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  1. I am a very new collector and interested in Chinese and Japanese pens but at the moment wanting to learn as much as I can about pens and Hero pens in particular. So two questions; (1) Any recommendations for good information sites, (other than this network) for Chinese and Japanese pens? (2) What online dealers would people recommend as reliable? Cheers, Andrew-Bede
  2. I've been reading many helpful reviews here on FPN as I get on my collecting journal, this is the first time I'm posting with a question. Anyone have experience with the Hero 100 "Emperor" 2016 model?, as shown in this ebay posting: http://www.ebay.com/itm/2016-Model-Hero-Emperor-100-Fountain-Pen-12K-Gold-Fine-Nib-With-Box-/331719526737?hash=item4d3c064951:g:nswAAOSwAKxWWcfJ I know that the standard Hero 100's Achilles heel is the plastic hood, which can crack, but it doesn't seem to be an issue with the 2016 model's exposed nib. Also this is a converter pen, which might (?) prolong the longevity. Some other questions for anyone who currently own the 2016 Emperor model: What material is the barrel made of? What about the grip section?Is there any Chinese writing on the pen? pictures just show Hero engraved on a bronze-like settingNib: is it really 12K gold? If so, how do they achieve the 2-tone effect?Is nib replaceable?Some measurements (length, weight) would be nice. A wrting sample is gravy. Thanks!
  3. I bought this pen a few days ago ( http://www.aliexpress.com/item/Hero-100-Vintage-Classic-Design-Black-14K-Gold-Nib-Fountain-Pen/32320663063.html ) to be told by our friends at reddit that it is indeed a fake. Does anyone know of a legit retailer from the United Kingdom to buy this pen. Perhaps this seller on ebay? ( http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Original-Hero-100-Black-Fountain-Pen-14K-Gold-Fine-Nib-Classic-Series-/390847448859?hash=item5b0052c71b:g:IGIAAOSwEetWBPUl ) Thanks.
  4. Introduction Why would anyone be mad enough to splurge $49 on a Hero 100 fountain pen, especially a Hero 100 variant that you have neither seen nor heard of? You do so because Soumitra Sanyal (@sanyalsoumitra) himself recommends it and offers to buy it for you from China during his visit there. For those of you who aren't familiar with his exploits, Soumitra-da is our resident walking and talking encyclopaedia on Chinese fountain pen matters. Just refer to his thread here to get a glimpse of his expertise and experience with the oriental pen makers and their instruments. That is how one fine day I find myself committing to buy a 2015 New Model Hero Classic 100 (aka Hero Glorious) and a few weeks later the pen lands on my desk. A big shout out to Soumitra-da, the anonymous kind-heart and L Subramaniam for taking the effort in ensuring that the pen reaches me from China. Packaging Usually I do not give too much emphasis on packaging since my interest lies with the pen rather than with the box. But I had to mention the packaging of the pen separately here since it is such a deviation from the normal Hero packaging that we are accustomed to seeing. The pen comes in a large green leatherette box enclosed within a white paper sleeve. The box has the Hero logo on the bottom right corner with 1931 (the year of founding) mentioned prominently. Once you open the box the pen is tastefully placed within a lovely green velvety bed. There is a small golden plaque with ‘Hero 100’ engraved in it. Pulling out the velvet bed, reveals a small cavity which contains the usual paperwork. Design Lately there seems to be a preference towards design that emphasize heft and a certain amount of chrome or other metallic reflective surfaces in the body of the pen. Parker IM, Sheaffer 300, Jinhao 159 or Duke Chaplin are representative of this trend. These pens are typically designed to cater to an entry/newcomer clientele base who equate weight and presence of metal with quality. The Hero Glorious squarely belongs to this club. Design wise the pen combines the traditional Hero 100 section and filling mechanism with a brass body which has been lacquered in black and inlaid with golden arches motif. The cap and body ends are fitted with golden flat ends and the cap band has a brushed metal finish. Engraved on the cap band is Hero 100 in a mix of Chinese letters and English numerals. There is a small logo engraved at the top of the clip. The black section has the traditional golden arrow inlay near the front-end. Aesthetically the pen is a mix of pleasing and over-done. The only visual mismatch that I could discern is the aluminium joint between the section and the barrel. I have no clue why they couldn’t take the extra effort and give it a golden finish as well. I suspect they were raiding the existing parts bin and did not really want to procure any new parts and fittings that this would have entailed. Size and Balance The design approach that Hero has taken for this pen unfortunately means that it is a heavy pen. While do not have a measuring scale of my own, the specifications state that it is a full 45 grams. This is a serious drawback that impacts the writing experience. There copious amount of heavy brass in the barrel and even more so in the cap. Any attempt at writing with it posted had to be immediately terminated. It was just not comfortable enough. Even writing unposted wasn’t as comfortable as the