Do you use a fountain pen?

[checkmate91]

Red Lamys are used in one of my Parker Sonnets, no problem. Trick is to push them on to the back of the nib by hand. It looks like the blue 45 (or whatever it was) had had the barrel screw it in and simply pulled the thread off the nib casing. Shame if you couldn't find a replacement nib.

[blueg33]

Pelican Chicago with Edelstein Topaz ink is my daily driver.

[Robbo 27]

checkmate91 said:

Red Lamys are used in one of my Parker Sonnets, no problem. Trick is to push them on to the back of the nib by hand. It looks like the blue 45 (or whatever it was) had had the barrel screw it in and simply pulled the thread off the nib casing. Shame if you couldn't find a replacement nib.

The pen was a Parker 51 Special Edition 2002, which used plastics that were known to be brittle, very limited production run due to warranty losses.

[motco]

Well folks, my Jinhao X450 pens arrived today complete with a cartridge to try them with. One piece I'll give to my son and the other I shall keep for myself. More detail when I have used it for a while.

[Pints]

Fountain pen user checking in. I've preferred using a fountain pen since school days.

I tend to stick with the cheap Parker Vector, although I have used other Parkers and Sheaffers, but have had a range of issues - cracked nibs, split shaft, etc.

As cool as a nicer (read more expensive) pen would be, I just know I'd lose it after a fortnight, despite having never lost a fountain pen before.

[bitchstewie]

motco said:

Well folks, my Jinhao X450 pens arrived today complete with a cartridge to try them with. One piece I'll give to my son and the other I shall keep for myself. More detail when I have used it for a while.

I'd be interested to know how you get on.

Mine writes nicely but I've noticed that if I hold it vertically and simply watch and wait you can see gravity do its thing and ink will drip from the nib.

I have a Pilot Metropolitan on the way so it'll be interesting to see how that performs as I'm sure when I was at school the only way I could get a pen to leak ink was when it was being flicked at someone.

[Robbo 27]

bhstewie said:

Mine writes nicely but I've noticed that if I hold it vertically and simply watch and wait you can see gravity do its thing and ink will drip from the nib.

I have a Pilot Metropolitan on the way so it'll be interesting to see how that performs as I'm sure when I was at school the only way I could get a pen to leak ink was when it was being flicked at someone.

It should not drip ink when the nib is vertical, thats a fault.

I dont know what ink is in the pen, you might try a cartridge if you can find on and see if the nib behaves itself. This is more than likely to be the issue. But if its the first fill, hold it nib uppermost for a few seconds and allow the ink to run back, also make sure that the converter is pushed fully home into the nib section.

Something else to try is to take a kitchen paper towel and wrap it around the nib and feed (the black thing under the nib), hold it there for 5 seconds or so. Then with quite firm pressure squeeze the nib to the feed, as if you are trying to press the two a little closer.

[bitchstewie]

Robbo 27 said:

It should not drip ink when the nib is vertical, thats a fault.

I dont know what ink is in the pen, you might try a cartridge if you can find on and see if the nib behaves itself. This is more than likely to be the issue. But if its the first fill, hold it nib uppermost for a few seconds and allow the ink to run back, also make sure that the converter is pushed fully home into the nib section.

Something else to try is to take a kitchen paper towel and wrap it around the nib and feed (the black thing under the nib), hold it there for 5 seconds or so. Then with quite firm pressure squeeze the nib to the feed, as if you are trying to press the two a little closer.

Thanks There are a few forum posts out there that suggest the convertors that come with the Jinhao's are pretty terrible and it's basically air/physics at work.

I think the Pilot comes with a cartridge and a bladder filler so I'll try those and see how that behaves as it's a fine nib and is more likely to be the one I'd use day to day as the Jinhao seems pretty wet.

If a cartridge works it's a cheap and good pen still.

[davepoth]

motco said:

£400 !! There's a fair bit of profit in making those, I'm sure.

£400 with a plastic body. What a rip-off! I have a £20 ballpoint which is stainless steel.

[Robbo 27]

davepoth said:

£400 with a plastic body. What a rip-off! I have a £20 ballpoint which is stainless steel.

I forget the price when new in 2002, around £250 perhaps and the warranty claims were huge due to the bad plastic. many collectors just put them away when new and they can fetch £400+ today.

£600 for a top range Montblanc, Pelikan and others is possible, and all plastic.

[Countdown]

We had to use fountain pens at school. I haven't used one since.

At work I don't actually do that much "handwriting" apart from signing hard copies of documents and cheques and even at home most stuff is typed out on the PC.

[Robbo 27]

Countdown said:

We had to use fountain pens at school. I haven't used one since.

