The Allure of Cheap pens

[Empty_of_Clouds]

This>> "If I am unwilling to lose them, I should not be willing to own them."

Probably one of the great truisms of a happy life.

[NumberSix]

I definitely enjoy buying the occasional cheap pen because once in a while it turns out to be a fountain pen that writes beautifully and feels good in the hand. But sometimes it shows up and is so bizarre like the Jinhao Defiant I just received that all you can do is smile.



I had to put the standard cartridge in the photo just so you'd have a sense of scale. This thing is huge. I could use it as a handle for my car jack!

That looks like Jinhao 159. I have one in red, and it's a terrific pen - especially for the $10 I paid for it on amazon (I didn't want to wait for China shipping). The factory nib is a nice writer (maybe I got lucky), the converter works well, and the pen feels good in the hand unposted. Looking at your picture, I kind of want a yellow one now. I wonder if I should tempt the fates, since everything on mine currently works so well?

[AzJon]

This>> "If I am unwilling to lose them, I should not be willing to own them."

Probably one of the great truisms of a happy life.

Slightly altered statement from my grandfather who would say, "if you can't afford to lose it, you can't afford to own it."

Pretty solid life advise, really.

[pajaro]

I used to collect Sheaffer cheap cartridge pens when I was in elementary school. I am still fascinated by the ones I have and I try to find converters for them. I don't care much for writing with them, or for writing at all. The business of having to write stuff 500 or 1000 times killed that for all time.

[Detman101]

I think cheap pens is working out better for me. Picked up a Noodlers Ahab for $5 on eBay with the 20 year customer discount.
It's the perfect platform for a tinkerer like me. Since it arrived today I've put it through 3 different configurations of nibs and feeds and they ALL WORK! The design of this pen is GENIUS!! It's soooooooo flexible!
I got rid of the "stinky-ass" smell by putting the parts in a container of cheap coffee for 30 minutes...but now it smells like coffee and Im dying for another cup lol.
Used my newly trained skills to grind out a needle-point flex nib for it and it's everything I hoped for in a flex pen.
Once the .308 cartridges arrive I'll be penning full pages of FLEX missives without the ink running out.

And to think I spent so much money on that penbbs-456 for nothing but stress...


Sent from my LG-M210 using Tapatalk

[manoeuver]

glad that worked out for you-- you can also eyedropper-fill that Ahab.

[Detman101]

glad that worked out for you-- you can also eyedropper-fill that Ahab.

Indeed you can!
Between using the piston filler and eyedropping...I took the middle of the road and ordered a set of the .308 refill cartridges...that way the heat of my thigh doesn't affect the air volume in the ink chamber, but I still get 5ml ink capacity.

[Roe D Hym]

Cheap pens can be nice but unfortunately cheap usually means some fatal flaw. I have (had) a Jinhao 992 with a replacement medium nib and a steel ball bearing glued into the end of the barrel to give the pen some additional weight. The set up was quite nice. Sadly, the Jinhao 992 is made of brittle plastic and mine cracked around the cap ring. No fears though. I found a seller at Amazon selling 6 Jinhao 992 pens for the total cost of $20 (pens and shipping). Now, when one breaks I will only have to swap out the nib and glue another ball bearing into the barrel and I will off and running. By the way, to provide a little room for the ball bearing I cut off about 2 mm of the converter "screw". The "screw" is pretty long so eliminating 2 mm has absolutely no effect on the performance.

[Detman101]

Cheap pens can be nice but unfortunately cheap usually means some fatal flaw. I have (had) a Jinhao 992 with a replacement medium nib and a steel ball bearing glued into the end of the barrel to give the pen some additional weight. The set up was quite nice. Sadly, the Jinhao 992 is made of brittle plastic and mine cracked around the cap ring. No fears though. I found a seller at Amazon selling 6 Jinhao 992 pens for the total cost of $20 (pens and shipping). Now, when one breaks I will only have to swap out the nib and glue another ball bearing into the barrel and I will off and running. By the way, to provide a little room for the ball bearing I cut off about 2 mm of the converter "screw". The "screw" is pretty long so eliminating 2 mm has absolutely no effect on the performance.

Nice!! I looked a the Jinhao 992 and 991 as candidates for eyedroppering.
Nice pens, but the thin plastic is definitely the fatal flaw. Nice mod chopping off the end of the converter screw!!
How'd you go about getting the glue into the end of that body for the 992? I considered removing the end-cap and inserting...something...from that end along with some epoxy to reinforce the weak plastic there, then sticking the end-cap back on.