classic Hero 100 which had the weight and balance nailed down to the T. A light section and heavy barrel does throw the balance for a toss and the pen felt decidedly top heavy. The weight issue is a real pity because at 142mm capped, this is the perfect size for an EDC (Every Day Carry) pen. The section design is a classic and is known to accentuate the feeling of comfort. Nib The pen comes fitted with the classic Hero 100 nib which is made of solid 14K gold and fine in width (tip size 0.5mm). While the pen professes to be a fine, in my writing experience it was much closer to a western EF than a western F. The original Shanghai Hero company is known to make excellent nibs and this one is no different. The nib is very smooth and if you are the sort who likes EF nibs, you should have little reason to complain. The only aspect which I wasn’t too happy about was with the ink flow. I found it on the dryer side. Filling Mechanism Like any Hero 100, this pen too is an aerometric filler. It comes equipped with a long and slender pump style converter which is fixed. The brand name “hero” is inscribed in the pressbar in English while the converter itself has the pen model name inscribed in Chinese with English numerals. Since it has a fixed converter, the pen can only accept ink from bottles and cannot use any sort of cartridges. Build Quality On first glance the pen exudes the usual quality vibes that we are familiar with these days from the better Chinese pens. The fit and finish and the tolerances are nice and the pen seems built to last. I do however have some reservations with regards to the long term durability of the pen. The fact that it has a simple plastic section paired to a heavy brass barrel and the two are joined via an aluminium threaded joint seems to me a potential failure point. During use, the heavy metal is likely to put stress on the plastic. Assuming the section design is the same for the classic Hero 100, I do not expect the section to be designed to withstand such weight/stress. In fact, quite a few other reviews have reported sections developing cracks in the plastic section. Writing Experience The original Shanghai Hero company has been in existence for long and during the period it has developed quite an impressive following of its own. The fact that it seems to be the most faked pen in China means that the original pen has got something right and has a great writing experience. The Hero glorious obviously benefits from using the same ‘business side’ of the pen. The nib despite being extra thin is very smooth and glides on paper. There is no scratchiness even on coarse or cheap paper. It is however hard as a nail and any thought of softness or flex has to be summarily banished. Such a smooth nib is however let down by a feed that is too dry. I had loaded the pen with Pilot black ink and the pen was visibly having trouble keeping up the supply even for such a thin nib. This meant that the sensation of a well lubricated nib gliding on paper was sorely missing. Had that been there, it would have shot right at the top of my EF nib collection. The other drawback to writing pleasure is the sheer weight of the pen. You don’t buy this pen for a better writing experience than the original classic. Price and Value I have observed that the price of this pen seems to be fluctuating a lot. My pen was purchased from mainland china for $49 and at the time the same pen was being sold on Aliexpress for around $80 - $120. Currently there are a couple of listings available for as low as $20 but these pens don’t come with the box. That may mean any one three things - either I paid for a $29 box or counterfeits are coming into the market or the price of the pen is genuinely coming down after the initial period is over. Whether the pen is VFM or not depends a lot on what the final price comes to be. For a brass bodied solid pen with a genuine 14K nib, the sum of $20 seems very reasonable while $49 is stretching the case a bit. Any figure above $60 would in my opinion make the pen non VFM since QC is not known to be equivalent to western standards. Specifications The measurements mentioned in this section were not taken with any precision measurement instruments and you would have to settle for the approximate measurements I made using a normal ruler. However, the measurements I am providing should give you a clear indication of what to expect from the pen. Length (capped) – 142 mm Length (uncapped) – 121 mm Length (cap) – 63 mm Length (section) – 43 mm Maximum width – 12 mm Weight – 45 gm (Not measured and as per specifications) Conclusion This is the section where I usually summarize my findings and either recommend or reject the pen. Frankly speaking, I am a bit conflicted on this pen for a variety of reasons. Firstly because of the ongoing price fluctuations, I would advise a wait and watch approach to see it pans out. Secondly the design of the pen and the weight won’t suit everyone. I personally found it a bit too over the top for my taste and the weight a bit tiring. But if you are of the sort that such models, then you would be delighted by this pen. Nitpicking aside, it’s a relatively nice writer and the brand itself has an impressive legacy. The size is just ideal to make it an EDC (Every Day Carry) pen and it fulfills that role fabulously. Should you go for it, I have no doubt that you would enjoy it.
