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Using A Jinhao Feed In An Edison Collier


GalaxyLaughing

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Hey, I thought I'd post this here because when I went looking for any information on this (admittedly very specific) topic I couldn't find anything. Anyway, I have a Jinhao 159 and an Edison Collier. The Edison had some issues with hard starts and the flow wasn't as wet as I'd like it. I tried switching it's broad nib into my Jinhao, and it worked perfectly, no issues, so I figured the problem was with the Edison's feed rather than the nib.

 

So I looked around to see if I could switch the feed from the Jinhao into the Edison, but feed switching is apparently not a very popular topic lol. I tried it, though, and it totally worked. It fits perfectly!

 

So in case anyone else happens to have the same question (out of millions of people I can't be the only one, right??), I'm posting it here. I have some pictures of the Jinhao feed in the Edison, and some writing samples (none of before the switch, sorry).

 

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If your Edison has having a hard time writing, I would have contacted Brian at Edison Pens and gotten the problem fixed that way, instead of putting a crappy Jinhao feed into your Edison pen. Sorry to say, but, installing a Jinhao feed into a handmade Edison pen is kind of a crime, in my opinion!!!:):)

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Maybe, yeah. I didn't buy it directly from them, though, I got it from Goulet. I don't know that that makes a difference. Looking at the two feeds, well, I can't take a picture of the Jinhao feed now, but it's pretty simple? I don't know much about how this stuff works. But it looks simple and well-made, whereas the Edison feed... this beautiful pen deserves a better feed than this wonky thing. Maybe I just ended up with a unusually good Jinhao feed.

 

I can understand why you'd cringe, though. A Jinhao is basically dirt-cheap and an Edison is like a little work of art.

 

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Edited by GalaxyLaughing
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As the current/previous owner of around 20+ Jinhaos/Heros and 20+ German nibs that typically go in Edisons, I would much rather have the Jinhao nib and feed any day.

Why? Because they're more reliable and they write better. The proof is in the pudding, and that's all that matters.

Jinhaos are made for people who actually write with them, Edisons aren't - they're just a pretty barrel with a generic nib that may or may not write.

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As the current/previous owner of around 20+ Jinhaos/Heros and 20+ German nibs that typically go in Edisons, I would much rather have the Jinhao nib and feed any day.

Why? Because they're more reliable and they write better. The proof is in the pudding, and that's all that matters.

Jinhaos are made for people who actually write with them, Edisons aren't - they're just a pretty barrel with a generic nib that may or may not write.

I'm curious how many Edisons you actually own or have owned? I have several and they all are more than "a pretty barrel with a generic nib that may or may not write." All of mine write exceptionally well, no hesitation, no skipping, no drying issues.

 

On the other hand, the Jinhaos I have (159, X450, 992) don't begin to perform as well.

Given that I paid an order of magnitude less for the Jinhaos, I don't mind their performance characteristics.

 

And, I cannot agree with your statement that Edisons are not made for people who actually write with them; that seems a bit presumptuous on your part.

May we live, not by our fears but by our hopes; not by our words but by our deeds; not by our disappointments but by our dreams.

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As the current/previous owner of around 20+ Jinhaos/Heros and 20+ German nibs that typically go in Edisons, I would much rather have the Jinhao nib and feed any day.

Why? Because they're more reliable and they write better. The proof is in the pudding, and that's all that matters.

Jinhaos are made for people who actually write with them, Edisons aren't - they're just a pretty barrel with a generic nib that may or may not write.

 

Jinhao pens in my experience are pretty variable 'out of the box' (out of the plastic sleeve more like ;) ), and they're too prone (for my liking) to ink drying out in the nib. I don't own any Edison pens, but have two of their nibs, and they're great: yes, they use generic JoWo nibs with a custom imprint, but they also custom tune them before sending them out into the world. Some of the other companies I've bought pens with German nibs seem to just whack them in without checking them - hence your negative experience? You may still get the occasional bum nib or feed that somehow slips through Edison's QC cracks, but I think your characterisation of their pens and nibs is grossly unfair.

 

@GalaxyLaughing, Goulet Pens are an authorised reseller for Edison Pens. I'd contact them with your issue first - if they can't help you resolve it, they'll get on to Edison Pens for you. Brian Gray stands 100% behind his products, though (another difference from a Jinhao pen bought over ebay!), and they'll work with you to make it right.

