Jinhao 8812 Review

October 8, 2015

This is my first pen review so constructive criticism is welcomed

Basic Info:

Model: Jinhao 8812

Length: 13.9 cm capped (12.5 cm uncapped, 16.5 cm posted)

Weight: 39 grams (caps is 13 grams)

Nib: M, 18K GP

Filling system: comes with a Jinhao converter, fits international standard cartridge

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What really drew me to this pen is the aesthetics. I am a sucker for wood motifs. Not to mention that it is very economically priced (just $7.64 on Amazon).

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The converter works okay. It sometimes has trouble sucking up the ink. If you can directly fill the converter with a syringe, that won't be a problem. It holds around 0.5 mL.

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My main problem with this pen is that the nib has a tendency to move around a bit. Nib itself is not the best quality. Nib could be easily pulled out of the pen (but good luck pushing it back into the pen).

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The pen writes pretty smoothly. It feels very similar to other Jinhao pens that I own. The pen is very long when posted, and feels awkward in my small hand.

Aesthetics: 4/5

Flow: Medium

Nib quality: 2/5

Cleaning: Easy

Quality: 3

Overall: 3/5

Overall, the pen performs very well for a budget pen. But you cannot expect a "wow" factor from this pen.

Edited October 8, 2015 by baik12

October 8, 2015

A nice pen and a nice short review..is the barrel really made of wood?

October 10, 2015

It's a decent pen for the price. I've never purchased a Jinhao but if I do buy one I'll look for one not quite so long.

October 11, 2015

I would use it with the cap unlisted. I like Chinese pens, but the metal ones are heavy and can feel unbalanced when posted, even for someone with very large paws (that's me).

Nice looking pen, and good job on the review.

October 22, 2015

A nice pen and a nice short review..is the barrel really made of wood?

As far as I can tell, it is wood.

It does feel like wood...

Some pen videos · November 6, 2015

Let me add my two cents on this pen.

I am not a big fun of Chinese pens. I do collect Parker Sonnet clones so I am familiar with the initial bad quality and the progress of chinese pen manufacturers. I bought a Duke Opera many years ago, just to populate the collection with a pen with a distinctive chinese theme. It was heavy (as many chinese pens are) wrote reasonably well but the magnetically closing cap lost its magnetism (perhaps when I left my jacket next to a heating element).

I have seen noticed an increasing chatter for chinese pens, perhaps indicating a new wave of newcomers into our hobby. Good, I said, it is a low cost entry and if they ever graduate to a quality pen, then are trapped

So I was not looking for purchasing more chinese pens. I do have a sizable vintage/modern collection and there was no reason to get more inferior quality pens. Or so I thought. I saw this pen when a friend recommended it on FB. The combination of wood barrel, black plastic cap and silver appointments was very pleasing (at least to me). It was about 8 bucks, so I bought one.

The visual effect was pleasing. The presence of the good makes this pen much better weight balance compared to the rest of the chinese heavies.
The quality is about right for a $8 pen. Small gaps between adjacent parts (wood, metal, plastic at the top of the barrel), rough edges (under the microscope) of metallic parts, machining chips at the base of the clip. Having said than none of them is visible to the naked eye. They do make me worry in terms of how it is going to behave in the long run due to the wood.

The converter is a problem... I could not fill it from my trusted Rotring bottle (see here). A little bit of googling showed that this has been consistently the problem with most if not all Jihnao pens. It is just not worth losing time from our life to fix such a converter. There are many reasonable quality ones around $5. If you like and want to use this pen - use cartridges or a proper converter.

As a writer the nib is reasonable. Some feedback (I would have liked it a little less) and the characteristic feeling of steel nibs. Solid, I have written few pages and did not find a problem. It wrote every time I tried.

Conclusion. Usable low quality pen. If the converter was not a problem it would be a reasonable entry point pen. The converter issue can be a problem for the new users.

Can someone tell now? It cannot be otherwise. Which pen is this modeled after?

January 7, 2016

I also bought this pen from eBay just before Christmas (£5.41 shipped which is about $7.89 at the current exchange rate) and it arrived the day before yesterday.

I have to say I very much like this pen. I don't have any of the problems mentioned here: the nib is very smooth, perhaps a little dry writing, but it puts down quite a finer line compared to the majority of Chinese medium nibs I have used (Jinhao X750, Hero, Baoer etc.). I had no trouble with the converter and getting a fairly full 'fill'. Diamine Ancient Copper goes very well with the colour of the barrel. The cap also fits snugly and smoothly and can be removed quite easily.

I quite like the relatively restrained looks and style, it has many external design points similar to the Jinao 500, but the section is quite different, it has a different clip and the barrel is straight with a chrome 'step' down to the finial. The only thing I don't much care for is the clip which is a bit fat and basic in design - it looks a bit cheap and 'stamped' out. The Baoer 519 is also reminiscent but with a slightly slimmer barrel but with a cap and clip à la Faber Castell. I don't think the 8182 is modelled after any particular pen to my knowledge.

It's by no means a Kaigelu 316, but for a fiver I have nothing really to complain about with my copy.

July 8, 2016

Just received the Jinhao 8812 in rosewood finish.

Design - Interesting design with use of real wood elements.

Quality - Is very good for a pen that costs only about USD 3-4. Writes smoothly and the filler works very well contrary to what I have heard in the past. Cap is a little tight but I guess it will loosen over time.

Weight - Pen is a trifle heavy and must be used unposted.

Feel - The pen definitely feels better than the larger 450 and 750.

Nib - It can be easily removed and replaced though its not a #6 size. Probably a smaller #5. Haven't tried replacing it with other nibs. The feed can be moved up or down to increase wetness if needed.

Edited July 8, 2016 by rramesh

July 9, 2016

I, too, bought the rosewood Jinhao 8812 and, in fact, am using it as a daily writer. I've had no issues with it at all and like the pen enough to have it replace my previous note jotter as a daily user. It doesn't write like my Watermans but at $5-$9 shipping included, it is bulletproof. I also agree with rramesh's post. I have and use the Jinhao x750, x450, and 159. The 8812 is my preference followed by the x450. The 159 is a gorgeous $10 pen, very heavy, seemingly well-made, and with a screw-on cap but, alas, it's just too large for my hand.

April 25, 2017

Hallo.What size nib does this pen take?

June 17, 2017

Okay, my thoughts having written about five pages in my engineering notebook with this pen:

1) It's a very smooth writer.

2) The converter is, as people have said, problematic. Mine would only suck to about halfway full. I have a different International-size converter around here somewhere, I'll give it a try the next time I clean/fill the pen.

3) I post the cap. But I have large hands (I wear men's size-XL gloves) so what's balanced for me may not be for you.

4) The size and weight is pleasing to me. My Pilot Metropolitan is too light and small and feels like a toy pen to me.

5) I like the looks. It is restrained. Not gaudy like some of the Jinhao pens. The barrel is supposedly real wood. It feels like real wood, anyhow. I like the look and feel of natural materials on a fountain pen. I hate plastic disposable pens, they're too symbolic of our plastic disposable lives. I like pens with lots of natural materials -- metal, ceramic, wood. They are pleasing to me. An aesthetic choice, but mine to make for me.

Will I buy another one? Probably not. From what I understand, it's a crapshoot as to what you get when you order a Jinhao pen. I got a good one, other people have gotten turkeys. Mine doesn't have any of the problems that have been mentioned here (loose nib etc.), so I got lucky once, I probably won't get lucky again. Still, I'm happy with the pen. It punches above its class, at least if you get one of the "good" ones.