Jinhao 992 Informal Review

[Sailor Kenshin]

I don't know why people buy Chinese pens when they can get a quality vintage Sheaffer School pen or a good old Parker 45 for $6-10?

We're curious, these look good, and they've gotten a 22-page thread debut!

 

My blue demo is a wonderful writer, and hasn't been de-inked since I got it. The coffee demo has cap cracks but I don't eyedropper, ever, so...

 

Working on the green demo to see if I can get it writing well.

[majorworks]

I can't believe I just perused a 23-page thread on a <$2 plastic Chinese pen. But here I am. I haven't got one but I am intrigued!

 

After searching "Jinhao 992" on eBay, I find that many of the pens now seem to be made with a hooded nib by way of an opaque insert in the section. Has anyone purchased any of these, and if so, what differences do you find in smoothness, flow, etc. vs. the non-hooded variety?

Edited September 13, 2017 by majorworks

[TSherbs]

I can't believe I just perused a 23-page thread on a <$2 plastic Chinese pen. But here I am. I haven't got one but I am intrigued!

 

After searching "Jinhao 992" on eBay, I find that many of the pens now seem to be made with a hooded nib by way of an opaque insert in the section. Has anyone purchased any of these, and if so, what differences do you find in smoothness, flow, etc. vs. the non-hooded variety?

 

worth it! just won another 992 "auction" for 99 cents.

 

There are plenty of both kinds of nibs...isn't the hooded version a finer nib? I don't know anything about them; not my thing.

[bob_hayden]

Other reasons people buy cheap pens:

 

To try a bunch of different inks at once.

 

To give to others who express interest in that funny pen we use;-)

 

For the latter, a new pen might be better received than one 30 years old (that is obviously not a collectors' item;-) Besides, I want to keep my old Sheaffers for ME!

 

I believe the 991 and 992 use the same nibs as the Jinhao plastic Safari clones. I bought a couple of those with the hooded "XF" nib and it wrote the same width as the open one, though not as nicely. For a cheap XF I recommend the Yiren 358 or WingS 3001, both 78G clones.

[wetlines]

FYI the gold colored clip/cap versions are out. Lovin them so far. It comes with a 2 tone colored nib BUT I use them with Zebra G nibs.

 

[truthpil]

 

FYI the gold colored clip/cap versions are out. Lovin them so far. It comes with a 2 tone colored nib BUT I use them with Zebra G nibs.

 

 

 

They look great, thanks for sharing!

I had noticed those for sale on Taobao yesterday. Do they have the same cracking issues as the original 992s?

 

Will you be making a video on how to get the Zebra G nib in there? I'm amazed that the feed keeps up because it wouldn't with even the little Noodler's flex nib I tried in my 992.

[wetlines]

Will you be making a video on how to get the Zebra G nib in there? I'm amazed that the feed keeps up because it wouldn't with even the little Noodler's flex nib I tried in my 992.

 

Zebra G keeps up because is not the original feed. It's an Ackerman feed that has been inserted into a 992. What's great about this hack is that there is no modifications. And the feed is built around the Zebra G. It just so happens to fit perfectly in a 992.

 

More in depth about this on this post. What was used and where to buy:

https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/topic/324910-experiments-with-flex/?p=3922561

Starting at #161

[truthpil]

That's amazing, thanks for the info!!

[JFB]

I've got two amber/coffee demonstrators, one each solid green and black. Both amber demos show cracking at the plug end and the green one, well the green one just decided to crack into about four pieces around the clip last week while safely ensconced in a drawer with it's brethren.

 

I do plan on pulling the plugs on the amber ones and sanding them down. I should have done that a month ago. The cap of the green one might be a loss. The black one is fine so far.

 

I have bought another green one and might pick up another (or more) amber one if I can get them under $1.50 but I do wish they held up a bit better.

 

I like design and the green and amber colors so I'd really like Jinhao to get it right.

 

I did also get a nice mottled green Lorelei and a Wing Sung 9133 which are both very similar and better pens on the whole.

 

I like the cheap pens, I don't have to worry about loss or breakage. I'm more prone to let a non FP person try one out-maybe make a convert..but if they only last a few months is it worth the buck fifty?

 

Someone mentioned the old Shaeffer school pens; I just got one of the ones that replaced them, like I used back in grade school. I think they are just called cartridge pens, it brought back lots of memories. But I want choices-variety is the spice of life!