  5. Hello, Today I found a listing for a variant of what I believe is a 616 Jumbo (hard to exactly say, the seller just calls it 'big size', but I did spend a bit of time looking from the picture to my current Jumbo and the sections seem about the same length in ratio to the overall length of the pen, so I'm pretty sure it's a Jumbo), and with a new gold cap. I have never seen the Jumbo with a gold cap, and as far as I can tell it looks like the clutch's two metal rings don't stick out past the body of the pen, something that always bothers me about my current Jumbos. The nib also looks to be at least gold-colored. Anybody know if these are a new form of Jumbo, possibly to complement the recent 616-2's, or have these been around and I've completely missed them during all my searching? Here's the listing I found, I've done lots of business with this seller, so I'm pretty sure they're not going to be fakes... http://www.ebay.com/itm/Hero-616-Big-Size-Burgundy-Fountain-Pen-Golden-Cap/331457032219?_trksid=p2047675.c100005.m1851&_trkparms=aid%3D222007%26algo%3DSIC.MBE%26ao%3D1%26asc%3D34494%26meid%3D78d996d9eccf4105a44863fe175c59d7%26pid%3D100005%26rk%3D1%26rkt%3D6%26sd%3D331457020275 Thanks, jcreilley
  6. fi88r

    Hello From New York

    Hello, everyone. I'm Marcus. I am new to FPN. I have enjoyed fine writing instruments since I was in college - I'm not in my mid-thirties. I'm not an expert by any means. I'm not even a collector. I just enjoy handwriting. I have a little bit of graphomania. I really enjoy writing with fountain pens. My current inventory include Waterman Carene, Parker Sonnet, Pilot Kakuno and Hero 007. My ink of choice right now is Pilot. I am not particular about paper as long as it doesn't bleed. I don't mind writing on regular printer paper, as long as I have something behind it for the bleeding. I prefer Asian fine nibs or Western extra fine nibs. I look forward to meeting you all in the forums and learning from everyone.
  7. Hello everyone! I bought a Platinum Century 3776 in a medium nib and I am really liking the size of the nib. I found it to be much finer than my other japanese mediums though, such as the Pilot Metropolitan and the Pilot Kakuno. I also quite like the nib on Hero 616. However, I found the Century 3776 nib to be a bit toothy for my liking, while my 616 is fairly smooth I would say. How do the fine Pilot fine nibs compare? I was thinking of buying a Metropolitan in a fine nib but just wanted to check in, before I regret a purchase that will simply lie on my desk!
  8. i've had my copy of this pen for a little while now, and on the whole i'm not unhappy with it. it still leaves me a bit conflicted --- it's not a bad pen, far from it, i just think it's overpriced for what it is. (i can't believe i paid $40 for a pen! this hobby is getting to me.) i bought it because i wanted a good, hooded nib pen, and the online retailer i trust was out of Hero 110's; i got a good, hooded nib pen, but still wish i'd ordered a 110 instead while he still had them. the good: perfectly good quality, better fit and finish than on my other Hero pens, works without issue on the first try, has given me exactly zero problems. the not so good: not the kind of fit and finish i'd expect for $40. the threads between the barrel and section feel gravelly and loose, the hood screws on well enough but doesn't stop very positively when it's lined up with the nib, the feed looks just a bit misaligned with the hood opening. the nib: i've no idea what it's made of. some online sources claim it's 10K gold, others say 12K, most say nothing at all about it, and i myself don't really much care so long as it writes. and it does, leaving what i'd call a medium line --- but since i judge nibs by Japanese standards, it's probably a European fine. wetness-wise i'd call it a medium wet; no skipping or hard starts, lays down plenty enough of bulletproof black without soaking anything or blotting at all. it's not my smoothest nib, not even as smooth as my Hero 329, but it isn't scratchy either. writing with it gives a hard-to-describe feeling of rounded texture, as though the nib were a ball rolling gently over an uneven but not jagged surface. i don't mind it, but then i appreciate a bit of tooth in my nibs anyway. the bad: this is a heavy pen. Todd Nussbaum called it a "medium weight", but that just means i won't be buying any pen he calls heavy. it weighs in at 20 grammes uncapped, 32 capped; the weight and balance of the cap is such that i don't want to write with it posted, which is unusual for me. more bad: the clip. it's fancy-looking, but very stiff, and the shape is such that pinching it away from the cap with one's fingers is uncomfortable and cumbersome. it's also very tight, enough that clipping it on anything thicker than a regular shirt pocket might be difficult; all in all it's not very practical. the looks: plenty of photos of this pen online, and they do not lie. it's black, chrome cap and furniture, and a white plastic... not really "jewel" but cap, on top of the barrel. metal body coated in... something black; maybe lacquer, maybe spray paint, who can tell? no flaws on this account, anyway. verdict: solidly in my "journalling pens" rotation. i won't be making it a "daily carry" pen, if only because of the clip, but it is getting use and will continue to.
