Re: Why so very few postings about inexpensive Chinese pens?
I understand.Originally Posted by gbryal
I get that, I did the same thing. I wish I could make the errors for you. Sometimes the errors ARE the cheapos, as the quest can leave quite a body count.[
I am currently at 5 relatively cheap pens, and consider that too many. One fine, one medium, and one italic, along with a goodly assortment of inks, would do me just fine ... but I don't know what I like in a fountain pen yet. These cheapos are letting me explore that without making expensive errors.
One thing that works for me is to get anything that can hold a JoWo #6 nib unit. Edisons are one way, but you could get a Ranga more cheaply. As long as the converter lines up in the section, you are in business. Then you can accumulate steel and gold JoWos to your heart's content in all sizes and send a few off for custom grinds.
But I'm off topic for inexpensive Chinese pens now. I have a bunch of them, I like some of them, I don't totally regret buying them but they mostly take up space now.
I'm not using the cheapos to judge what they are cloned on. I'm not that naive. It's even more simplistic than that right now. I'm looking to find out if I like light or heavy, chunky or slim, long or short, wetter or drier. Do I prefer a round section or a faceted one. What things don't I like that I haven't even considered yet? It may be whether a clip is needed or not, and what style clips I prefer, which method of filling, or how much it holds. These things can only be answered by experiencing different pens, and I simply do not have the funds or the desire to answer these questions at £20 a time. For example, my most expensive pen is a Parker Vector three nib set. It's still a cheap pen, but it taught me to look for a smoother transition between section and barrel. The Safari clone taught me that some pens can be annoying when the cap is posted, because it falls at the wrong height and rubs at the side of my index finger. The TWSBI clone taught me that some pens can't be refilled with a syringe, are awkward to refill when a bottle gets low, and that some won't even fit down the neck of some bottles. The Jinhao 450 is a fatter and heavier pen. Time will tell me if this is good or bad for me.
I don't need expensive pens to learn these lessons, in fact I would rather those lessons only cost me £1 a time. When I start to understand what does and does not work for me, I can look at the £15 to £20 with at least a modicum of understanding of what I might or might not like about it. Some may say that the nib is everything, but right now all that matters is that it draws a line. The right nib is just the cherry on the top. I'm more concerned with what makes my hand fatigue, or chafes, or chews up my pocket, or is a swine to fill. The bottom line is that until you have spent a good few hours using different pens, the only things that you see when you look at a pen is how much it costs, and whether it's ugly or pretty (which is subjective anyway). If a new manufacturer released a new range of pens tomorrow, you could look at them all and know which you'd like and which you wouldn't. I can't. More importantly, I'm very limited on how much I'm prepared to spend finding out. My pens probably all set me back about £15 total. By the time that reaches £50 total, I want to have already found and bought at least one of my ideal pens. If I haven't, I'll have probably already started to lose interest.
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