 

Pax,

John

 

 

[bob_hayden]

The cheapest line of Iowa-made Sheaffers had a chromed metal cap, a (usually see-through) plastic body, and a real nib (not a crimped one like the Reaktor). Originally both ends of the pen were rounded. The next generation had conical ends, and the last generation before the Reaktor had flat ends. The Reaktor cap would fit the old pens but no other parts were interchangeable and the Reaktor did not even take Sheaffer cartridges. With time more choices of opaque plastic parts appeared.

 

Early on the pens cost $1 and the packaging said DOLLAR in big letters so I call them dollar pens. But they could not hold that price forever and so eventually the packaging just said "cartridge pen" which did not distinguish it from many another Sheaffer pen. So I still called them "dollar pens". (I think that was a genre in the fountain pen world log ago as one manufacturer after another tried to meet that price point.)

 

Early on there was a short lived $1.95 pen that was made of soft plastic (cap and body) that did not stand up, and a $2.95 model with a semi-inlaid nib, metal cap, and opaque plastic body. Of the lot, I preferred the $1 pens, though the $2.95 line included a wider array of nibs. I do not know what they were according to Sheaffer, but I have some I would classify as XF and XXF.

 

The $1.95 and $2.95 models seem to have been replaced by the fat No Nonsense and Viewpoint pens which were too fat for me so I have a pile of the $2.95 models and a big pile of the $1 models;-) They seem to last forever and write very well to my taste.

[truthpil]

I keep reading on here that the Sheaffer school pens are still cheap, but I have yet to find one in great shape for under $18.

For that price I could buy a good new pen, or 9 992s!

 

I thought I got a deal on one for $10 on Ebay, but it ended up being in worse shape than the pictures and has a scratchy nib.

Where's everyone getting all these deals on the old Sheaffer pens?

 

---

 

As for the 992, I inked mine up again this week and the cracks at the end of the barrel still haven't grown any in the past few months.

 

Nevertheless, they bother me, so I've switched over to using a Jinhao 165 for all the things the 992 was doing. I can't get any other nibs to fit in my 165, but the stock nib is super smooth and the ink starvation issue it originally had was resolved by changing the converter. Can't beat the solid metal construction and comfortable thickness.

Edited September 24, 2017 by TruthPil

[JFB]

The cheapest line of Iowa-made Sheaffers had a chromed metal cap, a (usually see-through) plastic body, and a real nib (not a crimped one like the Reaktor). Originally both ends of the pen were rounded. The next generation had conical ends, and the last generation before the Reaktor had flat ends. The Reaktor cap would fit the old pens but no other parts were interchangeable and the Reaktor did not even take Sheaffer cartridges. With time more choices of opaque plastic parts appeared.

 

Early on the pens cost $1 and the packaging said DOLLAR in big letters so I call them dollar pens. But they could not hold that price forever and so eventually the packaging just said "cartridge pen" which did not distinguish it from many another Sheaffer pen. So I still called them "dollar pens". (I think that was a genre in the fountain pen world log ago as one manufacturer after another tried to meet that price point.)

 

Early on there was a short lived $1.95 pen that was made of soft plastic (cap and body) that did not stand up, and a $2.95 model with a semi-inlaid nib, metal cap, and opaque plastic body. Of the lot, I preferred the $1 pens, though the $2.95 line included a wider array of nibs. I do not know what they were according to Sheaffer, but I have some I would classify as XF and XXF.

 

The $1.95 and $2.95 models seem to have been replaced by the fat No Nonsense and Viewpoint pens which were too fat for me so I have a pile of the $2.95 models and a big pile of the $1 models;-) They seem to last forever and write very well to my taste.

 

Bob, Thanks for all the information. I belong to the flat top era. IIRC they were $1.75 and included two cartridges of blue ink. They came in many colors with either a F or M nib. (Back then I was firmly in the M family.) They are hardy pens. I ended up having issues with them back then, I think, Because I wasn't cleaning them out properly. I want to track down examples of the various varieties eventually.

 

I keep reading on here that the Sheaffer school pens are still cheap, but I have yet to find one in great shape for under $18.

For that price I could buy a good new pen, or 9 992s!

 

I thought I got a deal on one for $10 on Ebay, but it ended up being in worse shape than the pictures and has a scratchy nib.

Where's everyone getting all these deals on the old Sheaffer pens?

 

 

TruthPil, I just got a really smooth writing flat top one off the 'Bay for $7.95 including shipping. The body was a bit scuffed and the cap had some corrosion on the finish, but it works great. I do love the 992 as well. I have a 165, but for some reason I'm just not that crazy about it. It hasn't been in rotation for a while-I seem to recall it tended to dry out.