  9. I broke down a Hero 616 the other day (In the most literal sense, seeing as the section cracked.) and I found that the nib unit is the same size as an Esterbrook Lithographic crows quill nib. I tried in an a couple Hero 616 feed/collector units, and the fit seems to vary just a bit, some were really snug, while others were were loose enough to fall out. The crowsquill is too long to have the feed reach it correctly, but removing about a cm off made it the right length. Use the existing Hero's nib to scale it. I used a fine hacksaw and cleaned it up with a diamond pad. The Hero, being a hooded nib does not allow the full flex offered by the Esterbrook, but its more then the Hero, and offers simple line variation. Obviously its an untipped nib, so it will wear out after a while, and you have to watch for rust, as the nib is in contact with the inked feed. Filling is a bit more of a struggle as well, as the breather hole is covered by the new nib. As the feed was not designed for the ink delivery needed, a wetter ink is helpful, I added a little vodka and a speck of soap to my ink to try it out, but made it too wet. Your mileage may vary, but no permanent modification needed, besides trimming the dip pen nib. Other crows quills might be a better or worse fit, or work better or worse.
  10. melodiousb

    Hero 237-1 Accountant Pen

    Just started a pen blog, and my first review is of my favorite Chinese pen, the Hero 237-1. Full text here, full text + pictures at the blog. A couple of months ago I tried out some cheap Chinese pens for the first time. One of them was a Hero 007, the cheapest of their hooded nib Parker lookalikes. I didn’t like it all that much, but for $0.99, it got me interested in what else Hero might have to offer. What I found was this: the Hero 237-1 “Accountant’s pen,” so called because of its extra, extra fine nib. It’s NOS (New Old Stock), bought from an eBay seller for $7, free shipping, and it may be the single most practical pen purchase I’ve made. I’m figuring out a pen review format as I go, so bear with me. Body: This is a pretty cheap feeling but reasonably sturdy plastic pen. It’s wider in the middle than at either end, but not very wide even there. Mine is teal with a black clip and a small black plastic section at the back end. There’s also some Chinese writing on the side. I believe it also comes in blue and green. Aside from the hooded nib and the narrow ink window hidden just under the cap, the styling is copied from the Rotring Rivette. Both pens are from the 90s, so I guess that makes sense. I actually have a Rivette–I’ve had it for about fifteen years, probably–but I didn’t notice that the two pens have basically the same body until they were actually side by side. It’s not a bad design to steal, I guess–light and fairly comfortable to write with. The Hero’s plastic is smooth and shiny, though, where the Rotring is matte and very slightly textured. The clip has a lot of flex in it, and has worked well for me so far, but it could probably be bent out of shape really easily. The cap doesn’t click on, so it never feels super secure, but when I forget that it’s not a screwcap and twist the cap, sometimes the section partially unscrews, so I guess the cap grips the section better than I thought. I’ve also had ink leak into the cap a couple of times. Nib: About as hooded as a nib can be, and very, very fine. I haven’t got a huge amount of experience with EF nibs, but this is significantly finer than my Pilot F nibs, and I can reverse the nib for an even more ridiculously fine line. I’ve tried it out on some very cheap and absorbent paper, and it performs kind of spectacularly well. The flow is a little on the dry side, too, which helps. I should also note that the feed came loose one time and threatened to fall out of the front of the pen, but I pushed it back in and it’s stayed there. There’s a little bit of line variation, which is more or less visible depending on how you angle the nib. I haven’t been able to get that variation consistently, but sometimes I feel like I’ve writing with the world’s tiniest stub. It’s not smooth. There’s lots of feedback. It falls short of being scratchy, but not by a whole lot. Flow is pretty consistent. This is not a fun-to-write-with pen–not the one you take out for a journal entry, or to write a letter on nice stationery. But it’s so practical, and so good for notes in the margins of printouts, or writing small in cheap notebooks, and for handing off to a non FP user without intimidating them. I’ve made my coworker Laura, who sits next to me, try out a bunch of my pens, and this is her favorite. Filling System: I’m not a huge fan of Hero’s aerometric filling system. It’s a silicone sac permanently attached to the section, mostly encased in metal, with a metal bar that you squeeze to compress the sac. You have to squeeze it a few times to get much ink in there, but once you do, it has a decent capacity. Especially when you consider that you won’t be using up ink the way you would with a broader, wetter nib. This is the place where the cheapness of the pen is most obvious, but basically it works, so I can’t complain too much.
