Jinhao 82

[garzaci]

Learned an important lesson today. I tried writing on different paper and got way different results than I've been getting previously. After comparing a steno notebook and regular notebook paper, I've realized that the right paper turns my pens into amazing writers and the notebook paper turns most of them into something that wouldn't suit cavemen. 

 

 

Edited February 7 by garzaci

[Mechanical]

22 hours ago, garzaci said:

Learned an important lesson today. I tried writing on different paper and got way different results than I've been getting previously. After comparing a steno notebook and regular notebook paper, I've realized that the right paper turns my pens into amazing writers and the notebook paper turns most of them into something that wouldn't suit cavemen. 

 

I know, right?  I have this experience and I think my pen is broken -- or maybe the ink is bad.  But no, it's the paper.

 

[garzaci]

Using better paper and the Jinhao 82. I believe my writing has a little shading in it. 

[drakolord]

15 hours ago, garzaci said:

Using better paper and the Jinhao 82. I believe my writing has a little shading in it. 

What paper brand?

[garzaci]

19 hours ago, drakolord said:

What paper brand?

 

[drakolord]

5 hours ago, garzaci said:

 

Ah thank you

[garzaci]

2 hours ago, drakolord said:

7 hours ago, garzaci said:

 

Ah thank you

No problem. Cheap and from Walmart, but it writes really well. 

[PenLovingE]

These little pens have been awesome for me so far. I got my first one from Doodlebud who did a laser bath to the nib to mimic a Sailor-like feedback. I then bought several and my family and I had a pen making party!

[mke]

19 hours ago, PenLovingE said:

who did a laser bath to the nib

What is that?

[PenLovingE]

3 hours ago, mke said:

What is that?

It where he ran a laser, running both horizontally and vertically, across a medium nib to create a texture that simulates Sailors (in)famous feedback. The experience wasn't for me but it did get my family and I hooked on the Jinhao 82!

[PenLovingE]

On 2/10/2026 at 9:20 AM, drakolord said:

What paper brand?

CVS sells a brand of paper called Caliber that is inexpensive and very fountain pen friendly. It will show sheen and shade and is a bright white to display true color. It's a nice alternative to Clairefontaine IMHO. 

[garzaci]

On 2/15/2026 at 8:53 AM, PenLovingE said:

These little pens have been awesome for me so far. I got my first one from Doodlebud who did a laser bath to the nib to mimic a Sailor-like feedback. I then bought several and my family and I had a pen making party!

They really are pretty good little pens. 

[garzaci]

On 2/16/2026 at 7:23 AM, PenLovingE said:

CVS sells a brand of paper called Caliber that is inexpensive and very fountain pen friendly. It will show sheen and shade and is a bright white to display true color. It's a nice alternative to Clairefontaine IMHO. 

I will look. 

[I am not a number]

I threw cheap stub (bare) nibs onto my Jinhao 82s and 80s to make 'not too fussed if I lose them' everyday beaters. 

 

The nibs for the 82s were £9.99 for 30 on Amazon, the nibs for the 80s were from AliExpress.

 

They are pleasingly reliable, inexpensive writers! 

 

I'm waiting on some oblique and architect nibs (with ebonite feeds) from Kanwrite to put into my Majohn P136s.

[Ambien]

I was curious about their Persian Cat LE colorway, so I got my first one, and I realized sadly only the normal standard nibs have the cat engraved on them sigh so I missed out by choosing the bent Nib option. 

 

So far they are p close to the Sailor Sapporo so fairly small pens unless posted with good steel nibs and the bent nib is p fun for the first time I've ever written with one and you can change the line width depending on your writing angle. 

 

 

[mke]

7 hours ago, Ambien said:

Persian Cat LE

????

Link please

[Ambien]

14 hours ago, mke said:

????

Link please

 

Here it is, and it has an ink bottle set for $40, but the FP alone is p affordable for me. 

[Misfit]

On 2/16/2026 at 6:23 AM, PenLovingE said:

CVS sells a brand of paper called Caliber that is inexpensive and very fountain pen friendly. It will show sheen and shade and is a bright white to display true color. It's a nice alternative to Clairefontaine IMHO. 

