Jump to content

Jinhao X450 @ $0.99

J_MM

By J_MM
in Market Watch

 Share

Recommended Posts

Ink Stained Wretch Antique

Ink Stained Wretch

Posted
Posted

I finally got around to testing my 99¢ Jinhao X450. I had bought two of them at that price on the theory that I might get one that works if I bought two.

 

So I inked it up with a cartridge with some watery ink in it. I like to test using watery inks because they usually give less possibility of trouble in getting the ink to flow, even in pens that have some ink flow problems, and they're easy to clean out when I get done and have to clean the pen out before putting it in storage against the day when I may want it for use with some serious, non-watery ink.

 

So I get the cartridge in the Jinhao X450, and I tap the section a bit to encourage the ink to start moving. And I get nothing right away, which is pretty much expected. So I leave the pen at an angle to let gravity assist the ink in getting down the ink channel. Hours later the pen still won't write. I give the pen a flip to encourage the ink to flow. Nothing. I do what I can but the pen won't write.

 

So, since this is a 99¢ fountain pen and I have two of them, I pull the nib and feed out of it. I look at the nib and it seems really tight. Those times were not letting light pass in between them.

 

Putting a de-fanged razor blade between the tines didn't open them up. So I tried something I've been thinking about for years: I took my two pairs of needle nose pliers and I gripped each tine, up by the tip, and I pulled a bit. This could really bend the tines badly or even snap one off, but that pen was not going to write anyway.

 

So I was able to see some daylight between the tines after this. I also ran the blunt razor blade down the ink channel in the feed, just in case there was something in there that was blocking the ink flow. Very thin ink channel in that feed.

 

I put it all back together and the pen wrote! And it wrote pretty decently. I could use this pen for regular writing. So there it is.

 

I did find that the pen's a bit heavy for me, I frequently write at an angle and not with the paper horizontal, and weight matters, and the formed section was not so comfortable, but at least the pen writes now.

 

So there's my experience with the first of my 99¢ Jinhao X450s.

On a sacred quest for the perfect blue ink mixture!

ink stained wretch filling inkwell

Link to comment
Share on other sites
  • Replies 111
  • Created
  • Last Reply

Top Posters In This Topic

  • AndyYNWA

    16

  • Manalto

    11

  • Ink Stained Wretch

    6

  • KZ900

    6

Popular Days

Top Posters In This Topic

Popular Days

Ravi Gautam NOS (New Old Stock)

Ravi Gautam

Posted
Posted

How is it's performance in comparison to those costly pens like Lamy, Pelikan etc.

FP Collection :-

Diplomat Aero, Pilot 845, Visconti Homo Sapiens, Pilot Silvern, Pelikan M1000, MB Solitaire Le Grand Blue Hour, Pelikan M805 Demonstrator, MB Solitaire Geometry, Lamy 2000, Lamy Lx Marron, 

Link to comment
Share on other sites
AndyYNWA Collectors Item

AndyYNWA

Posted
Posted

How is it's performance in comparison to those costly pens like Lamy, Pelikan etc.

I don't have any Pelikan, but it write just as well as my Lamy AL-star.

YNWA - JFT97

 

Instagram: inkyandy

Link to comment
Share on other sites
  • 4 weeks later...
kmeredith923 Mint

kmeredith923

Posted
Posted

Thanks for posting. Just ordered it. A few weeks ago, there was a post for $1.00 Hero fountain pen.

Seems China economy has slowed down quite a bit. Many local vendors got too much inventory and too little cash...

I learned the hard way today that Heros for a buck aren't always what they seem. I bought a 9296 a few weeks ago for $1 and except for the nib being too fine for my taste it's been pretty good. So, I ordered another one. They sent me a 3113 instead. All I can say for it is that it functions. It's really a terrible pen. But, since I got my money back because of the mix up I got a refund, so I guess it's okay for a free pen

Link to comment
Share on other sites
shawndp Vintage

shawndp

Posted
Posted

Has this deal dried up? I'm not seeing anything on eBay.

 

 

I think so... they are up to around $3 shipped at the moment... Not a bad deal in itself, but not the $1 it was.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Lamyrada Extremely Rare

Lamyrada

Posted
Posted

I think so... they are up to around $3 shipped at the moment... Not a bad deal in itself, but not the $1 it was.

True, I had the opportunity of buying additional for $3 but not at $0.99. I guess when there is demand... You know what happens. Maybe it was an introductory price of a new seller or an old seller with excess innventory. Good pen. Nice nib.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
  • 2 weeks later...
Ink Stained Wretch Antique

Ink Stained Wretch

Posted
Posted

Here is a really nice pen for $1.01 including shipping. Its a Hero 901. Every bit as goo as the Jinhao X450.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/141945334256?_trksid=p2057872.m2749.l2649&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT

 

Oh, something else I need to resist. And from that page I also looked at this one with a Hero 901 auction with the bid starting at 1¢! I'm refraining from bidding on this one, too :doh: .

On a sacred quest for the perfect blue ink mixture!

ink stained wretch filling inkwell

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
 Share
Go to topic listing

  • Most Contributions

    1. amberleadavis
      amberleadavis
      43844
    2. PAKMAN
      PAKMAN
      33583
    3. Ghost Plane
      Ghost Plane
      28220
    4. inkstainedruth
      inkstainedruth
      26772
    5. jar
      jar
      26105

  • Upcoming Events

  • Blog Comments

    • Shanghai Knife Dude
      Links to web pages or articles about Chinese typesetting, signwriting, etc.

      By Shanghai Knife Dude · Posted

      I have the Sailor Naginata and some fancy blade nibs coming after 2022 by a number of new workshop from China.  With all my respect, IMHO, they are all (bleep) in doing chinese characters.  Go use a bush, or at least a bush pen. 
    • A Smug Dill
      Skeleton of a primer for a budding hobbyist

      By A Smug Dill · Posted

      It is the reason why I'm so keen on the idea of a personal library — of pens, nibs, inks, paper products, etc. — and spent so much money, as well as time and effort, to “build” it for myself (because I can't simply remember everything, especially as I'm getting older fast) and my wife, so that we can “know”; and, instead of just disposing of what displeased us, or even just not good enough to be “given the time of day” against competition from >500 other pens and >500 other inks for our at
    • adamselene
      Skeleton of a primer for a budding hobbyist

      By adamselene · Posted

      Agreed.  And I think it’s good to be aware of this early on and think about at the point of buying rather than rationalizing a purchase..
    • A Smug Dill
      Skeleton of a primer for a budding hobbyist

      By A Smug Dill · Posted

      Alas, one cannot know “good” without some idea of “bad” against which to contrast; and, as one of my former bosses (back when I was in my twenties) used to say, “on the scale of good to bad…”, it's a spectrum, not a dichotomy. Whereas subjectively acceptable (or tolerable) and unacceptable may well be a dichotomy to someone, and finding whether the threshold or cusp between them lies takes experiencing many degrees of less-than-ideal, especially if the decision is somehow influenced by factors o
    • adamselene
      Skeleton of a primer for a budding hobbyist

      By adamselene · Posted

      I got my first real fountain pen on my 60th birthday and many hundreds of pens later I’ve often thought of what I should’ve known in the beginning. I have many pens, the majority of which have some objectionable feature. If they are too delicate, or can’t be posted, or they are too precious to face losing , still they are users, but only in very limited environments..  I have a big disliking for pens that have the cap jump into the air and fly off. I object to Pens that dry out, or leave blobs o

  • Chatbox

    You don't have permission to chat.
    Load More

  • Files






×
×
  • Create New...