Baoer Fountain pen

[s_t_e_v_e]

Hi All,

 

 

This pen made its way into my collection when my pen collection hobby was nascent. It was one of my unplanned pen purchases since that was the first time I had seen it. It was love at frist sight. The gleeming black lacquer cap and barrel and chrome trims complement each other wonderfully. (don't you think so??? )

 

Coming to the facts about this pen (only things that I know), the pen has its roots in China. I had never heard of this company "BAOER" earlier but came across the name in one of the other pen site (dont remember which one) which said that it's Chinese. It was a happy realization since indigenous Chinese products and quality seemed two totally mutually disjoined entities to me (with a few exceptions though).

 

The pen is very heavy since it is an all metal pen. Even the nib section is only partly(grip area) plastic. For my hand size, the pen feels substantial and balanced. Writing with the pen posted is a bit uncomfortable and makes it feel off-balance.

 

The pen has an all tranparent screw type converter with a capacity no different than a sheaffer or parker standard converter.

 

The nib of the pen is medium, all steel and so called nail-like. However, it writes very smooth and wet.

 

Overall, I found it to be a good deal and I am very satisfied with its performance. Its a cheap pen with looks of an expensive pen. Very few pen manufacturers bundle such good featuers into an inexpensive pen. The frontier in the pic is three times the Baoer's price. But the Baoer takes the cake because of its looks and performance.

 

Please let me know your experiences, if any, with the Baoer........

 

Regards,

Steve.

 

[Blackhill]

I have one Baoer fountain pen. Like yours, it was very inexpensive, but it is a very good writer. That's pretty much what I know about Baoer pens.

 

Cheers,

Laura

[RLTodd]

I have a Baoer #3013 by Dewen, which looks quite similar to that except for the wire trim on the cap and mine is the mottled green with less fancy work on the steel nib. Very heavy pen, but the nib and feed work quite well. So mine writes well, but it is heavy enough that I would not care to go more than a page or two with it. I think mine was $10.

Edited June 10, 2007 by RLTodd

[sourav_dey]

I have got one too. It is also not expensive at all but looks beautiful. It is heavy too. Writes smoothly...

[Flounder]

I have a Baoer 388, with similar nib characteristics, no flex but quite smooth. Mine writer a little drier than my other pens.. Baoer is the only Chinese brand I know of that puts medium nibs on their pens

[rwilsonedn]

I have one or two and have found them to be very well-finished and quite good writers.

ron

[Kabe]

I have a Duke pen with that exact cap

[Drone]

In my experience, these Chinese pens are a roll of the dice in terms of nib quality, especially when it comes to the fine nibs. Also, I find the lacquered-finish pens to wear poorly over time, they scratch and/or peel. If you can find one with a robust finish and a medium nib, your odds are better. They are often heavy pens, the exception being the really cheap pens like the Hero Parker 51 copy-cats, which are light as a feather. Also beware, I have heard that there are copies of these cheap Chinese pens appearing on the market (probably from India or Pakistan); mostly in the form of the Parker 51 knock-offs. The quality of the copy pens is worse than the copy pens they're copying. Go figure.

[liapuyat]

My Baoer 388 looks like a Sonnet, but the nib is labeled Baoer. It's a smooth medium, neither wet nor dry. A bit heavy, but a decent performer. Easy to clean, too. This was one of my very first eBay wins a few years ago. I have some better pens now, but this still occasionally makes its way into my rotation.

[Lorna Reed]

I like your pen very much. I havent seen that model before but will probably look out for one now. I have a Baoer "Eight Horses" pen which is very sturdy and reliable and one of my favourites.

[dexaco]

I like your pen very much. I havent seen that model before but will probably look out for one now. I have a Baoer "Eight Horses" pen which is very sturdy and reliable and one of my favourites.

I have the Baoer 'Eight Horses' too. I agree, a nice pen, especially for the price. I also have a Lanbitou model 865. This has the identical 'Eight Horses' sleeve on the barrel, but is otherwise a rather different pen. Fine, hooded nib v medium, open nib, and a different cap/clip style. Very similar otherwise in terms of size and weight.

 

Derick

[Flounder]

My Baoer 388 looks like a Sonnet, but the nib is labeled Baoer. It's a smooth medium, neither wet nor dry. A bit heavy, but a decent performer. Easy to clean, too

 

 

 

 

Wait, does that mean you've managed to disassemble the nib? I can't get my 388 apart for the life of me. How do you take it apart?