  11. Hello there, It's been a long time since I've made a review, but yesterday I picked up a new pen. The packaging was inconspicuous, it was at the local supermarket, on the bottom most shelf. It looked like a cheap (well... it was cheap ) no-name, brown fountain pen in a little plastic bag. When I took a closer look at it, I saw four numbers printed on the side, and when I bought it and took it home, the converter that came with it (a piston, Parker like converter, but with a standard tip) had Hero embossed on the back. I washed it, inked it up with Parker Quink black, and tried it out. It's a joy to write with, although it was a tad scratchy on the up stroke and needed a little smoothing. It writes like an F, and ink flow is very good, not too wet so the F becomes more of an M but enough to make it glide. Sorry for not having any writing samples, my handwriting isn't a thing of beauty anyway. Pictures:
  12. So... poking about on eBay, looking for something with a flex nib to try since the Noodler's Konrad seem to be out of stock everywhere. Came across a very cheap HERO brand pen with a flex nib. Problem... can't seem to find info if the nib is replaceable? and if so, is it a #6? If so, maybe try it, maybe grab a Noodler's flex nib and try with that? and still an option for a normal nib like a Goulet #6 Medium, or if the pen flat out blows, no big loss. Can't find the info online, and the eBay sellers are from China so, the responses rarely ever make sense due to the language barrier. Pen I was looking at was this one. Says 3015 on the pen, but, when I google HERO 3015... various models show up. Anyone know about the nib? http://i.ebayimg.com/00/s/NDg0WDYwMA==/z/vhUAAOSwPhdVSsEy/$_12.JPG
  13. First, If this is in the wrong forum or considered advertising, please, by all means remove it. I have no affiliation with the seller, I was just wondering if anybody had found any pen with a solid gold nib for cheaper. Anyway, the pen is a Hero 711 with a 10k solid gold nib. Yes, it is only 10k, but still, it is solid gold. And the price??? $16. $16!!!!!!! Has anybody seen a solid gold nibbed pen for cheaper than this one? Ebay link: http://www.ebay.com/itm/Hero-711-Black-Chrome-Cap-Fountain-Pen-New-In-Box-10kt-Solid-Gold-Nib-/230799200250?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item35bcb44ffa Thanks, Phillieskjk
  14. Hi, I got a Hero 9296 last year, first chinese extra fine nib pen I have tried that is truly smooth, nothing about "satisfying tooth" that some reviews say when they want to defend a pen which is not quite smooth. Great price too. Well, I went to order another one, come to find a few surprises I did not see the first time: 1-Wide price variation, some sellers seem to have prices quite a bit higher than just 6 months ago, some for quite a bit less. 2-Some reviews describe the pen as a total loss, quite scratchy, nothing like my experience. So the question is, are there some Hero 9296 pens that are fake? Any way of knowing before buying? Perhaps some sellers are more reputable for this than others? Are the higher prices actually worth it? Something I did not know before buying, according to reviews, the converter is highly unreliable, proprietary (again, I am guessing the fakes use different converters than the "real" ones? No problems with my first one) Thanks for some clue.