[Roe D Hym]

Detman 101: First of all I went to Goulet and discovered the "screw" is call the "knob". I coated the ball bearing with superglue and dropped it down and the pushed on it with a chop stick for about 30 seconds. I did a couple of trial runs and had no issues dropping the ball bearing straight down. As to the end, from what I hear cracks develop there due to the plug. I saw a video where the person removed the plug (push it out with a chop stick), sanded the post and and then re-installed it. The guy used epoxy but superglue would work. I think one could put a coat of epoxy on the plug and once that cured one could fill up the end with some epoxy by using a thin plastic coffee stir stick and allowing the epoxy to dribble down the stick. Epoxy putty would work as well and it would be easy to make a small ball and drop it down and then use the chopstick to mold it. The only issue I could foresee is that epoxy may not stick well to plastic and there could be small leaks.

[Detman101]

Detman 101: First of all I went to Goulet and discovered the "screw" is call the "knob". I coated the ball bearing with superglue and dropped it down and the pushed on it with a chop stick for about 30 seconds. I did a couple of trial runs and had no issues dropping the ball bearing straight down. As to the end, from what I hear cracks develop there due to the plug. I saw a video where the person removed the plug (push it out with a chop stick), sanded the post and and then re-installed it. The guy used epoxy but superglue would work. I think one could put a coat of epoxy on the plug and once that cured one could fill up the end with some epoxy by using a thin plastic coffee stir stick and allowing the epoxy to dribble down the stick. Epoxy putty would work as well and it would be easy to make a small ball and drop it down and then use the chopstick to mold it. The only issue I could foresee is that epoxy may not stick well to plastic and there could be small leaks.

Great methodology!
I'd go the epoxy route myself, that one sounds great!

[Kaputnik]

Here's a cheap pen that I took out just yesterday. No useful converter that I have will fit it, except perhaps for my worthless little Kaweco squeeze converter. I put a short cartridge in it.

It's a Stypen Up, a cheap pen with a gimmick, a retractable nib. Cost me $12 as an NOS item some years ago. It's no Vanishing Point; the pen needs to be capped to keep it from drying out, but there's a little extra protection against having it spit up inside the cap, or getting ink on your fingers when uncapping it. Writes well enough, and I put it in my pocket today. Once it's empty, it may never be used again, or I might remember it in a few years.

[Roe D Hym]

My 6 Sailors, oops, I mean Jinhao 992 pens, arrived on Sat. 6 pens and 6 converters for a total of $20. I rarely buy from Amazon but this was a great deal.

[Chuck Naill]

This>> "If I am unwilling to lose them, I should not be willing to own them."

Probably one of the great truisms of a happy life.

On the other hand, don't let your stuff own you. Something to think about, no doubt.

[SlowMovingTarget]

This>> "If I am unwilling to lose them, I should not be willing to own them."

Probably one of the great truisms of a happy life.

On the other hand, don't let your stuff own you. Something to think about, no doubt.

One of the more important things to learn. My father took off when I was 15. I had health problems and, naturally, depression. My mother looked to the congregation, and there were several friends of our family that tried to help. One of the more memorable occasions was from a man who had a few adult sons who'd already gone off to college. He was a Greek immigrant, and didn't speak a lot of English. Well enough to be understood. His approach to helping was just to spend time.

He started by asking for help. He had a farm with a house, a large barn, and a few acres of land that he was going to rent out to a family, and he "needed" help fixing it up. I was not a morning person, but my mom had loaned me out and I'd promised I'd help, so I was up at 6am for the drive out to the countryside. (In Michigan, this was an hour's drive, not a big deal.) We chatted on the way, but mostly we enjoyed the sunrise over the straw-colored fields as we wound down the back roads. It was a beautiful late summer day, sunny, a touch of breeze. Perfect for working outside. I don't know if it was odd, but I recall now, that we didn't spend a minute of that day indoors.

The work was hard. He taught me to mix mortar, and fix the wall with it. I slopped mortar with a trowel and secured it as it dried to shore up the north-facing wall. It took all morning. At noon we took a break. He'd packed our lunches that morning. Two slices of wheat bread, a single slice of provolone, a lone slice of ham, and a single banana. His lunch was the same. We sat and ate it, each sipping from a plastic cup of cool water he'd poured from a thermos. We didn't talk. It still stands out as one of my favorite sandwiches I've ever eaten. Not for its flavor, but for the morning's effort that went into making it so satisfying.

We got back to work. Me mortaring the wall, and him clearing out the drive up to the barn. At the end of the day he brought me over to show me the barn. It was absolutely packed from wall to wall with miscellany. A car engine stood on a block, with a car body covered by a tarp on the side. Tables piled with tools and parts lined the walls. The canopy of a small plane leaned up against one of the walls. Old, empty picture frames were stacked up against one of the other walls. Cans of paint, bags of cement, various lengths of wooden planks, two-by-fours, and other building materials filled in many of the open spaces. I couldn't really fathom what I was looking at. There was just so much stuff.

