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Kaigelu 316 - My Dream Writer For $24?


ParkerDuofold

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So, as a result of reading this thread and several others, I ordered a white veined 316. It was $19 US delivered. It arrived today, safely packed away in a mass of bubble wrap. I have not had the time to flush and ink it, but what a beautiful pen! This is a crazy amount of quality and good looks for the money. It it writes half as good as it looks, I'll be buying the other two versions.

 

Between these great Chinese pens and the various Indian ebonite pens, I'm starting to look askance at pricier pens, unless there is some urushi and/or maki-e work involved.

Hi Kelly,

 

Me too. These Jinhaos, Picasso's and Kaigelu's that I've been buying are great pens and you save a fortune on them! I love my Jinhao X-750's as much or more than my Safaris and the pricing is ridiculous - Amazon sells a set of four for $17.50! (And that includes a leather pen pouch, felt slip pouches for each pen and a couple packs of carts)!

 

With my 316's; I've decided i am not going to spend the money on the modern Parker version of the Duo-fold.

 

That said, I AM going to look into some vintage pens... which is a strange and distant land I've yet to visit. :)

 

- Anthony

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That said, I AM going to look into some vintage pens... which is a strange and distant land I've yet to visit. :)

 

- Anthony

Anthony -

I am coming at this from the other side, I started out with vintage pens and only in the last few years have moved toward modern pens.

Some of that was the result of receiving several very nice pens upon my first retirement 10 or so years ago. Since then I've purchased the occasional great pen, mostly Japanese pens.

I also have a couple of custom pens in the works that should be wonderful.

However, I also like quality that is inexpensive, thus my foray into Chinese and Indian pens. That is not to say I wouldn't snap up a good deal on a vintage pen, I'm a sucker for good vintage pens but I like to get a bargain. As for Parker Duofolds; I have one modern version and a few vintage models. I prefer the vintage Parkers, hands down. The vintage journey is well worth the effort. Good luck.

May we live, not by our fears but by our hopes; not by our words but by our deeds; not by our disappointments but by our dreams.

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One thing about the vintage Duofolds that's appealing to me is their weight. They come from an era when not many things were made of plastic yet, and the light weight of the pen must have been an attractive novelty. Today, I believe people associate light weight with cheap craftsmanship, so the better pens tend to be more substantial. (There are plenty of exceptions to this of course.) I have both the K316 and a vintage Duofold on my desk, and despite my modern tendency to interpret Lightweight = Chintzy, it's the Duo that feels light and elegant. It's both delicate and substantial. The 316 misses the mark (don't get me wrong, I'm enjoying using it) with its off-balance weight distribution. I think it's worth the effort to replace the brass "blind cap" with a plastic one, and will do so as soon as I figure out how to get it done.

James

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  • 2 weeks later...

I replaced the metal blind cap on my Kaigelu 316 with a plastic one from "richardandtracy" and it transformed it from a beautiful but uncomfortable pen to one that, while still substantial in weight, is much more usable and pleasant. Mine came with a medium nib that fortunately required no tuning. The flow is smooth and wet.

Larry

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... As for Parker Duofolds; I have one modern version and a few vintage models. I prefer the vintage Parkers, hands down. The vintage journey is well worth the effort. Good luck.

Hi Kelly G,

 

I think I'll have to agree with you; while I haven't been able to snag a vintage Duofold that I like yet; I'm also pretty sure that if it has been properly restored, it's bound to be an improvement over the new Parkers.

 

- Anthony

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One thing about the vintage Duofolds that's appealing to me is their weight. They come from an era when not many things were made of plastic yet, and the light weight of the pen must have been an attractive novelty. Today, I believe people associate light weight with cheap craftsmanship, so the better pens tend to be more substantial. (There are plenty of exceptions to this of course.) I have both the K316 and a vintage Duofold on my desk, and despite my modern tendency to interpret Lightweight = Chintzy, it's the Duo that feels light and elegant. It's both delicate and substantial. The 316 misses the mark (don't get me wrong, I'm enjoying using it) with its off-balance weight distribution. I think it's worth the effort to replace the brass "blind cap" with a plastic one, and will do so as soon as I figure out how to get it done.