  15. While a nearby stationery shop was closing, I was just going through their archives. I came across a bottle of 59ml of Hero washable Blue ink. Since I was needing blue ink for professional work and the shopkeeper was keen to rid off it because it had stayed in the shop for round about 8 years, he gave me for about 30 INR(~0.5 USD). The ink was fairly vanilla in nature, royal blue nothing home to talk about. It is a fairly dry ink having flow properties of Pelikan 4001 inks. The one good thing was it didnt show through or bleed through in any of the copier papers I used. What was curious was this was a scented ink having the scent of flowery smell. Anyway, I trolled ebay and alibaba for scented hero inks,but could not find anything. Anyway having a scented ink at this price is a steal. Any comments are welcome. I am not sure whether this is right forum to post, but since this is not a review, I decided to post it the Chinese section [Edited to clarify: I initially thought it was a flowery smell, but having second thoughts]
  16. HERO - 336 Over the period of past 4-5 months i have started collecting Chinese Fountain pens which i will be reviewing one by one. This review is about the pen which was recommended to me by Mr. Subramaniam of ASA Pens after i have collected lot of Chinese Fountain Pens from local market of Old Delhi (Nai Sadak & Sadar Bazaar). And I am surely not disappointed at all. Lets see what are the goods and not so goods about this HERO 336. Hero 336 Design & Built: As far as design is concerned it is a decent, simple, sleek looking pen and you surely might see lot of iterations of the same in the market, thus there is nothing exciting about this pen. As far as i know it comes in four colors, black, navy blue, dark green & burgundy. It is made of plastic which is fairly finished. Hero 336 - posing for camera The cap is of yellow gold colored aluminum and the gold color of the clip is somewhat different from gold color of the cap. The clip is quite springy but yes it gives a bit screechy noise and feels a bit flimsy which in actual is not. The Clip has "Hero" engraved on it and the bottom of the cap i.e. center band displays the model no. and made in china marking. Hero 336 - Cap Also there is gold color metal part screwed at the bottom of barrel, which is purely aesthetic. Hero 336 - Gold plated metal bottom screwed in to bottom of barrel The construction quality is far above acceptable for such a low priced pen, actually it is well built for general everyday rough tough use. It easily takes few drops here and there. The inside of cap has metal springy clips which actually tightens the grip around the section when pen cap is closed and it works pretty fine. Hero 336 - Closeup of Nib and Cap For Further details like nib and balance and more images and my handwritten writing samples i request you to please go through my Blog
  17. nujnay

    Hero Blue Black No.62

    Hi everybody, Firstly I would like to apologize as this would not be a thorough review. Just sharing my experience with an ink I just bought earlier. I got this ink from a local store for RM1.50 (~$0.40). My first impression of this ink is that this is more towards a grey ink than a blue black. However, the flow and wetness of the ink is quite good especially at this price. The ink is also surprisingly water resistant! I've read some reviews that it might be an IG ink, can anyone confirm this? These are written on rhodia lined pad with sheaffer agio M. Here are some pictures: Pictures of the bottle and the box which states no.62 on the side of the packaging The ink shades more on printed words than cursive Ink dries within 15 seconds Water resistant ink! That's it for now. Thank you for reading. Cheers Edited to add pen used
  18. HERO - 336 Over the period of past 4-5 months i have started collecting Chinese Fountain pens which i will be reviewing one by one. This review is about the pen which was recommended to me by Mr. Subramaniam of ASA Pens after i have collected lot of Chinese Fountain Pens from local market of Old Delhi (Nai Sadak & Sadar Bazaar). And I am surely not disappointed at all. Hero 336 I have review the pen here in detail .....https://mehandiratta.wordpress.com/2015/02/20/pen-review-hero-336-hooded-nib/ I LOVE THE PEN
  19. I used to have a Hero 338. That is until it fell off my desk and broke into two halves. Of course I didn't pay too much for it, and to be honest, I never quite liked the pen (it was too scratchy and dry for my taste), but now I'm wondering. Is it worth a try to glue the two halves together? Or would I just be wasting my time with it?
  20. phillieskjk

    Converting To Eyedropper...

