet spot lines up with the indentations where my fingers go. Still, I can't complain for such a cheap pen!

[Sridhar]

Or, in my opinion even better are the Beijing jinxing 26 or 28, not a gold nib, but what a good steel nib:http://www.ebay.com/itm/VINTAGE-BEIJING-JINXING-26-Fountain-Pen-Fine-Nib-/111516350512

 

 

+1....it is a fascinating pen. Just about the right weight at 11 to 12 gms. It also has a very different filling system which I find nice and a cute hourglass section

Edited January 25, 2015 by Sridhar

[sansa]

Honestly, if you were going to buy a budget western EF from China I'd choose one for the aesthetics, not the quality of the nib. The nib can always be adjusted with some Mylar paper. I have a pair of Jinhao 15s that have very tiny hooded nibs and wrote like sandpaper out of the box, with dry flow and baby's bottoms. With nibs that fine, any slip in QC really shows. But after some amateur tweaking they are now among my favourite pens. The weight (24g), balance when posted, build quality and finish are all perfect for me. A glossy piano black that's surprisingly fingerprint resistant.

 

Hooded nibs in general write very fine and are common.