Hello Manalto,

 

I agree and I agree that the 316 is worth the effort. BTW, I sent you a copy of the directions Richard gave me; lmk if you didn't get them.

 

- Anthony

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I replaced the metal blind cap on my Kaigelu 316 with a plastic one from "richardandtracy" and it transformed it from a beautiful but uncomfortable pen to one that, while still substantial in weight, is much more usable and pleasant. Mine came with a medium nib that fortunately required no tuning. The flow is smooth and wet.

Hello Snargle,

 

I'm already jealous. :)

 

Congratulations on your much improved pen... enjoy.

 

- Anthony

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  • 2 weeks later...

I've been reading and hesitating for weeks.

Hesitation is over: just ordered a tiger eye :)

Edited by KaB

247254751_TSUKI-Yo_emptycompressedverkleind.gif.bfc6147ec85572db950933e0fa1b6100.gif

 

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I've been reading and hesitating for weeks.

Hesitation is over: just ordered a tiger eye :)

 

Glad to see you onboard with the fans of the "Mighty Roo"!

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I've been reading and hesitating for weeks.

Hesitation is over: just ordered a tiger eye :)

Yeah, that's a beauty... congratulations. :)

 

Enjoy.

 

- Anthony

 

PS: Did you get it from JewelryMathematics?

Edited by ParkerDuofold
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  • 3 weeks later...

Hi all

 

I just received the pen. Flushed it with lukewarm water with a drop of detergent. Then flushed it with lukewarm clean water. And inked up.

Buttersmooth nib with a little sound to it, reminding me of my Faber Castell nib.

 

However....

 

after writing a few lines, a tiny inkdrop was added to the 'a' I was writing. Checking the fenomenon I noticed:

when holding the pen in the air, nib down, you can see a very slow formation of an inkdrop at the tip of the nib. This leads to a tiny inkdrop every two lines when writing fast. And to a serious drop if you hesitate a little between two sentences.

 

HELP!!

247254751_TSUKI-Yo_emptycompressedverkleind.gif.bfc6147ec85572db950933e0fa1b6100.gif

 

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Hi all

 

I just received the pen. Flushed it with lukewarm water with a drop of detergent. Then flushed it with lukewarm clean water. And inked up.

Buttersmooth nib with a little sound to it, reminding me of my Faber Castell nib.

 

However....

 

after writing a few lines, a tiny inkdrop was added to the 'a' I was writing. Checking the fenomenon I noticed:

when holding the pen in the air, nib down, you can see a very slow formation of an inkdrop at the tip of the nib. This leads to a tiny inkdrop every two lines when writing fast. And to a serious drop if you hesitate a little between two sentences.

 

HELP!!

Sounds like you didn't get all the detergent out - I've had that happen with one or two pens before. Some pens are surprisingly resistant to being flushed. Shame about that ink fill, but shouldn't be too bad.

 

I'd say flush it again. A lot. And I mean a lot. Like, a few flushes every hour for the next few days - you can keep it nib-down in a glass of tissues in the meantime, let the last fill of water drip out of its own.

I'm not a fan of pens in ultrasonic cleaners, but if you have access to one, that might be a good idea as well.

 

If it still drips after all of that, then you have good reason to start worrying.

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Sounds like you didn't get all the detergent out - I've had that happen with one or two pens before. Some pens are surprisingly resistant to being flushed. Shame about that ink fill, but shouldn't be too bad.

 

I'd say flush it again. A lot. And I mean a lot. Like, a few flushes every hour for the next few days - you can keep it nib-down in a glass of tissues in the meantime, let the last fill of water drip out of its own.

I'm not a fan of pens in ultrasonic cleaners, but if you have access to one, that might be a good idea as well.

 

If it still drips after all of that, then you have good reason to start worrying.

 

To offer a secobnd opinion: I have a very poor opinion of the screw-in converters that come with the K316, and a poor seal between this converter (either through stress cracks on the mouth, poorly made threads, or whatever) ad the grip section will lead to KaB's symptom *exactly*.

 

A quick & simple test is to unscrew the converter, and pop in a fresh cartridge.Write with the cartridge, and check whether you still have the slow leak while writing.