At work I don't actually do that much "handwriting" apart from signing hard copies of documents and cheques and even at home most stuff is typed out on the PC.

Friend of mine told me that he never used any sort of pen for years, even notes were done by text or computer. When his daughter said she was getting married he asked me for a fountain pen and learnt to write, at first his script looked like a 5 year olds, after a month of practice it was elegant.

He bought a journal and kept a page a day on all his daughter meant to him and his hopes for her when she married. He gave the journal to her on her wedding day, it was a very special gift that she adored, it meant a lot to her that he had written it all by hand.

[williredale]

bhstewie said:

I'd be interested to know how you get on.

Mine writes nicely but I've noticed that if I hold it vertically and simply watch and wait you can see gravity do its thing and ink will drip from the nib.

I have a Pilot Metropolitan on the way so it'll be interesting to see how that performs as I'm sure when I was at school the only way I could get a pen to leak ink was when it was being flicked at someone.

I have a couple of 450s and they both leak / drip if I'm using a cartridge. Both seem fine with the jinhao converters and a variety of pilot and diamine inks. I have a fine nib metropolitan which is a little too fine for my tastes but does work well with crap printer paper. I've got but not yet used a medium nib MR2 which is a metropolitan that takes international cartridges instead of the pilot ones.

Edited by williredale on Friday 30th December 19:34

[motco]

bhstewie said:

motco said:

Well folks, my Jinhao X450 pens arrived today complete with a cartridge to try them with. One piece I'll give to my son and the other I shall keep for myself. More detail when I have used it for a while.

I'd be interested to know how you get on.

Mine writes nicely but I've noticed that if I hold it vertically and simply watch and wait you can see gravity do its thing and ink will drip from the nib.

I have a Pilot Metropolitan on the way so it'll be interesting to see how that performs as I'm sure when I was at school the only way I could get a pen to leak ink was when it was being flicked at someone.

Mine came with a cartridge and I had to squeeze it to get any flow through. I'll let you know if it drips. I have no bottle ink at the moment so cannot try the converter. As there were no instructions with it I am none too sure how to use that anyway.

[JimClark49]

I am interested in buying the Jinhao X450. Does anyone have a link to a UK seller with quick delivery? The waiting times for China ones are too long!

I currently have a Parker Vector which I have used since school days (mid-90's). I love handwriting and consider mine to be very neat. I am therefore looking forward to trying the X450.

One question for Robbo - is it better to buy cartridges or use the converter? If the latter, which is the best ink bottle to buy?

[Robbo 27]

JimClark49 said:

I am interested in buying the Jinhao X450. Does anyone have a link to a UK seller with quick delivery? The waiting times for China ones are too long!

I currently have a Parker Vector which I have used since school days (mid-90's). I love handwriting and consider mine to be very neat. I am therefore looking forward to trying the X450.

One question for Robbo - is it better to buy cartridges or use the converter? If the latter, which is the best ink bottle to buy?

Jim

I have no experience of the Jinhao 450 so I am looking forward to hearing feedback from others in terms of their performance, if an overwet feed is typical then I would look for another make or model. The reviews I have seen elsewhere do not report a problem.

I use both cartridges and bottled ink. Cartridges are fine if you are travelling - but not by air - but buying a bottle of ink gives you more choice of colour and brand. You can always fill your own cartridges using a syringe. Filling a pen from a bottle is slightly messier, you will need a tissue to wipe the pen as it comes out of the ink - thats about it. I once repaired a pen for a person and the converter was faulty, I offered to give them a full cartridge but they refused on the basis that they were an environmentalist, I hadn't heard that one before.

Not sure that there is a best ink to buy, if you are buying from the high street you will not go to far wrong with any ink that is made by a pen manufacturer, especially Parker, Waterman and Montblanc. If you buy from the net there is a brand called Sailor, expensive but good, also have a look at The Writing Desk site, they have some good deals and provide excellent customer service:

http://www.thewritingdesk.co.uk/fountainpenink.php

A large 80 ml bottle of Conway Stewart ink is around £6.50 for example and will last you a very long time.

One brand I would avoid is Diamine. In their favour they have a large colour range but suffer from poor quality control with marked variations between batches, also some of their inks bleed through the page or block the nib.

In terms of buying pens once you start moving upwards from the very low prices offered by Jinhao on the net, £1 including delivery for example and you increase the budget to around £10 then you have a great deal more choice, some of which may be better than the Jinhao 450. I would look at the Lamy Vista or Safari which is well made and has a choice of nibs, some may find that it is too modern looking, but widely available on the high street so you can look before you buy.

There is a choice of pens from Cult Pens which includes free delivery

http://www.cultpens.com/c/q/explore/product-type/p...

