My Baoer 388 came today

After seeing some good comments about the Baoer 388, I decided to try one. I got it for the princely sum of three bucks. I think it's a nice looking pen, and comfortable to hold.

https://i.postimg.cc/Bv4qd3Fy/Baoer-388.jpg

I washed it out with soapy water, filled it with Quink blue black ink, and tried it out. It wrote really dry and scratchy. The nib was badly misaligned. Baoer nibs must be really strong spring steel. I worked and worked on it and it refused to budge. Finally, I decided I'm either going to fix this thing or bust it. So, I bent the heck out of it and it ended up aligned pretty good. It won't win any prizes, but it writes acceptably now. I have two Baoers, this one and an 801. Both of them have required tweaking.

Alright!
Congrats!!
Nice that you've wrangled it into working right for you too!

It looks the biz.

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Originally Posted by Parsimonious

So, I bent the heck out of it and it ended up aligned pretty good.

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This is one of the advantages of three-buck pens: no sense of fear. :D

I cut my nib adjustment teeth on a Baoer 388. I got 2 for about $5 each. One was a pig and leaked at the feed/section junction and eventually found its way to the garbage can. The other had serious tine misalignment. I spent an hour and got it to write reasonably well. Learned a lot through that pen and Stephen Brown videos. Chinese companies copying products seem to have one thing in common--their quality control leaves a lot to be desired. I guess that is how they keep the cost down.

It is an easy swap to replace the nib with a Jinhao 250 or other #5 nib

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Originally Posted by RobJohnson

It is an easy swap to replace the nib with a Jinhao 250 or other #5 nib

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Thanks, that's good to know. But, I actually got the thing to write pretty well now.

I've got two Jin Haos and a Hero on the way from China. It will be interesting to see what they are like.

I've got a few of those. Not sure what came over me when I bought them on Ebay. :) What I don't like about them is the weight. In any case, they all wrote beautifully upon arrival. They're very smooth writers.

I got one or two pens . They are cheap and can use them as disposable pens.
Yes, these pens are heavy as most pens are plastic inlayed parts to metal barrels and body caps. The sections Brakes faster as they are glued but the nibs are ok if you tune them a little to change the ink flow.

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Originally Posted by Ole Juul

I've got a few of those. Not sure what came over me when I bought them on Ebay. :) What I don't like about them is the weight. In any case, they all wrote beautifully upon arrival. They're very smooth writers.

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Yes, weight was my problem too with an otherwise decent pen for hardly any money. There was a Chinese fashion for brass barrels for a while. The newer models have moved away from that.

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Originally Posted by eachan

...There was a Chinese fashion for brass barrels for a while....

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My Chinese pink "Montblanc 146" has a brass barrel. Alas, it fell apart, and that's the end of that.

I always thought those brass barrel pens were a fine example of the plumber's art.

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Originally Posted by eachan

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Ole Juul

I've got a few of those. Not sure what came over me when I bought them on Ebay. :) What I don't like about them is the weight. In any case, they all wrote beautifully upon arrival. They're very smooth writers.

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Yes, weight was my problem too with an otherwise decent pen for hardly any money. There was a Chinese fashion for brass barrels for a while. The newer models have moved away from that.

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The idea is surprising that someone can make a perfectly workable pen in attractive finishes and arrange for a 6,000 mile delivery all for the price of a cup of coffee.

The usual assumption is that there is some form of state subsidy.

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Originally Posted by eachan

I always thought those brass barrel pens were a fine example of the plumber's art.

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Ha! :)

Congratulations.