    I have a Hero 329 (New Version- Not Star Trek). I love it. It always writes smoothly, it has never broken, I love the design (It's a Parker "51" clone) and it was 1 USD! I only have one issue with it. The ink sac is TINY! So, I want to increase the ink capacity by turning it into an eyedropper. I was planning to cut off the sack (it cannot be removed otherwise) and then proceed as if it was a cartridge pen. My only concern is the screw at the bottom of the pen. If I seal that screw with silicone grease as well, will it be watertight? Will there be any negative effect on the ink if it is in direct contact with the grease? I am not afraid of breaking the pen (since it was only a dollar) but I don't want it to leak all over. Thanks, Phillieskjk
  21. Well, thought I'd try my hand at a review. I've bought (and used) countless pens from different manufacturers and recently have been on a kick of buying Chinese pens. I decided to dedicated a small amount ($20 CDN) to see how many inexpensive Chinese pens I can buy and just what you can get for your dollar these days. I'm up to 7 pens purchased and I've got $3 left, so, well, you can at least get bulk. Of the pens that have arrived so far (Jinhao 599, Jinhao 250, Baoer 517, Hero 369), the Hero 369 has easily been the most surprising, as not only is it the cheapest of the lot at the princely sum of $1,45CDN shipped, but has some really interesting features. Scores are out of 10 Appearance/Finish (7/10): The Hero 369 has a very classic, slim appearance in brushed aluminum with chromed metal accents. The cap has no finial or jewel, just a flat section of brushed metal. The clip is chromed metal, and the the Hero logo and model number (369) appears around the bottom of the cap. http://i144.photobucket.com/albums/r181/jekostas/Hero2_zps69b9bcc0.jpg There's a small centre band in chromed metal, and the body tapers down slightly to the end cap, also of chromed metal. I quite like the looks overall, a very simple, elegant and modern pen. Fit and finish on the outer body is quite good with no marks on the matte finish of the body or scratches on the chroming. Here's the first big surprise, the clip is spring-loaded! It's firm, but with more than enough play to comfortable pull it out of your pocket. http://i144.photobucket.com/albums/r181/jekostas/Clip_zpsc701a70a.jpg Opening the cap we see a black plastic section with a shiny finish (pretty common) and two chromed metal rings near the nib that act as the holder for the cap. I quite like the nib, it's small, first, and secondly it's not hooded, which is pretty rare for these low-end Heros. I know some people prefer hooded nibs, I don't. I like to see the nib. The nib is quite interesting as well, being very narrow and in shiny stainless with a good ball of tipping material included. http://i144.photobucket.com/albums/r181/jekostas/Hero_zpsa19e7b4f.jpg I quite like the looks, personally. Where it falls down (a little) is the finishing. The cap has a fairly sharp edge at the bottom, and the threading of the section is somewhat rough and some plastic shavings came out when I first removed the section from the body (not a great sign, generally). One last nice point on the finishing is the cap - there's no white plastic inner cap that endemic to low-end Chinese pens, instead the cap has four metal springs that clasp the section when closed and the end cap when posted. The pen posts very securely with no rattle. Size and Weight (6/10): Let's not beat around the bush - this is a very slim pen. The thickest part of the body is 9mm wide, and the body tapers down from just below the centre band to the end cap at 7mm. The section is, of course, very small as well. The thickest part of the section near the body joint is 8mm, and tapers down to 7mm by the chrome clutch rings near the nib. Despite being very skinny, the pen is decently long. Capped, the pen is 133mm long, uncapped 119mm, posted 144mm so at least in length it should fit just about everyone's hand. I don't have a scale to measure the weight, but the pen is (as you could probably imagine) very light. It's comfortable enough to write posted or unposted but let's be honest - you probably don't want to be writing essays with this sucker. It's just too thin. As a quick note-taking pen or something to keep in your cheque-book I imagine it would do very well. Nib Performance (9/10): Now we get to the meat and bones of it. Does the pen write well? I'm happy to say yes, yes it writes extremely well and even has a few surprises up it's sleeve. After a quick rinse with warm water and filled with Higgins Fountain Pen India (a very "wet" ink) the pen started up immediately, and wrote with a smooth, medium-wet line. The nib size is probably somewhere between a Western F and XF and has a reasonably large sweet spot. The feed keeps up well with fast writing (as it should with such a small tip). Full disclosure - the nib was a little scratchy when I first got the pen but about 5 minutes with a little micro-mesh and it's smooth as butter. The tines came perfectly aligned out of the package. Now for the big surprise: There's some line variation! Not a whole lot mind you, but it's definitely there. Check the writing sample below and you'll see some of what I'm talking about. http://i144.photobucket.com/albums/r181/jekostas/Scan0001_zps5eb4a098.jpg http://i144.photobucket.com/albums/r181/jekostas/Flex_zps04e785a0.jpg Paper is sugarcane, ignore the awful handwriting. There is a little feathering visible but that's likely a combination of wet ink and (not great) recycled paper. Filling (8/10): The 369 uses a permanently attached aerometric converter with the metal cover/squeeze bar. I didn't expect it to work well, but I have to say it surprised me - this filler did substantially better than aerometrics I've used in cheap Hero pens in the past like the 266 and 616. It seems to have a shorter breather tube than other Hero pens I've used with aeros, and 3-4 squeezes will fill the sac a good 3/4s full. The feed is reliable and keeps up with fairly fast writing but it will railroad if flexing the nib constantly, a little bit of which can be seen in the sample above. Value (10/10): Did I mention that this pen cost me $1,45 shipped? And that the nib has some flex, it's an aluminum body, with a sprung clip and a (surprisingly usable) aerometric filler? I've used some great low-cost Chinese pens but for me, this one takes the cake. Conclusion (8/10): An absolutely solid pen and very fun. Perhaps a little too thin to use every day but it's super fun to play with. The only negative that I can think of that can't be overlooked for the price is the thinness, but that's a function of the design.
