Jinhao Nj243 Fine Nib Size?

[Intensity]

I own and like a medium nib Jinhao X750. I got another Jinhao pen in a pretty abalone + mother of pearl inlay variety, and while eBay auctions by different vendors list the nib as "Medium", the pen nib that came today actually has "F" engraved on it and writes significantly thinner lines than my X750. I wrote to the seller, and the seller told me some story about how this fine nib writes what customers generally refer to as medium-fine or medium. I don't know if I buy that, as it looks quite fine to me, but moving on.

 

I had some thoughts of replacing the nib on this NJ243 pen with a #6 stub or cursive italic nib (0.8mm or 1.1mm), but seeing the nib in person today I realized that it's a completely different size! Does this look like #5 size? I see some reasonably priced Knox #5 nibs I can get, for example.

 

Here it is next to Jinhao X750 (the larger one):

 

 

 

And you can see the feeds are different as well. X750 has "7" embossed on the underside, whereas the F nib on NJ243 has "12".

 

 

The feed measures 5mm across the widest point, which I guess means it accepts a #5 nib? My #6 nibbed Jinhao X750 has a 6mm-wide feed at the widest point.

Edited August 10, 2017 by Intensity

[frankb3]

Most Jinhaos use a standard #5, with the 450, 750, & 159 using a #6. The Knox nibs aren't terribly wide, the Knox broad is barely wider than the Jinhao #6. A Jowo (or Anderson or Goulet) broad is f'ing huge in comparison. The terms medium/fine/broad mean little when comparing different brands.

[Intensity]

Just ordered 3 different "5.5" nibs from FPR: fine, medium, and flex. Will be fun to play with, and hopefully one of them will find a permanent home on this pen.

[Intensity]

Ok, so the FPR 5.5mm nibs are here. Unfortunately it seems like they are NOT a good fit for the NJ243 pen, even though it uses the same nib (#5) as those on the more common Jinhao X250 pens. I've read some people saying that FPR 5.5 nibs are a great fit in Jinhao X250 pens.

 

What seems to be the problem is that FPR's 5.5 nibs are thicker than the stock "F" nib on the NJ243 (Jinhao's #5). Also the stock nib tapers off to be slightly narrower sooner than FPR's 5.5.

 

I've spent an hour trying to force 3 different FPR nibs into the pen, with varying degrees of success, but none of the time was I able to fit any new nib properly. The feed+nib combo gets stuck, and then it's difficult to get them back out to do another attempt. I gave up after I started damaging the fins on the feed (nothing significant yet to affect operation). In contrast, the stock nib can be inserted without much effort. I've overlaid the two nib types, and their curvature and general shape are more or less the same, but the extra thickness and slightly less tapering on the 5.5 nibs creates the fit problem.

 

I got 5.5 FPR "flexible", "medium", and "fine", but unfortunately it looks like I'll have to go back to the stock Jinhao #5 nib Which is too bad, as I was really looking forward to using "medium" and especially "flex" on the Jinhao NJ243.

 

By the way, unlike with Jinhao X750 (and X450), there's no obvious way to insert the feed, no notches or any other indicators. There's a bit of an inequality in the plastic cylinder's shape, but it's very minor, and I've tried aligning the nibs into what seems like a slightly larger space, but still with no luck. My best attempt has the pen writing okay, but I'm afraid the nib+feed are not far in enough, which would probably cause the ink to dry out on the feed more easily. And the bigger problem is that the pen cap doesn't lock closed due to the new nib sticking out too far.

Edited August 14, 2017 by Intensity

[Intensity]

Thought I would update my story with this pen, for anyone else interested in swapping the stock fine nib on their Jinhao NJ243 mother of pearl pen.

 

#5.5 nibs by FPR were too tight of a fit, and I ended up having to file the plastic tubing into which the feed and the nib are inserted a bit to increase the opening diameter. It was actually quite easy, as I happen to have a rounded metal file already. Fitted with a Medium #5.5 FPR nib, the pen writes great. I realize that there are fans of fine nibs, but something about the stock Fine nib on the Jinhao was leaving me very uninspired. With the #5.5 FPR nib, there's more ink shading, and the flow is not as high as it is with my stock Jinhao X750 (medium nib). I like its character a lot more now. Might try a Nemosine 1.1mm italic #5 nib too at some point.

 

But basically the shape of all the FPR 5.5 nibs was right, it's just that the *thickness* of the FountainPenRevolution nibs was noticeably higher than the thin #5 nib in this Jinhao pen, so the replacements would not fit without filing the insertion opening first. The reason I got the #5.5 FPR nibs over #5 is that I had read reviews that the 5.5 ones were newer and nicer to write with. I cannot confirm that as I did not order their #5 nibs, and I do now wonder if their #5 nibs are thinner and would have fit without filing. In others' reports, FPR #5.5 nibs fit Jinhao X250 pens, and I thought the nib on Jinhao NJ243 is the same as that for X250.

Edited September 13, 2017 by Intensity

[mitto]

Wouldn't the use of dry heat on the section before inserting the FPR 5.5 nib in your Jinhao NJ243 saved you the filing of the opening? If I were you I would have tried that before filing the opening of the section.

 

Just a thought.

[Intensity]

Wouldn't the use of dry heat on the section before inserting the FPR 5.5 nib in your Jinhao NJ243 saved you the filing of the opening? If I were you I would have tried that before filing the opening of the section.

Just a thought.

Yes,

I've tried heating a bit, but the replacement nibs were so tight, I still started damaging the feed when trying to get both out to realign. Even after a fair amount of enlarging the opening the nib does not go in quite as far as the original one did. Just enough to not prevent the cap from locking when closed. Also the feed is not ebonite, just regular plastic.

Edited September 14, 2017 by Intensity