He put his arm on my shoulder and waved a hand at his belongings. With a pained expression he said, "Don't do this. You see? You don't do this. I can't move it." He looked down embarrassed and said one more time, regret in his voice, "You don't do this."

We didn't talk much on the way back either. We just enjoyed the sunset over the waving fields of grass. That day never left me. When I hear or read things like "don't let your stuff own you" I still think of that moment. The sandwich, the mortar on my shirt, and that barn... and I smile.

[Jon Szanto]

I still think of that moment. The sandwich, the mortar on my shirt, and that barn... and I smile.

A lovely story, and well-told. Thank you for sharing.

I think most people, with just a bit of thought and reflection, try to maintain a balance in their lives. The tyranny of possessions can be an enormous burden, not just in your own life but if you end up inheriting it from elders. The daunting task of getting rid of large amounts of stuff can drain not just your energy, but your soul.

This doesn't mean I don't value some of my things, especially when left for me by others, or items that embody the artistry and craftsmanship of a gifted human. Refining down that which you choose to keep and maintain - the current trendy word, of course, is curate - I find to be a worthwhile endeavor. I am left with less, but with more intrinsic meaning.

Again, thanks.

[AzJon]

This>> "If I am unwilling to lose them, I should not be willing to own them."

Probably one of the great truisms of a happy life.

On the other hand, don't let your stuff own you. Something to think about, no doubt.

Same sentiment, different words.

[Empty_of_Clouds]

As we're going in this direction, looking around my house I note that the largest collection of things is my books. Numbering in the hundreds when the collection once numbered in the thousands though. There are few ornaments - mostly mementos from foreign travel or gifts/bequests. Still, only enough to fill a shelf or two at most. There are some musical instruments from my past - bongos, keyboard, native American flute, couple of Chinese flutes - that are kept not from sentimentality but because there is possibility I may play any/all of them again.

The rest is stuff that fits my living requirements for now - chairs to sit on, table to eat off, bed to sleep in, wardrobe for clothes (I have few clothes and I tend to wear them until it would be embarrassing to do so), car for transport, sports equipment for currently engaged sports (mostly badminton rackets/gear and live swords), and tools for house/car maintenance.

Even pens.. there are 15, of which seven are inked. It could be argued that these are tools, although there is no doubt an element of aesthetic appeal to my choices.

By some people standards my home is rather sparsely populated with stuff. Not sterile by any means, but also not a hoarder's pad!


There is a danger when people talk about minimalism that the word is taken to mean getting rid of all your stuff, rather than more accurately minimising to what is felt to be essential to physical, mental and spiritual wellbeing.





Edit: in general my things don't own me. I remember a time a while back when I owned and drove a special edition Mitsubishi FTO (only 50 made worldwide). It was my pride and joy to the extent that I would take it out just to drive, with no destination or purpose other than that. Much as I did with motorbikes in my youth. Such fun. So, when a careless driver wrote my FTO off, with me in it at the time (not a pleasant experience as you may imagine), it was immensely frustrating, mostly because of the avoidable nature of the incident (it was the other driver's error). However, the point is that I had to use public transport for a while. A seamless enough transition in a city with a reasonable network, but oddly this episode stretched to nearly three years before I took the plunge and bought another car.

I guess the point is that I felt a kind of emotional attachment to that FTO, but when it was gone that feeling vanished like smoke in the breeze. A case a reality trumping immediacy.

[Detman101]

There is a danger when people talk about minimalism that the word is taken to mean getting rid of all your stuff, rather than more accurately minimising to what is felt to be essential to physical, mental and spiritual wellbeing.

I struggle to achieve this minimalism...The "One Pen to Rule Them All" methodology is my goal.
Once I have a pen with high ink capacity, flex-writing ability and proven durability...I'm good.
That will be my pen for everything.
Currently, I have a pen that does them all with the exception of the high ink capacity (due to it's metal body...have to refill the converter after 2 pages of flex writing)
We will see if that changes in the near future when my Penbbs-456 returns from the nibmeister.

[Chuck Naill]

For some instruments and tools, only one good one makes sense to me. That said, sometimes one tool is not effective and a collection of variables are needed. I have a tractor and a walk behing lawn mower and neither could be eliminated because it would impractical to attempt to mow a five acre field with the walk behind or use the tractor to mow the yard.

Collecting, for me, is about having an experience. I would not limit myself to only a Parker 51. I want to experience other pens and nibs. I am less into experiencing various inks, but that just me and means nothing for what others want to do.