Finally a reminder that Moleskine notebooks do not work well with fountain pens, they changed the paper around 3 years ago and it now bleeds and feathers with ink.

Edited by Robbo 27 on Saturday 31st December 05:57

[JimClark49]

Robbo 27 said:

Jim

I have no experience of the Jinhao 450 so I am looking forward to hearing feedback from others in terms of their performance, if an overwet feed is typical then I would look for another make or model. The reviews I have seen elsewhere do not report a problem.

I use both cartridges and bottled ink. Cartridges are fine if you are travelling - but not by air - but buying a bottle of ink gives you more choice of colour and brand. You can always fill your own cartridges using a syringe. Filling a pen from a bottle is slightly messier, you will need a tissue to wipe the pen as it comes out of the ink - thats about it. I once repaired a pen for a person and the converter was faulty, I offered to give them a full cartridge but they refused on the basis that they were an environmentalist, I hadn't heard that one before.

Not sure that there is a best ink to buy, if you are buying from the high street you will not go to far wrong with any ink that is made by a pen manufacturer, especially Parker, Waterman and Montblanc. If you buy from the net there is a brand called Sailor, expensive but good, also have a look at The Writing Desk site, they have some good deals and provide excellent customer service:

http://www.thewritingdesk.co.uk/fountainpenink.php

A large 80 ml bottle of Conway Stewart ink is around £6.50 for example and will last you a very long time.

One brand I would avoid is Diamine. In their favour they have a large colour range but suffer from poor quality control with marked variations between batches, also some of their inks bleed through the page or block the nib.

In terms of buying pens once you start moving upwards from the very low prices offered by Jinhao on the net, £1 including delivery for example and you increase the budget to around £10 then you have a great deal more choice, some of which may be better than the Jinhao 450. I would look at the Lamy Vista or Safari which is well made and has a choice of nibs, some may find that it is too modern looking, but widely available on the high street so you can look before you buy.

There is a choice of pens from Cult Pens which includes free delivery

http://www.cultpens.com/c/q/explore/product-type/p...

Finally a reminder that Moleskine notebooks do not work well with fountain pens, they changed the paper around 3 years ago and it now bleeds and feathers with ink.

Edited by Robbo 27 on Saturday 31st December 05:57

Hi Robbo,

Thank you very much for taking the time to provide this detailed and helpful information - I genuinely appreciate it.

I have ordered the Jinhao 450 from a UK seller so should get a chance to test it next week. I will report back on my thoughts.

I am tempted to buy a bottle of Conway Stewart ink and use interchangeably with cartridges.

[AlexC1981]

I have been thinking about a pen with a stub or cursive italic nib (I know all the lingo now!) as I like the idea of a narrow calligraphy type nib that can be used for everyday fast writing. For those wondering, a cursive italic has rounder edges than a pure italic nib so it is less scratchy. A stub is even more rounded, but will still write in a calligraphy style.

There is another type of nib used for calligraphy called a flex nib. The firmer you push down, the more the tines flex apart and broaden the line. These sound tricky to use and they are a bit expensive just for trying out.

The lads from the which teaspoon thread are going to be visiting this thread soon for tips

I've ordered a Pilot Pluminix (F), which I think would fall under the heading of a fine stub. Not sure if it will be wide enough to see the calligraphy effect, but it was another cheapy at £6.71.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/322326503354?_trksid=p20...

[Robbo 27]

AlexC1981 said:

I have been thinking about a pen with a stub or cursive italic nib (I know all the lingo now!) as I like the idea of a narrow calligraphy type nib that can be used for everyday fast writing. For those wondering, a cursive italic has rounder edges than a pure italic nib so it is less scratchy. A stub is even more rounded, but will still write in a calligraphy style.

There is another type of nib used for calligraphy called a flex nib. The firmer you push down, the more the tines flex apart and broaden the line. These sound tricky to use and they are a bit expensive just for trying out.

The lads from the which teaspoon thread are going to be visiting this thread soon for tips

I've ordered a Pilot Pluminix (F), which I think would fall under the heading of a fine stub. Not sure if it will be wide enough to see the calligraphy effect, but it was another cheapy at £6.71.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/322326503354?_trksid=p20...

Pens at this price alex are cheap enough for you to try out and see if they suit you and if not to sell on or give away.

If you mainly want a pen for office notes or similar then a straightforward fine, medium or broad nib, depending on the size of your writing, will suit most people. I have tried writing with a stub or itallic nibs and they dont work for me, I like a nib with some flex but if you write quickly you may struggle.

Point taken on the teaspoon thread, I will rename myself Mogodan Man and back off but if anyone needs any help please PM me.

[bitchstewie]

Have a look here https://www.gouletpens.com/nib-nook to compare nibs sizes.