Edited by Flounder

Latest pen related post @ flounders-mindthots.blogspot.com : vintage Pilot Elite Pocket Pen review

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I agree with post above by Flounder, probably a converter fit problem. May sure that the Kaigelu converter is screwed tight in the pen section. Some 316 pens have come with mismatching converter threads, so it is difficult for the converter threads to engage the internal section threads correctly, so that may be causing the ink leakage problem.

 

If you feel this is the root of the problem, you can try to use a Jinhao converter in place of the Kaigelu converter, and this has been reported to adequately solve the problem. See relevant posts #37 and #38 in the following link : https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/topic/304372-kaigelu-316-a-little-disappointing/page-2

Edited by Frank66

- Kaigelu 316 Modification (250 #6 Bock Nib / Beaufort Ink Converter)
- Titanium Bock Nib - Kaigelu 316 - Beaufort Ink

- Bock Rollerball Nib In Jinhao 886 Pen - Beaufort Ink Converter

- No affiliation with pen industry, just a pen hobbyist.

- It matters what you write, only for us it matters what we write it with.

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So, I checked the skrew in converter: no way to really skrew it in (at any point, I could just draw it out again)

Tried replacing the converter by a cartridge (the short ones, right?): problem remained, but at a reduced level

Rinced for a few minutes. And re-inserted the small cartridge.

 

Problem seems to be solved (I'm an optimist, just let's check in a few hours and a few days). So might've been a case of 'and-and'

247254751_TSUKI-Yo_emptycompressedverkleind.gif.bfc6147ec85572db950933e0fa1b6100.gif

 

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KaB,

 

I've had similar issues with Jinhao pens, and I think in my case it has been caused by some material being left in the pen where the converter/cartridge fits. If you take the converter out and look into the back end of the section, I could see debris. This was stopping the converter fitting flush to the section/feed thingy and air getting in, causing ink to flow far too freely (and causing the drops forming). I've had it on a couple of Jinhaos, and found a good clean with a brush into the section (and in one case having to scrape away a bit right down where the converter sits to remove a tiny lump of something). If it is only happening with the converter, it could be a fault in the converter letting in air somewhere.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Just received mine yesterday, a white veined Kaigelu 316. Definitely one of the best looking pens in my possession and seems to be a very a nice writer too, though a little drier than I'm used to.

The one serious problem is the converter. It only fills half way up. I replaced it with a Jinhao converter but the result is the same. For now I ditched the converters and put in a Pelikan cartrige which seems to work just fine.

 

Did anyone have a similar problem? Could something be done about it? Or what converter would actually work properly with this pen?

Edited by WJM
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Edited previous post.

 

Converters in the Kaigelu 316 are known to frequently present such problems. One way to fix it is to make sure the threads of the converter engage the internal threads of the section. Most of the times, this is more easily said than done. Replacing converters one needs to make sure that there is a test period, as we do not want potential ink leakage happening when the pen is in our pocket.

 

In two out of my three Kaigelu's, I have replaced the nibs with Bock nibs and the converter with Beaufort converter (which seems identical to a Schmidt K5 converter). The pen is much more reliable, plus you can change nib sizes from EF to B, italics, steel to gold to titanium nibs. And if you do not like the Bock nibs, you can still keep the Bock housing and use whichever Jowo #6 nib you may have available. This worked best for me in the long run.

Edited by Frank66

- Kaigelu 316 Modification (250 #6 Bock Nib / Beaufort Ink Converter)
- Titanium Bock Nib - Kaigelu 316 - Beaufort Ink

- Bock Rollerball Nib In Jinhao 886 Pen - Beaufort Ink Converter

- No affiliation with pen industry, just a pen hobbyist.

- It matters what you write, only for us it matters what we write it with.

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WJM, I think it's likely that you are sucking up a lot of air from the feed into the c/c. One way to reduce this quantity can be messy sometimes, but does work.

 

First fill the c/c as you have done, then put the pen nib up, and wind the convertor out to expel the air that is in the c/c being careful to watch for ink appearing at the top of the section. Once all air is expelled, dip the nib into the ink and fill again. You may need to expel a little ink & let air in after this, as the feed will be flooded & can make for excessively wet writing.

 

Regards,

 

Richard.

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