Asvine P36

[Semionaut]

Hey, guys, good news! This Tool For St Penpps 699 works!

[axio]

Do you know how easy/difficult it is to replace the nib?
I'd like to put a Montblanc 146 nib on it. Seeing that a Bock fits, so should a 146?

[Karmachanic]

9 hours ago, axio said:

Seeing that a Bock fits, so should a 146?

 

I have an MB 146 14k nib in a Bock housing.  It will fit if you purchased the pen with a Bock nib/feed.  With the Asvine nib/feed, don't know.

[axio]

5 hours ago, Karmachanic said:

 

I have an MB 146 14k nib in a Bock housing.  It will fit if you purchased the pen with a Bock nib/feed.  With the Asvine nib/feed, don't know.

Thanks for the tip.

I have heard people mentioning about replacing the feed to an ebonite feed. Do you know of anything like this, such as a fitting quality feed?

[Karmachanic]

 

7 hours ago, axio said:

I have heard people mentioning about replacing the feed to an ebonite feed. Do you know of anything like this, such as a fitting quality feed?

 

Magna Carta makes a Bock #6 Ebonite feed and housing.  Available here .  FPNibs sells a feed only, which you can use in an existing housing.

[axio]

On 11/4/2023 at 9:40 PM, Karmachanic said:

 

 

Magna Carta makes a Bock #6 Ebonite feed and housing.  Available here .  FPNibs sells a feed only, which you can use in an existing housing.

I'll try one of these. Thanks @Karmachanic

[Mr. Blackthorne]

I got myself one of these with an Asvine Medium. The nib is great and I wrote with it for a few days. Very smooth. Extremely nice IMO.  I am not a monoline guy so I swapped it for one of my JOWO 1.5mm stubs and I plan to put that nib onto another pen.

 

The fit and finish is excellent. Almost everything about it is pretty amazing or perfect even. It's seriously nice.

 

Except the flow.

 

I did not flush the pen because I didn't have the tool/wrench in yet, I went straight to filling and writing with it. I am on my 2nd fill. So far though, I get the impression that this pen has no air and ink exchange happening naturally/automatically. I have to move the piston to keep it writing. I tried different amounts and techniques. I tried pumping it back and forth and returning to its full back position and following in different amounts and frequencies. Almost any technique saturates the feed too much. The best I can do is an extremely small movement forward and a return to all the way back.

 

With anything that I do the pen dries out completely. With the Asvine nib and the JOWO.

 

So it's like a continuous too wet to too dry and then stopping spectrum and is only in the "just right" range of wetness for a very limited time. 

 

This is the worst ink air exchange I have ever seen. I pump the knobs on my cartridge converters all of the time to force an ink and air exchange, but that usually keeps the flow in the perfect range as long as I tend to it correctly. With this pen, there doesn't seem to be anything that gets it there. It's mostly oversaturated>just right for a short time>running dry. I can see the problem on the page, which is NOT GOOD. The pen takes a half of a page to go through the too wet>just right>completely stopped cycle.

 

I will try emptying and flushing it soon if it doesn't break in and improve, but I am not sure if that is the issue or not.

 

If anyone has any knowledge or experience with this let me know. This is my second piston filler. My other one is a noodlers Konrad with an ebonite feed that I modded with a razor blade with a really huge channel and I can see the air coming into the pen constantly while I am writing. That feed however is really unruly. You can't carry that pen around in a pocket or it's gonna leak, but it sure does work.

 

EDIT

I am going to unscrew the nib unit and flush just that. I will report back.

[Karmachanic]

4 hours ago, Mr. Blackthorne said:

I am going to unscrew the nib unit and flush just that. I will report back.

 

T'were me I'd flush with the nib in place using the pressure to clean out all the crooks and nannies in the feed.

[Mr. Blackthorne]

I used the asvine wrench tool to remove the piston and then I gave the pen a extensive tightly sealed high pressure dish soap bulb syringe flush, then with clean water.

