Hero Haifu 186- Any One Might Tell Me How Is The Pen ?

[Seele]

Ive just realised I was

You were talking about the Prelude, and the Balance clip :D

 

I don't think it particularly looks like the Prelude either, and a bit of digging found that the Prelude was possibly released after the Huafu.

 

Hmmmm... More digging required.

 

Ian

 

Ian,

 

In my video on the pen - which we should call "Wolff" rather than what I consider somewhat spurious "Huafu" - the design was taken straight from Chinese pens made since the 1930s, the only difference between it and its originals are: clad in steel rather than full celluloid, and being C/C rather than being a button filler.

[truthpil]

 

Ian,

 

In my video on the pen - which we should call "Wolff" rather than what I consider somewhat spurious "Huafu" - the design was taken straight from Chinese pens made since the 1930s, the only difference between it and its originals are: clad in steel rather than full celluloid, and being C/C rather than being a button filler.

 

Ohh if only they made a full celluloid version!

[truthpil]

 

Ian,

 

In my video on the pen - which we should call "Wolff" rather than what I consider somewhat spurious "Huafu" - the design was taken straight from Chinese pens made since the 1930s, the only difference between it and its originals are: clad in steel rather than full celluloid, and being C/C rather than being a button filler.

 

For those interesting, here is the video referenced above:

 

[Seele]

 

Ohh if only they made a full celluloid version!

 

Well, Hero - as what Wolff became after a name change - make (or made) the very recent 856 which is pretty much a re-issue of the Golden Star 28, but celluloid gave way to injection moulded thermoplastics. GS 28 are easily found on eBay, but other maker's Type 28, and even Type 26 models should still be available on Taobao.

[truthpil]

 

Well, Hero - as what Wolff became after a name change - make (or made) the very recent 856 which is pretty much a re-issue of the Golden Star 28, but celluloid gave way to injection moulded thermoplastics. GS 28 are easily found on eBay, but other maker's Type 28, and even Type 26 models should still be available on Taobao.

YouTube conveniently took me to your video overview of those pens. I like how they look like vintage German piston fillers and the classic communist-looking star on the nib is kind of cool. Do the nibs on these have any flex?

[Mech-for-i]

YouTube conveniently took me to your video overview of those pens. I like how they look like vintage German piston fillers and the classic communist-looking star on the nib is kind of cool. Do the nibs on these have any flex?

 

The star was on their logo even before the war, so that probably had nothing to do with the communist star but refer to their brand's namesake instead. And no, my experience is that those nibs are pretty normal affair, aka not flex, but depend on vintage and batch they varies in term of writing experience. Other than the old style aerometric converter I think most would get to like the Wolff 186 , its overall a nice vintage style updated with metal body ( and a pretty good one too ) and I like the fact Hero keep everything as simple as possible and not going over the top with trim

[truthpil]

 

Other than the old style aerometric converter I think most would get to like the Wolff 186 , its overall a nice vintage style updated with metal body ( and a pretty good one too ) and I like the fact Hero keep everything as simple as possible and not going over the top with trim

 

Agreed, after looking through all the 26 and 28 pens on Taobao, I think the Wolff 186 beats them all for sturdiness and construction. I'd much rather have a removable converter than a glued on, stain-prone ink sac like one those older pens.

 

If this upcoming vacation ends up truly being such, I hope to write a review on the 186.

[truthpil]

Look what came in the mail today!

 

It definitely has some rough edges and little manufacturing flaws all over the place, but the semi-flex nib feels really nice.

 

[truthpil]

Will the 359 Hero cartridges fit in this pen?

 

The converter is awful and my other Hero converter fits a little too loosely.

[Mech-for-i]

No the 186 will not take any 359 Cart nor any of the wide mouth aka Parker / Aurora / Lamy converter. It use Hero's ( now de facto in many Chinese pens ) own standard 2.6mm opening converter, I had my 186 all retrofitted with them and they've been working fine

[truthpil]

Ok, I did some digging and I guess this pen takes Hero 027 cartridges. The package conveniently says they have a 2.6mm mouth.

Edited December 13, 2017 by TruthPil

[Ian the Jock]

Look what came in the mail today!

 

It definitely has some rough edges and little manufacturing flaws all over the place, but the semi-flex nib feels really nice.

 

Oh yes!

I'm luvvin the look of that.

I'm surprised the modern flex brigade aren't all over these.

 

Mine hasn't arrived yet.

 

Patience boy, patience.

 

Ian

[truthpil]

Oh yes!

I'm luvvin the look of that.

I'm surprised the modern flex brigade aren't all over these.

Mine hasn't arrived yet.

Patience boy, patience.

Ian

Ian,

You'll love this pen! It's also the lightest metal pen I've ever tried. Super light aluminum with a nice brushed feel. I changed inks to one better for flexing so I'll put up more writing samples soon.

[Seele]

Oh yes!

I'm luvvin the look of that.

I'm surprised the modern flex brigade aren't all over these.

 

Mine hasn't arrived yet.

