Asvine J16 "Titanium" with Kanwrite Ultra Flex Jowo Compatible Ti Nib

[Inky_Ben]

I am an inveterate tinkerer.  When the chance comes along to take something apart and tweak it, it is almost irresistible.  So when I heard that Asvine was making one of their Montblanc-shaped cigar pens with a Jowo compatible nib/feed unit, it kind of flipped a switch.  That would be the J16 (see below).   See, I had also discovered that one can order a Jowo-compatible nib unit right from Kanwrite.  "Not cheap, but might be fun," thinks I.  Fountain Pen Revolution has spoiled me with their Ultra Flex nibs.  But Kanwrite makes an Ultra Flex nib in Titanium . . . might be ideal.  

 

Note, I did a dip-test on the OEM Asvine F nib when the pen arrived.   Surprisingly nice!  And a smooth writer, out of the box, which I usually associate with more expensive Japanese pens like Pilots and Platinums.    I actually found it a little difficult to justify taking apart something that worked so well out of the box.   But the beauty of it is that the nib unit can be swapped back.   I didn't need the included nib removal tool either.  The OEM nib/feed unit arrived just finger-tight in the pen.   The Asvine J16 is listed as "Titanium,"  but I am virtually certain it is just brushed stainless.   Ti is a wonderful material -- light and stiff.   But also expensive as anything.  At $56 delivered from Amazon (pre-tariff stock?) the Asvine J16 isn't exactly cheap for what it is, but it isn't space-age material expensive either.

 

Here's the pen:

 

 

 

The pen weighs in, inked, at around 44 grams -- which is on the heavier side (another argument against Ti).   As a comparison, a generic Chinese MB-style acrylic pen of mine weighs 27 grams, as does a Selmy ebonite pen.  A typical ebonite Ranga splits the baby at 32 grams.   All are comfortable in the hand, but the J16 has a solid feel as a result of its extra heft.

 

The cap posts easily and firmly.  This is in contrast to the above-mentioned generic MB-style pen, which doesn't really post well at all (you get what you pay for).

 

 

 

As mentioned above, the nib unit conversion took all of 30 seconds.  I inked it up with some Diafine Blue-Black and sat down to draw.   I got a little railroading with this combination.   In the past, I have added a drop or two of 0.5% Photoflo or another surfactant to deal with Ultra Flex flow issues, and I will give that a try here once I have broken things in a bit. 

 

 

 

Overall, I really like this nib.   I got very good line variation without leaning on it that much (maybe 4x at a glance).  I have tried several kinds of Ultra Flex nibs at this point.  My go-to, and the best deal by far in terms of what I am going for on the page at a reasonable cost are Fountain Pen Revolution's Ultra Flex #6 stainless steel nibs.  I have also tried that nib in 14K gold.  This is the softest, most flexible nib I have ever tried -- right on the edge of too soft.   The gold version feels like a specialty nib and lays down a TON of ink -- you can't just use it with any old paper.  You have to choose a substrate that will stand up to that much liquid.  The trick with these are the feeds -- they need so much ink that a standard plastic feed often can't keep up without being modified.     

 

On the other end of the spectrum are Ranga's in-house Ultra Flex nibs.  The Rangas will flex, but are significantly stiffer than the FPR version, so much so that it feels like a regular "nail" when writing that you can get flex out of if you put your mind to it.   The Kanwrite Ti nib is right in the middle.  It has a bit less flex than the FPR stainless UF nib, and quite a bit more than the Ranga version.   If I can get the feed issues worked out (wetter ink, maybe?) the Kanwrite Ti might just be my golden-mean ultra flex nib (if that is even a phrase).  It is just a wonderful level of springiness, but enough stiffness to do cross-hatching.    Here's a scan of the image that is the background above, to give you all a sense of what the Kanwrite Ti nib was doing on the page.   Apologies for the grayscale scan  . . . the Diafine Blue-Black is wonderful stuff, and the color doesn't come through.   NB: The Ti nib also puts out a lot of ink.  I had to wait a good five minutes for the ink to be dry enough not to smudge it on the page.    Paper was a heavy sheet of 128 gsm sketch paper from a Peter Pauper hardcover sketch book (itself a screaming deal at $11.69 delivered from Amazon) -- the pages are microperforated and easy to remove.  The Amazon ad copy says the paper is acid free. . . haven't tested it myself tho'.

 

 

I assume you all are watching Amazon and AliExpress to see what will happen with prices on all these products.  I said "yes" to my inner hoarder and purchased a second J16 this morning.  It is a nice bit of kit at its current price, but I would probably not go 2x on it, if you know what I mean.   But nothing about it feels "cheap" and I was impressed enough with the OEM nib unit that it feels like it gives up nothing to more expensive products.

 

Write on,

 

Inky_Ben

 

 

[Karmachanic]

Thanks! Ordered the nib.

[senzen]

Very useful review, the first one I see that answers my first question: how do we know this is titanium? I don't particulary care but dislike being lied to; I've kept well away from Chinese pens but have a Waterman #4 nib that needs a new pen, probably one that takes a number 6 nib. I'll probably end up going for something cheaper as $50 for a Chinese probably not titanium pen seems a bit ludicrous to me, even if it is a good looking pen.

[Inky_Ben]

I hear you on the question of Chinese pens.  I am conflicted about them, but do own several.   My rationalization (not justification) is that they are relatively inexpensive platforms for trying things out.   For instance, I have a Jinhao x450 that I have used to see whether I can modify the Chinese nib to be more flexible, by cutting it and relieving material from various parts.  I'll save you the suspense:  I haven't been able to yet.   But it helps to have a $6.00 platform for the experiment.

 

I have tried something similar fitting a Manga G nib to an x450's plastic feed.   It worked better than the nib-modification experiment, but there are practical concerns with those steel nibs rusting that make a cheap platform a better approach than an expensive one for this kind of tinkering.   The resulting pen worked, but I think a purpose-built pen like an Ackerman, which has an ebonite feed and can accommodate India Ink if you clean regularly,  is really more practical (and more flexible) for the purpose.

 

I do have a Chinese eye dropper pen (Majohn M2) for which I have modified the plastic feed to work with Fountain Pen Revolution's #5.5 Ultra Flex nib.  That has worked well, but requires some tinkering with the ink composition (Photo Flo 0.5% dilution) to eliminate railroading.

[Inky_Ben]

Just an addendum:  turns out the Kanwrite Ultra Flex nibs come in a v.1 with a plastic feed and v. 2 with an ebonite feed.  To mimic the Fountain Pen Revolution Ultra Flex nibs, you want the v.2   The v.1  feel similar to the UF nibs on Ranga pens.   Stiffer than I like.