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Coming back to the original topic: I haven't tried swapping a Jinhao feed into an Edison / JoWo pen, but I'm not altogether surprised to discover the feeds are interchangeable. You certainly won't be harming your pen by swapping in the cheaper feed, especially if the original is defective - but I'd still advise reaching out to the retailer letting them know you've had a problem. Small inconsistencies in the fit of the feed within the grip section may (or may not!) manifest themselves in variable flow etc further down the track - even though your present experience is basically positive.

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And, I cannot agree with your statement that Edisons are not made for people who actually write with them; that seems a bit presumptuous on your part.

 

Exactly as presumptuous as saying it's somehow a "crime" to put a "crappy" Jinhao feed in an Edison pen, even though it will almost certainly work with zero issues. Injection molded plastic is injection molded plastic.

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Exactly as presumptuous as saying it's somehow a "crime" to put a "crappy" Jinhao feed in an Edison pen, even though it will almost certainly work with zero issues. Injection molded plastic is injection molded plastic.

 

Can we agree that maybe both of these statements are extreme? My concern with this kind of 'swappage' is twofold: one, JoWo and Edison's QC is, as a general rule, likely to be a little (a lot?) more rigorous than Jinhao's (it had better be, for the extra $$$!); and (2) any small differences between the Jinhao and JoWo feeds may result in inconsistencies in flow.

 

That said, if a Jinhao feed works better in your Edison pen, more power to you! If I damage the feeds on any of my JoWo nib units, I'll probably try this myself...

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Exactly as presumptuous as saying it's somehow a "crime" to put a "crappy" Jinhao feed in an Edison pen, even though it will almost certainly work with zero issues. Injection molded plastic is injection molded plastic.

Well, I can’t disagree with that, but let’s be clear that I didn’t call anything a crime, that was someone else. And I believe that statement was a bit tounge in cheek. Nevertheless, I’ve always followed the “it is your pen, do as you wish with it” maxim.

May we live, not by our fears but by our hopes; not by our words but by our deeds; not by our disappointments but by our dreams.

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I'm curious how many Edisons you actually own or have owned? I have several and they all are more than "a pretty barrel with a generic nib that may or may not write." All of mine write exceptionally well, no hesitation, no skipping, no drying issues.

 

On the other hand, the Jinhaos I have (159, X450, 992) don't begin to perform as well.

Given that I paid an order of magnitude less for the Jinhaos, I don't mind their performance characteristics.

 

And, I cannot agree with your statement that Edisons are not made for people who actually write with them; that seems a bit presumptuous on your part.

Zero Edisons but that's irrelevant. I've owned probably about 6/7 Lamy, 10 Bock, 2 Pelikan, and about 8 or 9 Jowo. Edison are Jowo nibs that have been 'tweaked' by Brian, but there is only so much you can polish a <bleep>, especially with a feed that bad. It's never going to become a Sailor or something decent. If Edisons were made more for writing than for gifts and display, they would at least put half decent nibs in them to match the quality of the barrels rather than going for the classic corner-cutting Walmart style choice of Jowo and Bock.

I don't doubt for one second that Mr Edison doesn't take utmost care and have passion for his work, though, but he's showcasing his barrels above all else.

 

Once flushed Jinhaos are great, and rarely have the issues of magnitude so prevalent in the above. They're made for a population that actually write with them, and that's the important point.

 

Jinhao pens in my experience are pretty variable 'out of the box' (out of the plastic sleeve more like ;) ), and they're too prone (for my liking) to ink drying out in the nib. I don't own any Edison pens, but have two of their nibs, and they're great: yes, they use generic JoWo nibs with a custom imprint, but they also custom tune them before sending them out into the world. Some of the other companies I've bought pens with German nibs seem to just whack them in without checking them - hence your negative experience? You may still get the occasional bum nib or feed that somehow slips through Edison's QC cracks, but I think your characterisation of their pens and nibs is grossly unfair.

I've mentioned briefly above about some of the points here, but the drying out issues has been discussed before a few times I recall. The alleged common factor in drying out appears to be the C/C system rather than anything specific to Jinhao. I don't think I'm being unfair at all.

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Zero Edisons but that's irrelevant. I've owned probably about 6/7 Lamy, 10 Bock, 2 Pelikan, and about 8 or 9 Jowo. Edison are Jowo nibs that have been 'tweaked' by Brian, but there is only so much you can polish a <bleep>, especially with a feed that bad. It's never going to become a Sailor or something decent. If Edisons were made more for writing than for gifts and display, they would at least put half decent nibs in them to match the quality of the barrels rather than going for the classic corner-cutting Walmart style choice of Jowo and Bock.