 

I did notice the new cartridges don't fit as snugly on the nipple as the old ones.

 

I would like to try an salvage my green 992. Does anyone have any suggestions on the best adhesive to use to try and rebuild the cap?

 

I watched Seele's great video on addressing the plug fix. I also watched a few other 992 related video and I think someone said in one that they'd heard Jinhao has addressed the cracking problem. Does anyone know if this is true?

[bob_hayden]

I had too many of the dollar and $2.95 pens and sold off the excess within the past year or two. I did not get much for them -- $5-8. At least one was NOS in the blister card. There is one of those up for $10 right now. TruthPil, why didn't you bid on mine:-) Every one was tested to see if it wrote properly.

 

Checking current offerings I see that prices are up -- especially asking prices! Checking sold items I see many of those high priced ones do not sell. You might have to watch for a while and possibly make a "best offer" -- many of the pricier ones that did sell sold for less than they were asking.

 

This is also the kind of item for which many of the used ones may be junk. These were very common in their day, and since they seem to last forever, I expect there are huge numbers out there at yard and estate sales. But the folks who funnel stuff from there to eBay rarely know anything about fountain pens so they (the pens) may be clogged with sprung nibs. I look at what else the seller is offering and take heart if it is mostly old fountain pens.

 

As for "scratchy" that is somewhat in the eye of the beholder. Sheaffers do tend to have more tooth than some other brands. I like that as with a pen that feels like I am writing on wet ice my penmanship gets very scrawly. For the Dollar Pens, I am not sure the nibs got polished before leaving the factory and they did sometimes require some breaking in.

 

Get back to me in 50 years and we will see how many of your 9 992s have survived, and how many of my Sheaffers made it to their 100th birthday;-)

 

JFB, my memories mostly match yours. The last new "dollar" pen I bought in a store cost $4.40 maybe 15 years ago. For decades I ran USA Permanent Jet Black in these pens and never cleaned them and never had a problem with ink flow. I was very hard on nibs back then and actually ended up with Sheaffer because the nibs could take it. Still, every day Dollar Pens only lasted me about three years. I agree that the new cartridges are a big step down. Fortunately, I have a hoard of old ones;-)

[TSherbs]

I keep reading on here that the Sheaffer school pens are still cheap, but I have yet to find one in great shape for under $18.

For that price I could buy a good new pen, or 9 992s!

 

I thought I got a deal on one for $10 on Ebay, but it ended up being in worse shape than the pictures and has a scratchy nib.

Where's everyone getting all these deals on the old Sheaffer pens?

 

---

 

As for the 992, I inked mine up again this week and the cracks at the end of the barrel still haven't grown any in the past few months.

 

Nevertheless, they bother me, so I've switched over to using a Jinhao 165 for all the things the 992 was doing. I can't get any other nibs to fit in my 165, but the stock nib is super smooth and the ink starvation issue it originally had was resolved by changing the converter. Can't beat the solid metal construction and comfortable thickness.

 

yeah, I have seen a few little cracks now in mine, but they aren't near the ink, aren't growing, and don't effect writing. In fact, I would not notice them except that conversations here had me look real close.

[Diedre]

I got the newsletter from Goulets, and I'm confused ...

 

Monteverde will release Monza https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/topic/327887-monteverde-monza-rebranded-lingmo-lorelei/

http://www.monteverdepens.com/images/monza_top_banner.jpg

Edited September 27, 2017 by Diedre

[truthpil]

Weird! I wonder how different the price will be.

That absolutely looks like a 992.

[bob_hayden]

They saw that the 992 generated 23 pages of discussion here and decided surely a careful rebranding would make it worth $50;-)

 

Oh, its "only" $20 list, $16 street, a mere 10X the cost of a 992.

Edited September 27, 2017 by bob_hayden

[TSherbs]

 

 

Oh, its "only" $20 list, $16 street, a mere 10X the cost of a 992.

 

you noticed, too

 

[Kelly G]

So, I ordered a box of 15 of the 992's for give away pens. The delivered price was slightly less that $1.60/pen. Fine nibs. Transparent barrels in the full array of colors. Delivery time to the middle of the US was 13 days from order date.

 

I flushed them and filled a couple to see how they performed. So far, so good. I have to say that I was expecting less for this price. I know they are not a robust pen nor likely a long lived pen, but what the heck. If someone shows an interest in fountain pens, I'll have a handful of these in my desk, ready to fill and go with them. If they stick with it, perhaps they'll get a bottle of ink.

[minddance]

Jinhaos are smooth, but do not preserve inks properly. We are looking at 5 days to a week.