Psa: Jinhao “Extra Fines” On Amazon Are Far From Extra Fine

[phillieskjk]

I ordered a pair of Jinhao 51As on Amazon yesterday (extra few dollars was worth it for the one day shipping). The listing for every single Jinhao 51A on the site says that they have an Extra Fine Nib, but they actually have nibs that are solidly in the territory of Western Medium. I actually like the wider nib better, but I know some people love Extra Fines, so if youre one of those people dont waste your money!

Attached picture illustrates what Im talking about.

[essayfaire]

I have a Jinhao with a hooded nib that I bought off of Amazon a couple of years ago. It truly is an EF/F (it writes more narrowly than the Jinhao sharks). I wonder if it is the seller and not the company.

[phillieskjk]

I have a Jinhao with a hooded nib that I bought off of Amazon a couple of years ago. It truly is an EF/F (it writes more narrowly than the Jinhao sharks). I wonder if it is the seller and not the company.

Ive also had good luck with Jinhaos being truly fine in the past, but my thought process was that it was likely an issue with this particular model than with this particular seller, since as far as I know Jinhao only makes one nib size for each type of pen in my experience. Can anyone else with a 51A weigh in?

[A Smug Dill]

The Jinhao 51A I used for both of the writing samples below is apt to have a "moderate" ink flow, in my opinion, but Pelikan 4001 Blue-Black is a particularly dry-flowing ink. I think it works well to show us what fine lines the physical dimensions and/or geometry of the Jinhao nib is capable of producing.

I doubt it'll be easy for you to find a typical, stock standard (stainless steel or solid gold) Medium nib by Pelikan, Lamy, Aurora, Visconti, Parker or Waterman that writes as finely as the hooded steel EF nib on the Jinhao 51A.

The tipping on the Jinhao 51A's nib is obviously more rounded than that on a Sailor F nib known for its interesting geometry and character, and that contributes to the Sailor F nib putting down finer lines — depending, at least in part, on the angles at which you hold the pen and write with it), than the Jinhao nib in spite of being one nib width grade broader, "on paper" so to speak. However, that is entirely irrelevant to how the Jinhao nib would compare to "Western Medium" nibs, in that the Sailor F nib is neither Western nor Medium.

[TSherbs]

I appreciate these comparative pics, Dill.

[TSherbs]

Ive also had good luck with Jinhaos being truly fine in the past, but my thought process was that it was likely an issue with this particular model than with this particular seller, since as far as I know Jinhao only makes one nib size for each type of pen in my experience. Can anyone else with a 51A weigh in?

Is your 51A an open nib? Or a hooded nib? Mine are all open nibs because I want a wider line.

[phillieskjk]

The Jinhao 51A I used for both of the writing samples below is apt to have a "moderate" ink flow, in my opinion, but Pelikan 4001 Blue-Black is a particularly dry-flowing ink. I think it works well to show us what fine lines the physical dimensions and/or geometry of the Jinhao nib is capable of producing.

 

I doubt it'll be easy for you to find a typical, stock standard (stainless steel or solid gold) Medium nib by Pelikan, Lamy, Aurora, Visconti, Parker or Waterman that writes as finely as the hooded steel EF nib on the Jinhao 51A.

 

The tipping on the Jinhao 51A's nib is obviously more rounded than that on a Sailor F nib known for its interesting geometry and character, and that contributes to the Sailor F nib putting down finer lines depending, at least in part, on the angles at which you hold the pen and write with it), than the Jinhao nib in spite of being one nib width grade broader, "on paper" so to speak. However, that is entirely irrelevant to how the Jinhao nib would compare to "Western Medium" nibs, in that the Sailor F nib is neither Western nor Medium.

 

 

 

Thanks so much for your reply. Judging by your example, I think my 2 pens may have just been a strange exception rather than the rule. I used the sailor as a comparison because Sadly all my pens with western fine/medium nibs are at home, I only bring pens I wouldnt be devastated to have stolen to my University with me.

[phillieskjk]

Is your 51A an open nib? Or a hooded nib? Mine are all open nibs because I want a wider line.

