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I've purchased a number of Jinhao pens (and a few Baoers) in recent months via eBay. I like the way they write (with one or two exceptions) but they seem to dry out very quickly. (My Parker 51, TWSBI Mini, and Pilot Varsities can go a long time without use and start right up. I haven't even found how long is too long!) Generally, re: my Jinhao's and Baoers: If not used for a day or two, they'll start hard.If not used for 2 or 3 days, they'll need priming (twisting the convertor or running the nib under water)They seem to do a little better when stored horizontally rather than vertically.No, it's not an issue of the ink "sticking" to the rear of the converter because I've gotten into the habit of shaking them downward before use.I don't think it's a broken inner lid--they still have a satisfying snap when opening and closing. I also opened one to verify and the inner cap was fine. So, is this merely the reality of cheap pens not sealing particularly well? I've seen some folks talking about the converters being (partly?) to blame. Can y'all advise and help me improve this issue? Thanks! Dylan Postscript: I'm using Jinhao x450s, x750s, 159, and Baoer 801, 508.

I just received one of the New Goulet Pens black nibs in the mail (this one is a 1.1)! I threw it onto my Jinhao X750, loaded up some Private Reserve Ebony Blue, and did a quick test on some Kokuyo Sarasara paper. What can I say? This is one excellent nib. I usually have to do a bit of tuning with JoWo nibs, but this one is perfect right out of the box (or rather the tiny zip lock bag). Crsip, true to size lines with a nice even flow. A good looking nib that writes really well and costs $10 less than the Monteverde black stub nib. I'm a happy customer! I was so excited to try out this nib that I didn't even dilute the Ebony Blue. Usually it shows up as a blue/green/black, but without dilution it just looks black. Oh well, I'll just write a ton with this pen and fill it back up with some properly diluted Ebony Blue.

Just sharing pic of nib on a silver X750. Took about a minute to swap it out. Pretty tight fit. Now just need to work on the flow of ink.

Hello, I am new to the world of fountain pens. I've recently bought a couple of Jinhao X750 pens. Those two were the last ones in stock. I'd like to add some more to my collection but not able to find any shop selling them. I've checked online as well. Online shops sell them at a much higher price (At a retailer a x750 costs around 250/- but online shops sell them for around 600-1200/- each). Does anybody know shops in mumbai which sell Jinhao pens?

Hi all I noticed that for many Jinhao and other Chinese makes, for the same model, the price can be $1,$3 ... $10. For those who sampled the offerings at various price points, does the price correlates with quality/defects/etc? Cheers, Erez

Jinhao is popular chinese FP brand. They offer also ink in cartridges in five colors: black, blue, brown, green and red. I must say these inks are really well behaved, saturated and rather nice. I don't think that Jinhao produces their inks, they just label other manufacturer's inks. I lack knowledge to judge which ones? I would be interested to know, so if you happen to possess some knowledge / insight on chinese ink market, I'd love to hear it. What's cool is the fact they sell mix of cartridges so that you can try few colors for less money. Also the price is really low (1 $ shipped), so you don't risk anything. Brown has nice flow and is well behaved in every way. The color has too much red to my taste though. Ink splash Ink on kitchen towel Software ID Tomoe River, Kaweco Classic Sport, B Leuchtturm1917, Kaweco Classic Sport, B Lyreco, Kaweco Classic Sport, B Comparison

Recently, my parents have said that If I get straight a's, I will get $100 to spend on pens. Right now, my pre-prepared cart on goulet has a rhodia dotpad, a jinhao 159+ goulet nib, a faber-castell basic, and a twsbi eco. I was thinking of replacing one of the pens to buy some more ink, as all I have now is noodler's black and a set of black-cap winsor and newton inks that I don't trust. If I had to get rid of a pen, which should I get rid of?