  22. Hi everyone…I have several fountain pens but consider myself a newbie to the fountain pen world. While window shopping on Ebay I have found a few brands of fountain pens that are very cheap. I am referring to Hero, Jinhao and Picasso to name just a few. I looked at the forum for info but am still a bit confused. Are these brands worth trying? If so, are there particular ones that are better than others? For example, the Jinhao 599 and x750 look good but are they? Thanks in advance for your help.
  23. Figured what better way to get into fountain pens than to start inexpensive, fortunately had a couple friends who were able to get me some recommendations on favorable ones. Most were about 10USD or less, the most expensive 'single' pen was the Uranus KSF-301 w/ Box for about 17USD. My favorite of the pack is the Jinhao X750 with the Goulet Extra Fine nib, followed by the Jinhao X450 which I replaced with a Goulet 1.5mm Stub Nib (I put the 2-tone Jinhao M nib from the X450 onto my Nemosine Singularity). On the thin side it's a toss up between the Kaigelu 363 and Jinhao 611. The Hero 616 is probably the least favorite of all the Chinese ones I've tried. Baoer 507 "8 Horse" (one of a three pack I got, I kept the silverish one) http://static.karlblessing.com/pens/intro/baoer_507_8horse.jpg Jinhao 611 in blue, aside from the Hero 616 I have, probably the finest on the nib size I have. http://static.karlblessing.com/pens/intro/Jinhao_611.jpg A Kaigelu 363 and Haushilai 2111, bought them as a pair, I like the Kaigelu better of the two. http://static.karlblessing.com/pens/intro/kaigelu_363_huashilai_2111.jpg A Duke Uranus KSF-301 (~ Medium Partially Hooded Nib) http://static.karlblessing.com/pens/intro/uranus_301_full.jpg Jinhao X450 in "Distressed Black" http://static.karlblessing.com/pens/intro/x450_closenib.jpg Jinhao X750 "Shimmering Sands" with a Goulet 2-tone Extra Fine Nib. Currently my favorite of the chinese pens. http://static.karlblessing.com/pens/intro/x750_ef.jpg Most of them side by side (the non-Chinese ones shown being the Sheaffer Snorkel, Nemosine Singularity, and the unbranded green one in the front) http://static.karlblessing.com/pens/intro/chinese_colection.jpg
  24. We have all heard the saying 'Cheep and Nasty'. Question; is this true when it come to fountain pens. Well yes, in a lot of cases it's easy to say just that. At this point your waiting for a BUT! well I'm not going to disappoint you. Yes in a lot of case, but the 397A is a exception. It true to say as fountain pens go with the 397 you don't get a lot for your money at only 130mm long and 9mm at the widest point, we are not talk big fat Mont Blanc style here, what you do get is a great little pen. http://fountain-pens.co.uk/blog/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/2014-11-11-12.35.15-300x225.jpg http://fountain-pens.co.uk/blog/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/2014-11-11-12.34.48-300x225.jpg The pen its self is a all metal construction in black with a cheque board (lattice) style silver banding, silver clip which is not the strongest in the world but full functional and topped and tailed in chromed metal. Although light weight, 14 grams, it does not feel that way and when posted is remarkable well balanced. The cap is the pull off push on type with a very satisfying click when in place. A really nice point about this pen is when you post the cap it clicks into place... no chance of the cap dropping off. The grip section is in grey with a series of milled bands to help with grip, I didn't notice any extra grip because of them. Remarkable for the price the 397 even comes with a converter rather than the Aerometric filler on most cheaper fountain pens. Nib wise it's, nothing new under the bonnet, a fairly standard fine steel nib. http://fountain-pens.co.uk/blog/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/2014-11-11-12.45.49-300x225.jpg http://fountain-pens.co.uk/blog/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/2014-11-11-12.34.58-300x225.jpg Writing wise, even with the thin barrel I did not fine it uncomfortable, a little scratchy but nothing undue or that couldn't be fixed with a quick grind, the wetness was fine not to dry not to wet, line variation... well no there was none. http://fountain-pens.co.uk/blog/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/2014-11-11-12.34.13-225x300.jpg Over all a nice nice little pen a bit on the light side but very functional with the odd nice touch and for a few pounds or dollars well what can I say. www.fountain-pens.co.uk





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