Thank you for sharing this. 

[A Smug Dill]

On 3/9/2026 at 1:18 PM, Ambien said:

I was curious about their Persian Cat LE colorway,

 

If, by ‘their’, you meant Jinhao as opposed to an independent vendor, I don't think Jinhao has released any ‘limited edition’ colourways of the Jinhao 82, much less ones factory-fitted with non-standard nibs stamped or laser-etched with a cat graphic on the nib face.

 

Your posts prompted me to take a look at the Jinhao 82 again, that being something I haven't done for 18 or maybe 24 months now, outside of ordering a whole bunch last week (all in the same uninspiring ‘standard’ colourway) when I saw the opportunity to get them as cheaply as <$1.60 AUD each, taxed and delivered to Australia from China, as prospective giveaway items. I hadn't realised that a whole sub-industry has sprung up around customisation of relatively cheap Chinese fountain pens, with:

• individual vendors marketing specific remixed colourways as their own ‘unique’ offerings, giving each one a name (which sometimes overlaps/clashes with some other vendor's) such as ‘Waterlilies’ or ’Persian cat’ as if it was an actual product of their own making. There are dozens of such vendors on Taobao, and hundreds of such colourways;
• some going the ‘extra mile’ of putting stickers/graphics on the cap finials, e.g. a stylised cherry blossom, as value-add or to fit the name/theme of a particular colourway. This I knew about from quite some time ago;
• some vendors alluding to engaging Jinhao to make the Jinhao 82 in (a very narrow range of) custom colours exclusively for themselves. That I can respect, as Japanese retailers (and even other businesses not primarily engaging in stationery retail) have been engaging Pilot, Platinum, and Sailor to make custom colourways or versions for them to sell exclusively, typically at a premium; and
• some have even replaced the nibs, in limited circumstances, with ones with custom/different ‘scrollwork’ graphics on the nib face.

On 3/9/2026 at 1:18 PM, Ambien said:

I realized sadly only the normal standard nibs have the cat engraved on them sigh so I missed out by choosing the bent Nib option. 

 

That's easy enough to ‘rectify’, given I see there is this type of thing available in the Chinese market (and for delivery to overseas locations if ordered on China-based online marketplace platforms):

 

that can be ordered independently of a (whole) fountain pen.

 

I came across on Taobao these size №26 (supposedly branded Selmy) nibs with ‘cute’ graphics. The housing looks more like that of a Schmidt FH241, as opposed to a standard Jinhao №26 to fit a Jinhao model 82 or 992, and the listing suggests it is compatible with pens that are tapped for Schmidt ‘№5’ nib units, e.g. the Majohn M100/M200, Kaco Edge, and MUJI Aluminium fountain pens. However, with a ‘nipple’ converter that has an external diameter of 2.6mm, that is not an exact replacement for a Schmidt FH241 nib unit, and a converter that works with pens that use so-called ”standard international” or ”European standard” (歐標, short for 歐洲標準) ink cartridges won't fit properly.

 

But I'm pretty sure you can pluck the №26 nib out of the nib unit and fit it into a Jinhao 82, if you really want a nib with cat graphics on one. Caveat: these only come in EF width grade.

 

(Apparently they're not new to the market, either. Doing a Google Lens search led me to a Reddit post from about two years ago, by someone who has ordered/seen them on Taobao.)

[Ambien]

3 hours ago, A Smug Dill said:

But I'm pretty sure you can pluck the №26 nib out of the nib unit and fit it into a Jinhao 82, if you really want a nib with cat graphics on one. Caveat: these only come in EF width grade.

 

Oh, do you mean the cat nibs are only EF nibs for that specific pen, or just all nibs with a design on them for the aftermarket? Yeah, the more you know, I guess that made sense why the shops were calling them LE 2026 Jinhao 82 pens, and their new colorways are p creative too and for $10 it's worth it for me who can't afford the Sailor LE collections. 

 

Yeah, there's a bunch of them for different themes based on drinks, seasons, and mountains are common ones I'd noticed and they're p good value. The other one I have on my WL is the calico pen since I love cats and we have so few animal pens in my price range.