Jinhao is popular chinese FP brand. They offer also ink in cartridges in five colors: black, blue, brown, green and red. I must say these inks are really well behaved, saturated and rather nice. I don't think that Jinhao produces their inks, they just label other manufacturer's inks. I lack knowledge to judge which ones? I would be interested to know, so if you happen to possess some knowledge / insight on chinese ink market, I'd love to hear it. What's cool is the fact they sell mix of cartridges so that you can try few colors for less money. Also the price is really low (1 $ shipped), so you don't risk anything. Red is really nice and saturated red color. I would buy a bottle if only it was available in the bottle. Ink splash Ink on kitchen towel Software ID Tomoe River, Kaweco Classic Sport, B Leuchtturm1917, Kaweco Classic Sport, B Comparison

Jinhao is popular chinese FP brand. They offer also ink in cartridges in five colors: black, blue, brown, green and red. I must say these inks are really well behaved, saturated and rather nice. I don't think that Jinhao produces their inks, they just label other manufacturer's inks. I lack knowledge to judge which ones? I would be interested to know, so if you happen to possess some knowledge / insight on chinese ink market, I'd love to hear it. What's cool is the fact they sell mix of cartridges so that you can try few colors for less money. Also the price is really low (1 $ shipped), so you don't risk anything. Green has nice flow and is well behaved in every way but I dislike the color. Ink splash Ink on kitchen towel Software ID Tomoe River, Kaweco Classic Sport, B Leuchtturm1917, Kaweco Classic Sport, B Lyreco, Kaweco Classic Sport, B Rhodia, Waterman Hemisphere, F Water resistance Comparison

Hi fountain pen lovers, I've just posted a review on Youtube about issues I've had with Jinhao X750 pens and what I think of them. Here is the link : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uXJd6JUHX3s Cheers! John

I have a few 886s and give them away to people who express an interest in my fountain pens. Has anyone found replacement/alternative nibs for the 886? The nib is small, not #6, but I am not sure what. I enjoy writing with these pens, but would like to have a source for nibs in a range of line widths. Would appreciate your ideas and experience.

I've already ordered this beautiful Jinhao pen, since I think it looks stunning. I have no idea about its quality, but for the price I payed, I'm willing to take the risk. However, I'm curious what other people are saying about this model, but I wasn't able to proper identify it. On AliExpress it was listed as Jinhao Ceramic Cloisonne, but I haven't found too many references outisde AliExpress, so I'm guessing I do not have its exact name. Can anyone recognize it? http://i.imgur.com/xMtf5Rm.jpg http://i.imgur.com/w18inA7.jpg

I was wondering about super flex nibs so i both a pack of G nibs and tried it on my Jinhao x450 and x740 and i must say i was quite surprised with the results, i am attaching a scanned page and a picture of the pens, the feed did keep up, but if you write fast than i am sure the feed will have trouble. i must say that once installed it is very very hard to get it out. i have used black n red notebook paper, which for me is really really good, it is as good as rhodia.

The main Jinhao pens, 159, x450, x750, and many other Chinese pens come fitted with M steel #6 nibs. I have lots of stock Chinese pens and I am looking to upgrade some with #6 gold nibs. Who sells #6 gold nibs? EF, F, M, B and 1.1 but particularly F. I'd consider new or used, provided they are 14k or more gold and in good working order. I realize gold isn't necessarily a better nib material than steel, but I have ton of these pens and I want some variety in the nibbage. I've tried Google. Any ideas?

I got a Jinhao X250 yesterday, after a long waiting for about two months. In fact, I always thought that I would never get the packet, but voila, there it came to my mailbox yesterday. It came with a simple envelope with a layer of bubble wrap inside. To my disappointment is that this kind if "protection" didn't really protect my pen; there is a scratch (or a nick) on the finial of the barrel during the shipping Oh, well. Can't really complain, because I paid for only IDR. 75,000 (equivalent to US$ 5) with free shipping. This is quite a heavy pen (36 grams) and i like the weight on my palm. I enjoy heavy pens with the cap posted, but not for a long writing session. The cap itself is pretty heavy, so it will put the balance off the barrel. I tried to ink it, but i found that the converter didn't really work. The suction pressure is not enough to pull the ink up, and I only got little ink inside. My disappontment seemed to add up when I found that the ink dripped from the nib. I can conclude that there is a quality control problem in this particular pen. I have changed it with a Hero aerometric converter, which can hold more ink than the Jinhao cartridge. It is a standard international converter, so it fit the pen perfectly. This pen has a medium nib (smooth, I can say), and it puts wet ink to the paper, which i like from a fountain pen. Am I satisfied: -with the pen in general? Yes -with the quality control? No -with the price? Yes Will I order some more? Definitely