Mine has a hooded nib

[TSherbs]

Mine has a hooded nib

Yeah, yours seems a little wide (if the nib is free of debris).

 

What really surprises me is the narrow width of your Pelikan broad, actually.

[essayfaire]

Yeah, yours seems a little wide (if the nib is free of debris).

 

What really surprises me is the narrow width of your Pelikan broad, actually.

+1

I thought it was just me....

[A Smug Dill]

... Sadly all my pens with western fine/medium nibs are at home, I only bring pens I wouldnt be devastated to have stolen to my University with me.

 

Oh, were you using a Sailor HiAce Neo in that comparison? Because the next-lowest models in Sailor's product range available with Fine nibs are the steel-nibbed Shikiori (Hisakata and Tsukuyo-no-minamo) models from the Procolor 500 product line, and Young Profit, all of which are in the ¥5,500+tax (so, roughly US$55) MSRP class. I'm be pretty unhappy if my Shikiori Hisakata hoshikuzu ("Stardust") was stolen or lost!

 

I wouldn't regard the nibs on the HiAce Neo (as well as the model 11-0073 desk pens) as typical or representative of Sailor nibs, any more than I would regard the nibs on the Platinum Preppy/Plaisir as typical or representative of Platinum nibs.

[bobje]

This thread shows one of the great values of FPN — that an interesting question can be raised, and an authoritative, well-documented answer can be provided within 24 hours. Wow. Thank you, Dill.

 

My own experience with Jinhao nibs is mostly with grinding the the medium-sized version into approximately 1.1 mm italics. They’re really good for that.

[phillieskjk]

 

Oh, were you using a Sailor HiAce Neo in that comparison? Because the next-lowest models in Sailor's product range available with Fine nibs are the steel-nibbed Shikiori (Hisakata and Tsukuyo-no-minamo) models from the Procolor 500 product line, and Young Profit, all of which are in the ¥5,500+tax (so, roughly US$55) MSRP class. I'm be pretty unhappy if my Shikiori Hisakata hoshikuzu ("Stardust") was stolen or lost!

 

I wouldn't regard the nibs on the HiAce Neo (as well as the model 11-0073 desk pens) as typical or representative of Sailor nibs, any more than I would regard the nibs on the Platinum Preppy/Plaisir as typical or representative of Platinum nibs.

 

 

 

I was using my Blue Procolor 500, although I'd love to get a hoshikuzu someday, they're absolutely gorgeous, great choice. You're right, I'd be very upset if it went missing, but it's right on the upper end of risk I'm willing to assume. It's also not a strictly financial decision, I have an old Pelikan MK30 from the 60s that I paid less than $40 for but whose nib (very soft OBB) is the best thing I've ever written with in my life, so I wouldn't risk bringing it because I doubt even an identical model would have a nib just like it after all these years.

 

My collection at school with me is:

Procolor 500

Pilot Prera

Pelikan M200

Jinhao 51A

and 6 Jinhao 991s that I keep inked in 6 different colors for drawing

 

The only pens I really miss are the Pelikan with the OBB, my Decimo (I'll probably bring it next semester anyways just because I love writing with it so much), and my Platinum 3776s. You can never be too careful when you go to a university in Baltimore, but sometimes I'm tempted to just risk and and bring my whole collection until I inevitably think better of it.

[A Smug Dill]

I decided to flush, clean and prepare another in my stash of new Jinhao 51A pens for use, so I thought I might put Pilot Iroshizuku kon-peki in it for a quick test. It then occurred to me that you could be getting significantly different line widths because of the angle at which you hold then pen:



By the way, I then noticed that particular pen frequently hard-started when I tried to draw straight (horizontal, vertical, and even diagonal) lines with it, and I couldn't work out why. Long story short, I never found out why, but if my frustration I got very rough with it and eventually bent one of the tines sideways, and had to then bend it back to correct the splaying that prevented capillary action from happening. That changed the character of the writing out of that pen somewhat:

[TSherbs]

Yeah, Dill, mugging a pen usually does alter it.