Want A Chinese Pen That Actually Writes

[Maurizio]

I'd like some recommendations for a Chinese pen that actually writes well and is trouble free - if there are such beasts.

 

I want a pen to use exclusively with the nonpariel (but tricky) Bay State Blue. In January I bought a Jinhao X750 for that purpose. Of course it was cheap, but the pen has been a big disappointment especially after all the nice things many on the network have said about it. When it writes it's nice, but it doesn't start, and then when it is writing it skips. It's unusable and I'm getting ready to trash it. (I'll give it away for parts if someone wants to pay the shipping, but don't think it's worth your cash - I certainly don't want to give it to a newbie only to have that person turned off to the joys of fountain pens).

 

I've already invested at least 3 hours in completely disassembling it, scraping the feed with a needle, flushing with soap & ammonia - multiple times, toothbrushing the feed, spreading the tines just a bit with my feeler gauge; nothing has helped.

 

I'm willing to try one more Chinese pen before giving up on them completely; I really want to have a pen dedicated exclusively to the notorious BSB and don't have any other pens I can use for that purpose.

 

So, can you nice folks here recommend a Chinese pen which your collective experience has shown to be a good, reliable writer?

 

Thanks.

[FountainPages]

One of the best, most underrated pens under 15USD...the Hero 382. Oldest pen manufacturer in China, they make their own nibs. Hero will be around for a while. If you look around you can find Heros with 12K gold and 14K gold nibs for around 40 to 45USD.

Edited April 11, 2015 by FountainPages

[Ian the Jock]

I have the Jinhao 1200 silver dragon as my dedicated bsb pen.

It writes beautifully and never gives me any trouble, but then again, I have 19 other chinese pens and they are all the same.

I even need to eat a bit of humble pie regarding the Wing sung 590, "big cartoon pen" after slagging it off, as it has not missed a beat since I got it.

It lay for over a week unused, then started straight off when I picked it up.

However, my recommendations would be...

Picasso- Swedish flower king, a lovely looking super smooth writing pen which for me has been bombproof for the last 6 months.

And my favourite Chinese pen...

The Jinhao-217, a gorgeous pen, which is again, super smooth, has a very robust build, and is my everyday pen...a rarely mentioned gem.

I should also mention the Kaigelu 316, which is a very popular pen and gets rave reviews.

 

Ian

[ian1964]

I recently took delivery of a Hero 767. It is my first ever Chinese pen and I am truly impressed with every aspect of the Pen. It looks great, it's very well constructed and wrote very well straight out of the box. It cost the princely sum of $23 (Australian). I will definitely be trying more Hero pens.

[sandy101]

1/ Buy at least 3 pens of the same model and at least one of them will work the way you want it to.

 

2/ Buy a modern Parker - they're all made in China - so the Parker IM, IM Premium & Vector are all made in China these days

 

Or, save yourself some cash and buy a Pilot 78G from Hong Kong. Technically the pen is Japanese, but you bought it from China.

[EricaTX]

I recently bought a Jinhao 8802 (I think that's what it is - it has the porcelain barrel with flowers) for a daily inexpensive pen that wouldn't affect me if it was stolen. But the nib drove me crazy - scratchy, skipping. I went to a pen store to ask about a replacement nib for it, but instead just got it smoothed and grounded by a nibmeister. Now it's wonderful. I love it. The grinding cost about $30, but the pen was $5 - so $35 for a now great pen makes me happy.

[BillPorter]

If you just want a cheap pen for BSB, why not get a Platinum Preppy and eye dropper it? OK, it's not a Chinese pen since it's from Japan (I think), but that's what I am thinking of doing myself.

[linearM]

I have a Kaigelu 316 that I bought from Isellpens.com and have had good luck with it. It looks good, solid feeling, and is a smooth writer.

 

I'd suggest reading reviews of any pen you are thinking of buying in the pen reviews here on FPN. You will get a pretty good feel for various owners experience.

[BobR]

Don't get frustrated--get a Pilot Metropolitan (Japanese) for about $15 and your troubles should be over.

[J85909266]

My Jinhao X750 writes for days. I've run through two long international cartridges with no issues. It's every bit as reliable as my German and Japanese pens.

[dan in montreal]

The Pilot Metropolitan is a very good pen.

If you really want to get a Chinese pen, the Jinhao 599 Safari clone is a good bet, I've used several - haven't met a bad one yet. Recently, I used a small Jinhao 886 - small pen, but posted, it's of average length. It works (same nib as on the 599) and it has the benefit of a screw-on cap. Both models can be had for as little as 3 USD shipped from China. Good luck!

[ac12]

The only 2 Chinese pens that I use are Baoer 388 (Parker Sonnet clone) and 801 (Parker 88 copy).

The 388 needed the nib adjusted to get it to flow, but after than has been a good pen.

Just make sure you get the right size nib. They come in F and M. I got the M nib, and that is like a Lamy F.

[Sasha Royale]

I stopped using my Jinhao x750 pens. They are really nice, when they write. I are totally

turned off by the inconsistency. I suspect the inability of the feed system to keep-up with

the big nib. Too bad.

 

Two better Jinhao's are the x250 and x500. Both have smaller nibs and feeds. They seem

to function better. It is infrequent that I have to "tweek" the converter to restore ink flow.

 

My best writing Chinese (PRC) "cheapie" (Are you ready ?) is a HERO 266. It has an

annoyingly small ink capacity, but it writes and writes and writes, as long as the ink lasts.

I keep one loaded with HOD ink for addressing envelopes.

 

Know what wrote well fifty years ago, and still writes well today ? Sheaffer first generation

cartridge school pen. There has never been a converter, but you can inject BSB into the

cartridge with a syringe.

 

One factor I cannot address is Bay State Blue. Never tried it.

[mike.jane]

Wouldn't it be better to get a pen that you'd actually want, a nice one that you'd actually cherish, for your BSB writing, instead of just another cheapie, purely because it's cheap. And yes, BSB stains your pen, but really, so what? If it's a converter pen, or an opaque pen without and ink window, that it really doesn't matter.

[masterguns]

My favorite is the Jinhao 159, which uses a #6 nib. I have two, and both have not had any issues. Pay $5 for the 159 from the bay, then pick yourself up a nib from Goulet pens (or wherever), pop it in, and go to town. I have three Goulet nibs (XF, 1.1, 1.5) and they've all been fantastic for me.

[deepak23]

The Hero 33x pens and the 616 come to mind. The Jinhao 599*s are also good

[fountainpagan]

Jinhao X450 and Jinhao 159 - I have had them for ages, no issues at all.

[Maurizio]

If you just want a cheap pen for BSB, why not get a Platinum Preppy and eye dropper it? OK, it's not a Chinese pen since it's from Japan (I think), but that's what I am thinking of doing myself.

I like this idea the best. I don't really WANT another Chinese pen, I do just want a cheap pen through which to run BSB.

 

I did Google the Hero 382. Found a review that it arrived with a scratchy nib and the reviewer subsequently had to regrind it to a stub. I don't want to fuss. I consider the hours I already spent fiddiling with the X750 wasted.

 

I've got a Burt Bee's lip stick with is mostly beeswax & coconut oil which I've used to make another pen an eyedropper. I'm going to get a Preppie and use it as an eyedropper sealed with beeswax.

 

Thank you to all for the suggestions.

[luvpens]

I'd second the Hero 382, but the odd one is scratchy - quite quick to sort though.

One which I really can't fault no matter how hard I try is the Hero 7022 - they really are good.

[TimTheZaj]

How about the old hero 330? About 7$, is awesome but be sure the one you're getting is the old version not the new one