Hello Everyone, I've been looking through this site for many years but only gained the courage to join today I went to a school from ages 9-13 where use of a fountain pen was compulsory. The pen of the day was Parker - but I don't remember owning one at that age. Biros were banned from the school. I quite liked that we had to use a fountain pen. Back then, it was one of the things that set us apart from other local state schools along with having to wear a uniform and learn a musical instrument. I've been fussy about stationery ever since, but only linked my nerdy relationship to pens and paper back to my middle school very recently. I like to have the perfect pens, the perfect inks and the perfect writing pads - perfect for me that is! I don't mind others using different stationery and I don't dictate. I don't need to own an expensive pen to enjoy writing with a fountain pen. Currently, I have some fantastic Chinese pens (Duke Ruby & Jinhao Bookworm Celluloid fountain pens), a lovely Cross Beverley White and a decadent Grifos Cappuccino. I like highly pigmented inks, so my blacks would be Aurora or Lamy. However, I prefer purples/violets though and I'm currently enjoying Diamine Shimmer Purple Pazazz in my Cross & Grifos pens and Private Reserve Tanzanite in my Duke Ruby. When I'm unable to write with a fountain pen (I often have to write on self duplicating paper) I revert to gel ink pens because of the depth of colour of the ink. My writing pads for home and work are A4 Black n Red Wirebound 90gsm notebooks. I don't really have a problem with the ink seeping through to the other side of the page. Now that I've exposed the true extent of my nerdiness, I'll sign off. Many thanks!

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.

My obsession with fountain pens began with a 25 cent Wearever circa 1954, but really took hold in junior high school when I purchased one of the first Parker 45 convertibles in 1961, which I still have. In the intervening years I've owned a lot of Parkers: 45, 51, 61, 75 and lost, replaced and repaired those a couple of times. These were follwed by a couple of Scheaffer's, two Watermann's with 18K nibs (neither of which I like, and never use), a couple of Aurora's, Namiki, Cross, and Pelikans of various models and price points. My two favorites have been that Parker 45 and a Pelikan M200, until about two weeks ago. I saw something online about the Pilot Metropolitan. I hadn't bought a fountain pen in several years but why not I thought. It was under $20. And now I find myself utterly entranced again. I am in love with this pen! I've been glued to Youtube videos and pen sites ever since. I never realized that I could actually fiddle with my pens to adjust them to me. Who knew there are so many cheap pens that are so excellent and there are so many people online who also write exclusively with fountain pens. In the last 72 hours, I've purchased a Jinhao 450, Serwex 1362, and a Noodler's Ahab Flex based upon those videos and sites and the information I've learned. I've also bought extra nibs and ebonite feed, and a pilot converter for the Metropolitan, and spent less money for all of that than I did for one of those Watermann's I hate! I'm looking forward to receiving each and playing with all of them.

Hi people, now you can get your KK Render Ks and refills at Jet Pens! Their blog (really a news feed) is good to keep up with. http://static1.jetpens.com/images/a/000/078/78635.jpg http://www.jetpens.com/blog http://www.jetpens.com/Karas-Kustoms-Render-K-Pen-Copper/pd/14680 Also, they are now carrying the quality Kokuyo-Bizrack-Bag-in-Bag organizers which are a great way of carrying notebooks, etc in your backpack, etc. http://static1.jetpens.com/images/a/000/078/78103.jpg http://www.jetpens.com/Kokuyo-Bizrack-Bag-in-Bag/ct/2642