 

Patience boy, patience.

 

Ian

 

Ian,

 

Perhaps it's best kept between us as a secret?

 

Chinese nibs offering any degree of flex is rare; I do not know if the very early ones, such as pre-war examples, have any flex at all, but this nib is certainly a bit of an oddity.

[truthpil]

Indeed, a cartridge filler with some flex is approaching on the miraculous. If you include the fact that I got this in China for under US$4, then this is truly the sweetest deal.

 

I've got to admit though that the nib on my example is not smooth by any means. I'm going to have to examine it with a loupe and see what can be done, but it's just barely tolerable.

Edited December 14, 2017 by TruthPil

[Mech-for-i]

 

Ian,

 

Perhaps it's best kept between us as a secret?

 

Chinese nibs offering any degree of flex is rare; I do not know if the very early ones, such as pre-war examples, have any flex at all, but this nib is certainly a bit of an oddity.

 

LOL ... yeah, let's keep that here ... anyway no such can sway those who only seek the " latest and dearest of toys " or those " just get a vintage XXX " and unfortunately many on this forum are in this kind of mindset.

[Seele]

Indeed, a cartridge filler with some flex is approaching on the miraculous. If you include the fact that I got this in China for under US$4, then this is truly the sweetest deal.

 

I've got to admit though that the nib on my example is not smooth by any means. I'm going to have to examine it with a loupe and see what can be done, but it's just barely tolerable.

 

I bought two, one for myself and one for a friend. As usual I took them all apart for cleaning, examination and upgrade if needed; both nibs could do with a touch of smoothing, and just a couple of minutes fixed the issue. For what it's worth I got mine tuned to the way I personally favour and I certainly have a bit of a struggle to keep it from getting inked continuously.

 

Here's another thought: although both in the Hero group, Wm K Rockman (Guanleming) - based at the Changsu plant - made a direct competitor to the Jiangyin-built Wolff 186, called 961. The 961 seem to be less easy to find these days, while cosmetically similar to the Wolff 186, it is said to have an even more flexible nib. I do not have one but have a couple of 103, the model one or two rungs up the ladder instead. Perhaps I should keep an eye out for one.

[truthpil]

 

I bought two, one for myself and one for a friend. As usual I took them all apart for cleaning, examination and upgrade if needed; both nibs could do with a touch of smoothing, and just a couple of minutes fixed the issue. For what it's worth I got mine tuned to the way I personally favour and I certainly have a bit of a struggle to keep it from getting inked continuously.

 

Here's another thought: although both in the Hero group, Wm K Rockman (Guanleming) - based at the Changsu plant - made a direct competitor to the Jiangyin-built Wolff 186, called 961. The 961 seem to be less easy to find these days, while cosmetically similar to the Wolff 186, it is said to have an even more flexible nib. I do not have one but have a couple of 103, the model one or two rungs up the ladder instead. Perhaps I should keep an eye out for one.

 

Were you able to pull the nib and feed out easily? Mine seem quite stuck and also seem to be sticking out more than they are supposed to. I assume so because there is about a 1mm gap between the section and the end of the "ski slope" on the feed. Looks kind of funny. Since the flow is generous with no hard starts or anything, I haven't bothered with trying to take it apart. I swapped the converter with the plunger type from my Hero 5028 and it works fine, although doesn't hold much ink.

 

Thanks for the tip about the Guanleming 961! Several sellers are still offering them on Taobao, so that will be on my birthday wishlist....Just have to wait until spring....

[Seele]

 

Were you able to pull the nib and feed out easily? Mine seem quite stuck and also seem to be sticking out more than they are supposed to. I assume so because there is about a 1mm gap between the section and the end of the "ski slope" on the feed. Looks kind of funny. Since the flow is generous with no hard starts or anything, I haven't bothered with trying to take it apart. I swapped the converter with the plunger type from my Hero 5028 and it works fine, although doesn't hold much ink.

 

Thanks for the tip about the Guanleming 961! Several sellers are still offering them on Taobao, so that will be on my birthday wishlist....Just have to wait until spring....

 

It was not difficult to pull the nib/feed out of the section, I always use a piece of bicycle tyre inner tube for the purpose. When the feed is pushed all the way in, there should be a small gap on the underside when seen from the side.

 

I recall when I took the nib/feed out of each example there were a few bits of debris hiding inside, and it's also good to check the admittedly very tiny ink channel on the top side of the feed too. As you should know I routinely disassemble even brand new pens for thorough cleaning and inspection for potential issues, and also take the opportunity to get them assembled to a higher degree of precision than what the factory could afford on the assembly line. This also includes dealing with the parting line issue on the section as well.

 

So far I have not used a variety of inks in mine, but the ones I have used, including Waterman Florida and Robert Oster Lake of Fire, all work very well with generous, yet precise flow.

 

By the way, send me a plain 961 and I'll do a head-to-head death match between the 186 and 961

Edited December 14, 2017 by Seele

[Mech-for-i]

Actually a plain GLM-961 is kind of difficult to come by