The Simple Jinhao 611

[Davjohn]

The Jinhao 611 is one of the several pens that I bought from ebay. They came to me shipped in a padded brown envelope rather than "coffins" or boxes. If I remember correctly, I paid no more than $7 for each pen + shipping.

I purchased 3 of them because I was attracted to the simple streamline shape. I wanted a pen that would be very comfortable for someone who uses mechanical pencils because they are so straight and plain.

 

https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/uploads/imgs/fpn_1447577001__jinhao_611.jpg

I liked the barrel colors that were shown in the picture of the ebay auction. One is a solid color in the red, rosy, cyan range, the others are a russet and a blue that appear to be acrylic with the depth of color that sometimes goes with that sort of plastic.

All three are straight, uncharacterized barrels. They are .65oz/18.42g; 5 1/8 inches / 156.2 centimeters in length capped; 6 1/4 inches / 190.5 centimetrs posted; and .39 inches / 10 mm in diameter.

The nib appears to be stainless steel. The ones that I have are fine nibs. They come with standard Jinhao converters. I had hoped that they would take international cartridges because I do not use fillers or bottled ink.

I removed the plunger filler and inserted an international cartridge. It took a lot of fussing about with it to get anything to flow. The first thing I noticed was the tines of the nib were tight together. I had to use a syringe to pump water through it. It really didn't take any pressure to get the water to flow through it, just a quantity enough to fill the grip and the nib. When I finally did get the water to flow through it, the pen leaked from every possible joint. The grip is in 2 pieces and it leaked through where they are pressed together. After I got the ink flowing through it, I began to have hopes that it would work better, which it did for a short time. By the time I finished writing one full page, the pen was leaking from where the barrel threads on to the grip as well as from where the grip is pressed together.

All together, I'd give the pen a 2. Perhaps it's a chance I took in buying these pens. It's possible that some are better perfomers than others. They are nice in appearance, and seemed at first impression to be of at least fair quality, but when put to the test they did not rise to the occasion. It is possible that using the filler is the answer. That remains to be seen.

[Davjohn]

The Jinhao 611 is one of the several pens that I bought from ebay. They came to me shipped in a padded brown envelope rather than "coffins" or boxes. If I remember correctly, I paid no more than $7 for each pen + shipping.

 

I purchased 3 of them because I was attracted to the simple streamline shape. I wanted a pen that would be very comfortable for someone who uses mechanical pencils because they are so straight and plain.

 

https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/uploads/imgs/fpn_1447577001__jinhao_611.jpg

 

I liked the barrel colors that were shown in the picture of the ebay auction. One is a solid color in the red, rosy, cyan range, the others are a russet and a blue that appear to be acrylic with the depth of color that sometimes goes with that sort of plastic.

 

All three are straight, uncharacterized barrels. They are .65oz/18.42g; 5 1/8 inches / 156.2 centimeters in length capped; 6 1/4 inches / 190.5 centimetrs posted; and .39 inches / 10 mm in diameter.

 

The nib appears to be stainless steel. The ones that I have are fine nibs. They come with standard Jinhao converters. I had hoped that they would take international cartridges because I do not use fillers or bottled ink.

 

I removed the plunger filler and inserted an international cartridge. It took a lot of fussing about with it to get anything to flow. The first thing I noticed was the tines of the nib were tight together. I had to use a syringe to pump water through it. It really didn't take any pressure to get the water to flow through it, just a quantity enough to fill the grip and the nib. When I finally did get the water to flow through it, the pen leaked from every possible joint. The grip is in 2 pieces and it leaked through where they are pressed together. After I got the ink flowing through it, I began to have hopes that it would work better, which it did for a short time. By the time I finished writing one full page, the pen was leaking from where the barrel threads on to the grip as well as from where the grip is pressed together.

 

All together, I'd give the pen a 2. Perhaps it's a chance I took in buying these pens. It's possible that some are better perfomers than others. They are nice in appearance, and seemed at first impression to be of at least fair quality, but when put to the test they did not rise to the occasion. It is possible that using the filler is the answer. That remains to be seen.

 

UPDATE:

 

After practicing with fountain pens for a couple of years, it shouldn't have taken that long, I have learned to make some adjustments, tune nibs, and use converters. I have finally been able to get the 611 working properly. I was able to floss the nibs, and ensure they were aligned.

All three are straight, uncharacterized barrels with a ladder clip and Jinhao 611 on the clip. The ones I have are F or EF nibs.

As I said before, "It is possible that using the filler is the answer. That remains to be seen." They seem to have been prophetic words.

I don't know what the error was, unless it was the cartridge, but I used a syringe to remove the ink from a SIC and load the converter that came with the pen. I pushed the ink until I saw it come up into the feed. It took only a little coaxing to get it to write.

So, let me take this opportunity to update the review.

It works, no leaks, hard starts or skips. For a F point nib it wrote very well.

I followed the same procedure with all 3 model 611s, my 2 Hero 3019s and the Hero 8037. All 3 worked equally well.

Whatever happened before seems to lead to a rookie mistake.

Take 2. I give the pen a 7. Only because it's a little too thin for a comfortable pen, the sharp shoulder on the barrel is in an uncomfortable position, and it feels like a brushed metal pen with a plastic sleeve on the barrel.

[jody_fpn]

I just tried this pen.

I like it.

Mine wrote well right out of the box.

Jody