 

The pen still does not have any or much of an ink air exchange on its own, but it now more easily breathes when I bring the piston forward a little bit and then turn it back to the end position really fast. I can hear the air come in, see an air bubble appear in the reservoir and then the feed is back wet, but not over saturated to the point where the pen is gushing too much ink to write sharply like before. I don't mind having to manually pump it here and there, as long as the feed stays saturated in a usable range, which before it was not, it was oversaturated to dry.

 

I hope that the P36 continues to perform that way that it just did during my long test writing/practice session. I really like the section of the pen and the aesthetic. So many really well done details. It's a super impressive pen.

 

 

How to make the piston knob close all the way down after reassembling. Tighten the piston knob down onto the wrench tool while you are tightening the piston assembly into the pen and the spacing will be dead on. The thickness of the tool seems to be just the right position for the knob to tighten onto the body and stop properly.

[Dan Carmell]

I’ve had no ink flow problems with my P36 and I’ve not heard anyone else mentioning such problems. Makes me think yours has a hidden defect, as you’ve done everything right. 
 

Does the nib unit screw out? Mine arrived with an F nib too wide for my taste. I’ve got a spare Asvine EF nib, but the current F nib doesn’t want to screw out and it’s frustrating because I’m afraid to force it. 
 

Same question for the Hongdian 100, if I may: also impossible to move, as if it’s glued in. I’d like to switch out the nib before I sell it. Thanks in advance. 

[Mr. Blackthorne]

13 hours ago, Dan Carmell said:

I’ve had no ink flow problems with my P36 and I’ve not heard anyone else mentioning such problems. Makes me think yours has a hidden defect, as you’ve done everything right. 
 

Does the nib unit screw out? Mine arrived with an F nib too wide for my taste. I’ve got a spare Asvine EF nib, but the current F nib doesn’t want to screw out and it’s frustrating because I’m afraid to force it. 
 

Same question for the Hongdian 100, if I may: also impossible to move, as if it’s glued in. I’d like to switch out the nib before I sell it. Thanks in advance. 

 

It just needed that thorough flush. The air exchange isn't sufficient for the JOWO 1.5mm to just go on its own all the time, but that doesn't surprise me. It is the most ink thirsty standard nib there is. I've yet to use a pen that didn't require some manual breathing with heavy writing with one. It went from unusable to very good after the flush and I'm happy with the pen now. Like I said it just needs a little bit of air exchange help on the knob here and there. That is what my expectations were. It might even break in and get better over time. As a 1.5mm stub user I have been pumping all of my cartridge converters here and there for years. With the p36 it's right there on the back of the pen instead of having to unscrew the barrel with a million turns like on my cart converter pens. 

 

I think that if I were using a regular monline or smaller stub it would just go after that flush and not need that.

 

I was never able to get the nib unit unscrewed, I opted for removing the piston instead and cleaning it from there. Other people have been successfully removing the nib unit though. It is not glued in, just super tight. I don't know exactly what to do to keep from breaking anything. I just know that it can be done as I have seen it in multiple videos(check some out and see what was said as I forgot). I was feeling like unscrewing it with the nib and feed in were going to damage something so I stopped.

 

The best move to make things easy is to just move your nibs around by pulling them from their friction fit and leave the nib units in place. As long as everything is compatible. It is very easy to pull friction fit feeds and nibs. Watch some videos about the technique and stay off of the tines with your fingers. The P36 was a breeze to swap nibs on. The feed and nib unit have a flat spot that you need to align with reinserting. Pay attention to the way the nib and feed are lined up on the back before pulling so that you know how to align it.

 

Hope that helps!

[lukeap69]

I had a similar issue with my P20 with a fine nib. After thorough cleaning, it wrote beautifully. It is wet and broader than the other fine nibs I have. I don't think the issue is particular with a stub nib.

[Karmachanic]

3 hours ago, lukeap69 said:

I don't think the issue is particular with a stub nib.

 

Production detritus in the feed.  Which is why we always flush new pens.  Lukewarm water with a drop of Dawn/Fairy soap 3 or 4 times, and then clear water to rinse thoroughly.

[Mr. Blackthorne]

I agree. Everyone should always flush a pen thoroughly before using it. I knew better and tried it anyway. What it was doing was about the worse I have seen from the hidden manufacturing gunk and it tricked me into considering and or entertaining the idea that something was wrong with the design. The issue with not flushing isn't specific to the stub, it was indeed having the same issue with the stock M.

