I'm Curious, How Many Of Us Have Kaigelu 316's?

[Paul80]

My Charcoal one is now on he way from China. £14.95 including shipping, how do they do it.

 

Paul

[richardandtracy]

Received both my 316 and the finial today. I love how smooth the nib is right out of the box, but the pen is very back heavy. I've been soaking the barrel in hot water like richard suggested, but the finial is stubborn and refuses to budge. After heating the plastic for a while though I notice a faint smell from it, similar to the odor from mahjong tiles.

I do hope they haven't changed the glue to something that won't heat soften. That would be frustrating.

I've wanted to change the finial on My Jinhao Century Mk2, but haven't done so because I can't get the finial out. It may need machining away on the lathe, and I don't really want to do that.

 

Regards,

 

Richard.

[Mark Karpeles]

Yes, white with black swirls. I haven't tried it yet.

[Flounder]

5370H55V, where are you based? If you're in the UK I'm happy to have a pop at it.

[5370H55V]

Thank you both Flounder and Richard for your offers to help me remove the original finial. Fortunately it won't be necessary as I eventually managed to get it out.

 

My method was a little bit more extreme than what Richard recommended. Instead of soaking the finial in near boiling water and letting it cool, I used full boiling water and kept the pen in it as in continued to boil for 3 minutes. Afterwards, I clamped the brass finial in a bench vise and twisted on the barrel with both hands until it finally came off. I was afraid the barrel would be damaged beyond repair from the excess heat or stress but it came out unscathed, which really shows how well built this pen is.

 

Anyways, I tested the new finial with a friction fit and the balance was much better. Tomorrow I'll probably go buy some epoxy and make the fit permanent. Now if Richard or someone else ever makes a replacement cap finial, I'll be one of the first in line.

[richardandtracy]

The cap finial is a bit more difficult due to the thread and the decal.

I have not measured the thread, but it looks a little like a 1mm pitch on a 10mm boss. The big problem is that the hole down the middle is about 8mm. That leaves just 0.5mm thickness at the root of the threads. From experience of pen making, it's not enough and the thread could easily crack under the tightening loads or even clip loads. 8mm hole may be able to go to a 7mm hole, in which case it would be OK with the 1mm thread root thickness, but there would be more chance of the nib hooking up on the edge of the finial inside the cap.

 

Then there is the problem of what to do with the decal. Not to have one wouldn't be nice. I think taking the existing one off would be risky from the point of view of damage. I have seen doming resins that make the plastic blob, but I wouldn't be happy (or have the equipment) to copy the Kaigelu decal, and to do one of my own would be presumptuous.

 

I may experiment - but don't hold your breath.

 

Regards,

 

Richard

[kiavonne]

I have an amber/gray 316. Love the color of the material.

[alc3261]

I have 6, 2 of each colour!!

[Flounder]

Fortunately it won't be necessary as I eventually managed to get it out.

 

Yay!

 

If anyone's feelling ansty about pulling out the brass finial, perhaps this clicky thumb will be of help (disregard the arrow etc). The barrel is thick.

 

http://i773.photobucket.com/albums/yy19/flounder2009/Kaigelu%20316%20Vac%20Plunger%20Filler%20Mod/Kaigelu%20316%20Vac%20Plunger%20Filler%20-%20Packing%20Unit/th_VacPlungerKaigelu316LowerCirclipGroove_zps8dcb57fa.jpg

[Droffats]

I got my new RW Finial yesterday, I soaked in almost boiling water for 3 minutes but it was really tight still, gripping it in some pliers only removed the black paint cover, so back into fresh boiled water for two more minutes, hoorah, it came away and now I'm the proud owner of an even better pen. I'll be ordering another one, this time in white and black as they are an amazing buy, just hope Richard can supply another finial!

[richardandtracy]

Just as an aside, I have now sold all the second batch of Finials that I made (without the need for an advert) and I have no plans to make any more on the lathe in the immediate future. I have made 37 in the last few weeks, and it really isn't very exciting, especially as it seems to take about 30 minutes per finial.

 

However, I am going to try to cast some from black polyurethane resin. That will take a couple of weeks to create the rubber moulds and for me to learn if it's possible. The resin is like acrylic, but seems to have a slightly softer feel, and is even less prone to breaking when you drop it than acrylic. I know it machines well, but don't yet know if I can cast it so it does away with the need for all polishing & finishing. Otherwise I may be back to the lathe...

 

Regards,

 

Richard.

[displacermoose]

So how does one find out if/when there are more finals available? I have the amber/grey pen, which I love the look of, but it doesn't get a lot of use because of the balance issue.

[wastelanded]

Agreed, I would like two or three more eventually, Richard. I received mine last week, and now my 316 is a joy to use. I swear the nib even writes better!

 

To get the brass finial off, I ran the end of the barrel under the hot tap, which in my house is Very Hot Indeed. After about three minutes, I wrapped some rubber around the finial, and vise grips. A slight twist, and off it came. I was careful, as I didn't want to break the barrel. But as Flounder demonstrates above, the barrel material is quite thick!

 

The nipple on my new finial was a little thin, but a coat of shellac around it, then another after the first coat dried, took care of that. If I could get a couple more finials eventually, I'd make gifts of the pens.

 

Many thanks again, Richard!

[richardandtracy]

So how does one find out if/when there are more finals available? I have the amber/grey pen, which I love the look of, but it doesn't get a lot of use because of the balance issue.

I will almost certainly put a classified up if casting them works.

 

Regards,

 

Richard

[Albinoni]

I have a white swirl 316 with a customized Italic nib. Love it

[MrDickens]

I'm just about to click 'buy' on ebay for a white one. I'ts a bit of a leap in the dark reading this thread & other info but it seems, on balance, people really like it so for under £15, can't not try it out ... Will come back here if I have issues, being a glass half empty kind of guy!

[Miles Hand]

I have an amber 316 with one of Richard's finials. I'm replacing the M nib with a Jowo F which I think will suit my handwriting better.

 

My only reservation about it is the quality of the cap thread on the body. It's shallow and flat-topped and I worried that it could jump the threads, but there hasn't been a problem with it yet. For £14.99 including postage it's a snip. A colleague who uses a genuine Parker Duofold was left wondering why he'd spent so much on his. Get the look for less, eh?

[lovemy51]

I have one: Amber

[richardandtracy]

... A colleague who uses a genuine Parker Duofold was left wondering why he'd spent so much on his. ...

I will say that the Parker plating is an order of magnitude better than the Kaigelu. My Duofold is showing no sign of plating wear, but the Kaigelu has worn through completely in a few places. The Kaigelu plating is much better than Jinhao's (or any other Chinese manufacturer I have come across, for that matter), but it's not great. My Duofold is 2 years older than the K316 and has probably seen a similar level of use.

 

As for getting another Duofold. I don't think I can afford them anymore. I got my P&B Centennial from JML at £154, now the cheapest prices I have found are £295, but that's only available for an hour or two before the pens get snapped up. The range of colours is now black or P&B, which isn't much of a choice either. At least the pearlescence of the Kaigelu charcoal is interesting and every amber/grey & white/black is different. The Parker P&B blanks are made so every blank has the same pattern of black lines - so there is no point in getting a second even if (like me) you adore the colour.

 

Regards,

 

Richard

[Sahib]

I have a charcoal one and it is a wonderful pen directly out of the box