I don't doubt for one second that Mr Edison doesn't take utmost care and have passion for his work, though, but he's showcasing his barrels above all else.

 

I think we'll have to disagree on this: I have quite a few JoWo nibs, and they're almost without exception good-to-great writers. The two Edison nib assemblies I bought really are smoother than their comparable 'generic' compatriots, though. If you've never used one, you're talking completely out of ignorance - but hey, why let that stop you?

 

Bock and JoWo supply nibs to a significant portion of the market, and do so in one of three ways: (1) custom designed to specification (e.g. Diplomat pens, which until recently I assumed were Bock nibs, but apparently they're supplied by JoWo); (2) generic nibs that get shoved into a pen body by the pen manufacturer and shipped out to the end user (think most Kickstarter pens, for starters!); and (3) generic nibs (possibly custom branded) that the pen manufacturer adjusts to their (or their buyer's) tastes. This is what companies like Edison, Newton, Ryan Krusac (I think) and others do. Again, you're entitled to your view, but I don't believe *any* of these guys design their pens to be admired from afar - they put effort into adjusting the nibs because they want the writing experience to be great, and they stand behind their products. How many Jinhao pens have you sent back to Jinhao for adjustments to flow or smoothness?

 

To be fair, I think it's also worth pointing out that the nib assemblies cost US$25 (while bare JoWo nibs cost around US$15) - so it's the pen bodies that account for the bulk of the price - but I'd say it's *un*fair to say he's "cutting corners" by using JoWo or Bock nibs.

 

Once flushed Jinhaos are great, and rarely have the issues of magnitude so prevalent in the above. They're made for a population that actually write with them, and that's the important point.

 

I've mentioned briefly above about some of the points here, but the drying out issues has been discussed before a few times I recall. The alleged common factor in drying out appears to be the C/C system rather than anything specific to Jinhao. I don't think I'm being unfair at all.

 

I've rarely had a problem with a Jinhao nib - they're surprisingly smooth for the price - but I find their #6 nibs either too broad or too fine for my tastes (I tend to prefer EFs or stubs), and they only seem to come in one size. *That's* a Walmart approach if anything is!

 

I think the ink dryout problem has more to do with caps that don't seal properly than the C/C system - but that may also be a factor.

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The two Edison nib assemblies I bought really are smoother than their comparable 'generic' compatriots, though.

 

Smoothness is not a definition of quality. If you're basing your judgement on that, then everything following that is going to be wrong.

Edited by Bluey
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Smoothness is not a definition of quality. If you're basing your judgement on that, then everything following that is going to be wrong.

 

Sure - but my "better writing experience" (subjective experience, acknowledged!) in terms of smoothness, ink flow etc, is to my mind a reflection of the additional care that goes into "tweaking" these nibs before putting them out for sale. And I can at least say that I've had the experience of writing with a custom-tweaked nib from Edison Pens. If you're basing your perception of Edison's business practices on "from a distance" speculation and no first-hand experience, everything that follows is a product of your imagination :) .

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I own four #6 JoWo nibs from EF to B (one from Edison, three from FPnibs) and several Jinhao pens (X750, X450, 159, 599, 922, 500). All my JoWo nibs outperform all my Jinhaos by a large margin.

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I've swapped about ten JoWo #6 nibs into Jinhao 159s and 750s. In some cases I left the existing Jinhao feed in, and in others I replaced the Jinhao feed with the JoWo one.

 

The two best writers have the original Jinhao feed, hands down.

 

That doesn't prove much, of course, and in any case there's a caveat: It's hard to tell the difference between the other pens, which are half-and-half Jinhao or JoWo feeds.

 

But when all's said and done, I, as a Brit, support the OP's right to stick a Chinese feed into an American tube to support a German nib.

 

And one, final, ill-considered point: I'm not at all sure that JoWo manufactures feeds at all. It may be that their international distributor, WIN, sources feeds elsewhere before sending the whole caboodle to penmakers and nib/feed retailers. Though I could be talking through the back of my neck.

Edited by lurcho
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I interchange all my #6 nibs and do so on various pens. For pens that use nib-unit housings, the feed stays with the housing with one exception. When I'm using a #6 FPR flex nib in my Collier, as I am now, I use a generic #6 feed like the kind that came with my Jinhao pens, my Conklin Duragraph, and my Nemosine Singularity. The Edison feed won't fit in the housing with the FPR flex nib. A generic feed will. And by the way, this system doesn't result in any flow issues. The flex nib works normally, the flow is normal, in the Collier with a generic feed.

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I love the smell of fountain pen ink in the morning.

 

 

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