 

Needing to breathe the pen manually for the feed to catch up with the ink and air exchange is more frequent with a 1.5mm stub on every pen I've ever used.

 

Before it was oversaturated to dry, after the flush I can keep it in the perfect and usable range by breathing it( doing a really small piston movement forward and back) when it gets a little to dry. It might start breaking in and not need much help, I was starting to see it randomly pick up on flow earlier.

 

I am really really happy with this pen. It is excellent.

 

The materials, fit and finish are all seriously impressive, not just for the price, but just impressive period.

 

It's my favorite pen now by far. I like the section and I like the look. It's very fast and easy to fill and now it has my favorite nib on it. 

 

10/10

 

 

[Mr. Blackthorne]

 

 

 

[Cengiz]

On 4/15/2024 at 1:49 PM, Mr. Blackthorne said:

I used the asvine wrench tool to remove the piston and then I gave the pen a extensive tightly sealed high pressure dish soap bulb syringe flush, then with clean water.

 

The pen still does not have any or much of an ink air exchange on its own, but it now more easily breathes when I bring the piston forward a little bit and then turn it back to the end position really fast. I can hear the air come in, see an air bubble appear in the reservoir and then the feed is back wet, but not over saturated to the point where the pen is gushing too much ink to write sharply like before. I don't mind having to manually pump it here and there, as long as the feed stays saturated in a usable range, which before it was not, it was oversaturated to dry.

 

I hope that the P36 continues to perform that way that it just did during my long test writing/practice session. I really like the section of the pen and the aesthetic. So many really well done details. It's a super impressive pen.

 

 

How to make the piston knob close all the way down after reassembling. Tighten the piston knob down onto the wrench tool while you are tightening the piston assembly into the pen and the spacing will be dead on. The thickness of the tool seems to be just the right position for the knob to tighten onto the body and stop properly.

Unfortunately, I'm experiencing the same problem. I bought two more because I really liked the look of the pen and thought maybe I wouldn't have the same issue. One has a Bock M nib, one has the original Asvine nib, and the other has a Jowo nib compatible with the Asvine feed. I'm having the same problem with all of them. Because the nib is placed up in my jacket pocket, the pen can't feed ink properly, and I have to shake it a bit to get it ready to write, but then it writes very wet for a while. Another thing I noticed is that when I clean the reservoir with water and leave it in a cup with the nib facing down, a few drops of water remain in the reservoir even after a week, it's like a jar! The pen can't breathe. By the way, my Asvine J16 fountain pen also has the same problem. Where could the problem be? Is there a solution?

[drakolord]

7 hours ago, Cengiz said:

Unfortunately, I'm experiencing the same problem. I bought two more because I really liked the look of the pen and thought maybe I wouldn't have the same issue. One has a Bock M nib, one has the original Asvine nib, and the other has a Jowo nib compatible with the Asvine feed. I'm having the same problem with all of them. Because the nib is placed in my jacket pocket, the pen can't feed ink properly, and I have to shake it a bit to get it ready to write, but then it writes very wet for a while. Another thing I noticed is that when I clean the reservoir with water and leave it in a cup with the nib facing down, a few drops of water remain in the reservoir even after a week, it's like a jar! The pen can't breathe. By the way, my Asvine J16 fountain pen also has the same problem. Where could the problem be? Is there a solution?

Weird my p36 runs fine without issue even after a month of leaving ink in it.

[Cengiz]

9 minutes ago, drakolord said:

Weird my p36 runs fine without issue even after a month of leaving ink in it.

The cap really protects the ink well, preventing it from evaporating, but if it's carried with the nib pointing upwards, it experiences ink feed problem. 

[drakolord]

3 minutes ago, Cengiz said:

The cap really protects the ink well, preventing it from evaporating, but if it's carried with the nib pointing upwards, it experiences ink feed problem. 

Had it faced up. Guess I just am lucky.

[Cengiz]

4 minutes ago, drakolord said:

Had it faced up. Guess I just am lucky.

Since I've experienced the same problem with all four of my Asvine fountain pens, it seems you're absolutely right.👍