A 2014 video on transforming an inexpensive standard steel nib into a cursive italic stub, produced by Nathan Tardif of Noodler's Ink, suggested a hacking experiment with the nibs of Jinhao 599 pens. The pens are currently available on eBay for $2 or less. I started with a Jinhao 599 with a Medium nib because this particular pen uses a more traditional nib with a slightly longer body and tines, unlike the more modern-looking nib on Fine versions of the 599. The investment in materials, tools, and equipment totals about $10, so there is very little risk involved. The question behind the experiment is: Can a rank amateur lop off the tip from a medium nib on a Jinhao 599 and make it write fairly well -- or, more ambitious -- make it write smoothly? To my great surprise, the answer is yes. Another contributor to the Fountain Pen Network, Ian the Jock, has confirmed the experiment with a $2 Baoer pen. I've tried this technique twice now -- the first time with a Jinhao x450, sometimes available for $1, shipped from China (!) I accidentally lopped off too much of the Jinhao x450 no. 6 nib, resulting in a 1.7 mm cursive italic stub. It was rather broad, but still wrote well. For people who like to learn on Chinese pens and try other types of nibs, there is very little stopping us. Resources and results of the experiment are posted below. Nathan Tardif's Nib Transformation Video The Method Using a pair of diagonal cutters, lop off the tip of the nib. In Tardif's video, he just does it by sight. Place 2000-grit wet-dry automotive abrasive paper on a hard surface and smooth off all the external sharp edges. It only takes a few strokes. Then pick up each tine and use the abrasive paper to make a couple of light passes on the inner surface of the tines. Ensure the tines are aligned, and the gap between tines is moderate. A 10x loupe is essential for this. A separate video, by Brian Gray of Edison Pen Company, is helpful here, as are notes available on Richard Binder's website. http://www.richardspens.com/pdf/workshop_notes.pdf Brian Gray's Nib Alignment Video The Nib and Pen A Writing Sample

There was quite a lot of hype about this ink. I had to check it myself. To be honest I'm not really Diamine ink fan. They offer nice range of shades yet many of nice looking inks (Ancient Copper, Kelly Green, Orange, Pumpkin to name just few) can cause unpleasant and unexpected troubles (massive nib creep, clogging). Anyway I still use them but in cheaper pens. As I'm huge fan of everything that has some orange to it, I had to check Autumn Oak. I must say I'm impressed. The ink is really nice and it behaves very well on various papers and doesn't cause any harm to the pens filled with it. Autumn Oak is awesome. That's it ladies & gentleman. Totally awesome. http://imageshack.com/a/img539/6649/E2nqlj.jpg DRY TIME http://imageshack.com/a/img631/3081/cMP8yf.jpg WATERPROOFNESS http://imageshack.com/a/img908/4233/68xttH.jpg CALENDAR http://imageshack.com/a/img674/8651/tJZOnW.jpg http://imageshack.com/a/img674/6002/pVniTs.jpg http://imageshack.com/a/img538/4999/CrIbcz.jpg Rhodia http://imageshack.com/a/img902/3315/fiaw73.jpg http://imageshack.com/a/img674/2023/m99Nix.jpg LYRECO http://imageshack.com/a/img539/4372/xXGMXO.jpg http://imageshack.com/a/img908/7476/qO49e1.jpg Apache Sunset (upper triangle, horizontal lines)) vs Autumn Oak (bottom triangle, vertical lines) http://imageshack.com/a/img910/8537/iD3sKk.jpg http://imageshack.com/a/img903/3151/GjzPAC.jpg

Hello folks, I purchased a Jinhao X750 and a Jinhao X450. Both are giving me similar problems. Basically, with the X750, I wrote approximately two pages and all the ink in the converter was gone. It gushes like crazy and writes down a thick inky line that takes forever to dry due to the sheer amount of ink laid down. It also sometimes lays down blobs of ink randomly. Now I have taken out the feed and put it back in so its snug and correctly placed, I have flushed the pen before using it, and I have changed converters to see if that was an issue. All to no avail. I like the design of these pens so I would like to use them. Any solutions out there? Thanks!

I want to buy a Jinhao X450 on WHITE. I ordered one from beyond the big seas and never arrived. It cost $1.99 and supposedly delivered in 20-30 days, but what I lost was my time which is priceless. I only want the white one since I have the X750 in black,red, and with shiny dots.... (ugly) and they are almost the same. It looks like a beauty in white. Of course, I would prefer someone that delivers at least in a week.