 

 

[rwilsonedn]

My Baoer 388 looks like a Sonnet, but the nib is labeled Baoer. It's a smooth medium, neither wet nor dry. A bit heavy, but a decent performer. Easy to clean, too

 

 

 

 

Wait, does that mean you've managed to disassemble the nib? I can't get my 388 apart for the life of me. How do you take it apart?

You don't need to disassemble a pen to clean it. In fact the less messing about with the feed and nib, the better imho. You can clean these pens quite adequately by rinsing and soaking, first in a mild dishwashing-liquid solution and then in clean water. If necessary, you can force the solution and water through the feed either with the converter or with an ear bulb (or just by blowing as if the section were a whistle.) The only time I pull the feed on a Chinese pen is if I suspect that it has been miss-cut and needs to be modified. Only happened once or twice.

ron

[FranzPen]

Jinhao also has medium nibs, such as the x750, one of my favorites pens, nice line laid down, always starts right up even if sitting for a week, very well balanced and cap posts nicely, cap click is very satisfying. Had that one for over a year, no complaints.

[KrazyIvan]

Jinhao also has medium nibs, such as the x750, one of my favorites pens, nice line laid down, always starts right up even if sitting for a week, very well balanced and cap posts nicely, cap click is very satisfying. Had that one for over a year, no complaints.

 

 

Correct, my Jinhao X450 also has a medium nib. I have only had it a few weeks but I am liking it.

[tractionavant]

Hi all

I'll add to the collection of Baoer pictures. I find these very affordable pens to be good writers. The nibs are not flexible and usually write somewhere between medium and fine. The glossy finish on the metal bodies is pretty good and in my case has lasted in spite of some rough handling.The main grouse is the tendency for some of them to dry up when carried upright in a shirt pocket.

Unpretentious pens inspired by some good lookers.

 

Baoer seems to have changed the nib patterns as my older pens have the nibs with the wing shaped logo. The new ones just have Baoer written longitudinally

[Heathengel 2]

Hello everybody!

 

I just got a new Baoer 388. I'll give my impressions in short

 

It's dark red and black, a zebra-like pattern with stripes, with golden trims. Feels heavy, but not as heavy as a Jinhao 500. Its weight is much better balanced than the aforementioned Jinhao.

 

The lid was extremely tight, I find it quite difficult to open it with one hand (as is usually done with fountain pens).

 

I used Waterman's South sea blue ink, which has a very good flow, as I've found some other Chinese pens to have a "stricter" ink flow and not very wet nibs.

 

Apparently it's the opposite here. The flow is very good, and the nib very wet (at least to my standards). The writing is very smooth, it hasn't skipped a line even at the most rapid and soft strokes, it simply writes with the slightest touch.

 

The lines though aren't quite even; As the pen writes, the ink isn't evenly deposited along the lines, giving them a very "coarse" look. Also, a lot of ink is deposited. resulting in a thorough soaking of the paper (so depending on the quality of the paper one might have an afterwards "dispersion" of ink around the lines.

 

Overall I have mixed feelings It has a "classic" look, it won't miss a stroke, it feels balanced, it writes smoothly but the lines are coarse and uneven.

 

It's an interesting pen, I think I'll spend more time into it

 

 

PS: It's the "b7" one from the pics above, in Tractionavant's post, with the only difference that the nib was "Baoer" written longitudinally.

Edited January 22, 2013 by Heathengel 2

[UK Mike]

Hello everybody!

 

I just got a new Baoer 388. I'll give my impressions in short

 

The lines though aren't quite even; As the pen writes, the ink isn't evenly deposited along the lines, giving them a very "coarse" look. Also, a lot of ink is deposited. resulting in a thorough soaking of the paper (so depending on the quality of the paper one might have an afterwards "dispersion" of ink around the lines.

 

Overall I have mixed feelings It has a "classic" look, it won't miss a stroke, it feels balanced, it writes smoothly but the lines are coarse and uneven.

 

PS: It's the "b7" one from the pics above, in Tractionavant's post, with the only difference that the nib was "Baoer" written longitudinally.

 

 

Could this just be feathering, using a very wet nib and a fluid ink on paper that can't handle the volume of ink laid down? What paper are you using?

[pienaar]

I got my wife a Baoer 574 $6.50 USD from jewelrymathematics on ebay. It has been a nice pen. My wife uses it all the time.

[2GreyCats]

I have a Baoer 801 in dark frosted blue which I'm extremely happy with, so much so that I bought a Baoer 517 for my best friend from the same seller (share.enjoy on eBay, who is very nice and pleasant to deal with).

 

I'm planning to get another 801 in brilliant red later, to use as my backup grading pen.