So What's the Story on Chinese Pens?

[UK Mike]

I now have ten Chinese pens and every one of them is a smooth writer with decent feed. Have I been lucky? I have pens from Jinhao, Baoer, Duke and Hero.

I did have some initial feed problems with two Baoers. I soaked them overnight in detergent, flushed with clean water and they have been perfect ever since with Diamine inks. One of them has become a favourite and is used every day to complete my diary entry.

I think that Chinese quality (and quality control) have improved immensely over the last few years. You have to remember that these Chinese guys are building most of your electrical and electronic appliances.

[fountainpenkid]

I now have ten Chinese pens and every one of them is a smooth writer with decent feed. Have I been lucky? I have pens from Jinhao, Baoer, Duke and Hero.

I did have some initial feed problems with two Baoers. I soaked them overnight in detergent, flushed with clean water and they have been perfect ever since with Diamine inks. One of them has become a favourite and is used every day to complete my diary entry.

I think that Chinese quality (and quality control) have improved immensely over the last few years. You have to remember that these Chinese guys are building most of your electrical and electronic appliances.

But not these guys...
the only "chinese" pen I've had was a TWSBI Mini, but that doesn't count. I just haven't found many chinese pens that have non c/c fillers and aren't super cheezy or overdone (and ofcourse not many have 14k nibs either)

[Zhivago]

This past Saturday, I had three Chinese pens-all purchased less than six months ago-fall apart on me in different ways. My favorite being when I put a converter back into a Jinhao 159 and the entire nib/feed housing came flying out of the section. Apparently Jinhao doesn't use the best glue.

I wonder if three in one day is any kind of record. The old saying about getting what you paid for still has some truth.

[AndreasDavour]

I have seen these kinds of discussions now on all pen related fora, and while the quality control in China works to a different standard than in some other countries, I am reminded of Stephen Browns YouTube videos where he shows his Montblanc 149, which costs a fortune.

It skips, constantly.

All pens needs tweaking sometimes, whatever their land of origin. At least that is my experience (only from vintage pens, and newly made Chinese ones, but still).

[Zhivago]

For the record, all three pens mentioned above wrote well enough. But whether they were well made is another matter.

[Augustinian]

Thanks for this information. Helpful.

I buy chinese pens knowing that I am going to work on them and practice nib grinding with them. I have a lot of Chinese pens. I have found mostly good pens but there have been some dogs in the bunch. I have learned that a good pen will depend on where you get your pens. Ebay is my main source for Chinese pens but I also get them from isellpens.com (no affiliation). I hear hisnibs.com also has a good selection.

If you want Hero pens, get them from eBay user yespens or the retailers already mentioned. Others out there may be factory rejects or fakes, as ironic as that sounds. The best quality Chinese pens so far have been my Kaigelu pens. I purchased one of mine from eBay user jewelrymathematics pmstylus (sorry wrong ID, they sell Kaigelus out of California) and I figured out they are the supplier or somehow affiliated to isellpens.com. If you see some pen photos on isellpens.com and then look at jewelrymathematics ebay listings, you will understand. It is faster to get the pens through isellpens but I live about a 6 hour drive from his base of operations.

I like Jinhao pens. All of the Jinhaos I bought from ebay user Member id gotoschool888 have been good. Seller comeonXXXX (x= some numbers I don't remember right now) has been good too but takes longer to ship.

The two Huashilais I have purchased required major work to get them to write. This included feed modification. I have a feeling they were factory rejects because my Schrade tactical pen has the exact same feed and nib and it writes perfectly with cartridges. The ink channel seems more defined in the Schrade than the Huashilais. Those have been my only problem childs. gotoschool helped me with my first Chinese fountain pen that did not work, again a Huashilai. They told me to put the pen in very hot water for a few minutes then transfer immediately to cold water. I don't know if that helped clear out any machine oils but it worked and the pen has been fine since. I don't recommend using the hot water trick on other pens, you may damge the finish or feed on some pens.

I make it a point to flush the pens with amonia water before the first use and that seems to take care of a lot of problems. I do see some people taking the breather tube out of their Jinhaos for better flow. I have not had to do that though I do adjust the nib for more flow. I hope this has helped some.

[KrazyIvan]

Glad it helped you.

[cedargirl]

This past Saturday, I had three Chinese pens-all purchased less than six months ago-fall apart on me in different ways. My favorite being when I put a converter back into a Jinhao 159 and the entire nib/feed housing came flying out of the section. Apparently Jinhao doesn't use the best glue.

I wonder if three in one day is any kind of record. The old saying about getting what you paid for still has some truth.

One of the things I like about Jinhao and some other Chinese brand pens is that they don't use any glue to hold the nib and feed in the section so you can change nibs and re-seat the nib and section if needed. But, they are not supposed to fall out. That would make a mess. Sorry you had this experience with your pens.
I am mostly very pleased with my Chinese pens; but then again, I quite like tinkering with pens to bring them up to speed.

[ndw76]

I bought my first real Chinese pen yesterday. I have a TWSBI Vac 700, but I think of that as being a Taiwanese pen. Yesterday I went for a walk around the neighbourhood were my in-laws live looking for stationery stores run by old Chinese. I found a Hero 329 for 40 baht and I got two Skyglory pens, one of which I have given away, for 25 baht each. So that is three pens for about $3 usd. So far I am happy with all of them and even if they all break tomorrow for that price I don't care.

[kaisnowbird]

But not these guys...
the only "chinese" pen I've had was a TWSBI Mini, but that doesn't count. I just haven't found many chinese pens that have non c/c fillers and aren't super cheezy or overdone (and ofcourse not many have 14k nibs either)

Too true, especially the "overdone" part. I'd rather pay twice the price (still not very much) for something that look a lot more modest.

Chinese people in their 50s and 60s will be able to tell you that the major Chinese pen manufacturers (eg. Hero, Wing Sung, etc) produced way better nibs 30 years ago than what they are churning out today, especially a few models with gold nibs. Those nibs were very precise - not glassy smooth, they let you feel the paper, had a subtle bounce, and the result was crisp, controlled strokes that show the writer's emotions and skills, a hallmark of Chinese calligraphy. I would pay good money to get a NOS Hero 100 from the early 80s , though it may need a new sack.