A few months ago now, I did a review of the black metal version of the Jinhao 599 - a pen which, for the price, was not only of surprisingly good quality but also a very comfortable writer. It was provided to me for free by Kevin of JustWrite pens (www.JustWrite.com.au), in return for a review. Two weeks ago, the plastic versions of the same pen became available from his store - and I was so excited at the look of them that I decided to order several (and yes, I paid full price for them!). Look and feel: Two weeks on, I have to say I LOVE these pens. The colours are vibrant, the plastic is cheap but I don't find it nasty (!); and I especially like the translucent colours (smoke-coloured, 'amber' and blue). I know this is a matter of personal preference, but I much prefer the clips on these pens to the Lamy Safari they emulate - that, and the fact that they'll take standard international cartridges, are two significant 'pluses' for these pens. [Add to that the fact that a cartridge converter comes standard - with a Lamy Safari, you're paying $5-10 extra). The plastic pens are lighter than the metal pen - but I like both options. All the different varieties post securely - though the metal pen becomes more noticeably back-heavy when doing so. The following is a 'sample' of the different varieties available - metal on top, then solid plastic, translucent plastic, and hooded nib varieties: http://i.imgur.com/R6aUl1P.jpg Nib Options: As you'll see from the photo above (and below), the Jinhao pen comes with three different nib options. The metal variety comes with a flatter nib, and a proprietary feed that mimics the Safari (I think) - though it's fairly easy to remove from the grip section. On the JustWrite website there are pictures of plastic 599s with the same flat nib, but all of mine came with the curved nibs you see in the photos. Then there's the hooded nib - or as a fourth option (which I passed on), you can buy a 599 rollerball pen. http://i.imgur.com/ixhb3pD.jpg Aesthetically, I probably like the distinctive nib on the metal 599 best - maybe because it's the most similar to a Lamy nib? [No, as far as I can tell, they're not interchangeable with Lamy!]. I also like the fact that it lays down a fairly fine line. The curved nibs look fairly similar to the #5 nibs you'll find on some other Jinhao pens - though as with the rest of the Jinhao range, I'm not convinced by the 18KGP markings! So far I've found all of these nibs to write very smoothly, and to lay a fine-to-medium line. The hooded nib pen, to me, looks ugly - I'm not a fan of the black plastic casing that holds them into the grip section, and wonder if Jinhao would have been smarter to match the casing to the colour of the pen. The big advantage of these nibs, though, is the smooth fine line they produce (very much in my 'sweet spot'!), and the fact that hooded nibs TEND to be less prone to ink dry-out (though I've yet to confirm that). For AU$6.99, these pens are a fantastic buy - yes, I know you can buy them cheaper online, but I prefer to support my 'local' online business! - and I really don't think you can go wrong. The one downside is the fact that there are no nib-size options - you get what you get with these pens. However... Interchangeability For me, this was the most exciting thing about the plastic pens: when I pulled the nib and feed out of one of them, I immediately noticed that the feed on the pen is identical (yes, IDENTICAL) to the feed in my Dilli pens from Fountain Pen Revolution: http://i.imgur.com/8JhYY7Q.jpg Dilli nib and feed on top; Jinhao nib and feed on bottom Which means, in theory at least, that the nibs for these pens should be interchangeable - and that's great news, because Fountain Pen Revolution sell a range of inexpensive nibs (and I have plenty of spares) for US$3-7. But are they interchangeable in practice? Umm... Well... Yes, and no. If you look at the above picture, you'll see that the wings on the FPR nib are a little wider - and that makes it a bit of a squeeze, trying to fit these nibs into the 599 housing. It's doable - and the one time I installed a flex nib it seemed to work really well! - but I've found the nibs won't push in as far as I'd like. The flow is fine, once you get it started, but the distance between the end of the feed and the end of the nib seems to increase the incidence of hard starts. In one pen, the nib sat 'proud' enough that it prevented the cap from sealing properly, too - maybe I could have rammed the nib in harder, but I didn't want to risk damaging the grip section (I know, I know, only $7 - but I'm a cheapskate!). Even so, I thought it was worth reporting the above findings - I love the FPR nibs, but have not been overly thrilled with the Dilli pens (too hard to clean), and find that some of the other cheaper pens they sell are prone to dry-out. So here is another use for the nibs that came with my Dilli (and Serwex 101) pens. Also, I thought this might prompt others to have a go, with #5 nibs that YOU have laying around - and let me know if you find a better alternative.

I have a Jinhao 250. The band script on the cap says "Jinhao" in cursive on one side and "250 碳素型" on the other side. I can translate the Chinese characters as saying "carbon model" but I can't figure out what exactly that refers to. Is this just a name for the model of the pen, the particular design, or something to do with the materials used? As far as I can tell it looks and feels like brass. Could it just be something like the nib script where it says that it's 18KGP but isn't really gold plated? Similarly could this just say carbon to imply a different material, but isn't.