Why This $15 Chinese Fountain Pen Outperforms a $500 Montblanc
The Jinhao Revelation
I had always lusted after expensive European fountain pens, believing the price tag meant a better writing experience. As a joke, I ordered a Jinhao x750, a hefty metal fountain pen from China, for about $15. I expected it to be scratchy and horrible. I inked it up, and my jaw dropped. The pen glided across the page with a wet, glassy smoothness that put my friend’s $500 Montblanc to shame. It was a shocking lesson that in the pen world, cost has almost no correlation with performance.
The “Secret” Way to Clean a Fountain Pen Perfectly in 60 Seconds
The Bulb Syringe Miracle
I used to spend ages cleaning my fountain pens, twisting the converter to flush out old ink, which took forever. Then I discovered the ultimate cleaning hack: a simple baby’s nasal aspirator, or bulb syringe. I bought one for two dollars at the pharmacy. Now, I just unscrew the pen’s nib section, stick the tip of the bulb syringe on the back, and use it to force jets of clean water through the feed. It completely flushes out every trace of old ink in under a minute.
I Made My Own Shimmering Ink Using Eye Shadow
From Makeup Palette to Ink Vial
I loved the look of expensive, shimmering fountain pen inks but couldn’t justify the price. I noticed that the shimmer in the ink looked a lot like the shimmer in my old, unused eyeshadow palettes. On a whim, I took a bottle of simple blue ink, scraped a small amount of gold, shimmery eyeshadow into it, and shook it well. It worked perfectly. The pen laid down a beautiful blue line with a stunning trail of golden shimmer. I had created a custom, boutique ink for free.
The One Nib Adjustment That Will Fix Any Scratchy Pen
Aligning the Tines
My brand-new fountain pen was scratchy and unpleasant. I thought it was defective. I looked at the nib through a cheap jeweler’s loupe and saw the problem: the two tines, the two halves of the nib tip, were slightly misaligned. One was higher than the other, causing it to scratch the paper. Using my thumbnail, I very gently pushed the higher tine down until it was perfectly even with the other. The scratchiness vanished instantly, and the pen wrote like a dream. It was a five-second fix that saved the pen.
Stop Using Cartridges: The Eyedropper Conversion That Holds 10x More Ink
The Power of Silicone Grease
I was tired of my fountain pen running out of ink so quickly with its tiny cartridges and converters. I learned about “eyedropper conversion.” I took a pen where the barrel was a solid piece of plastic. I took a small dab of pure silicone grease and applied it to the threads of the nib section. Then, I used a syringe to fill the entire barrel of the pen with ink and screwed it back together. The grease created a perfect, leak-proof seal. The pen now holds a colossal amount of ink and can write for weeks.
This Paper From a Dollar Store Is Surprisingly Fountain Pen Friendly
The Vietnamese Paper Miracle
Fountain pen users are obsessed with expensive paper like Tomoe River or Rhodia. I was in a dollar store and saw a notebook with “Made in Vietnam” on the back. I had heard a rumor that Vietnamese paper was often surprisingly good. I bought it for $1. It was amazing. The cheap, no-name paper handled my wettest inks with no bleeding or feathering. The ink sat right on top, showing off all its shading and sheen. It became my new go-to paper, outperforming pads that cost ten times as much.
How I Tuned a “Bad” Fountain Pen Nib to Write Like Butter
The Micromesh Method
I had a fountain pen with a “bad” nib. It wasn’t scratchy, just had an unpleasant, “draggy” feeling on the page. I learned how to tune it myself. I bought a set of micromesh polishing pads, which have an ultra-fine grit. I drew a few figure-eights on the roughest pad, then moved to progressively finer pads. This process smoothed out the microscopic imperfections on the tip of the nib without changing its shape. After a few minutes of polishing, the pen was transformed into one of the smoothest, most buttery writers in my collection.
The World’s Cheapest Gold Nib Fountain Pen (And Is It Any Good?)
The Hero 100 Experiment
Gold nibs are the height of luxury, often costing hundreds of dollars. I discovered the Hero 100, a classic Chinese fountain pen with a hooded, 14k gold nib, that sells for around $40. It felt too good to be true. When it arrived, it was slim and understated. The real test was the writing. The gold nib wasn’t buttery or wet; it had a unique, pencil-like feedback that was incredibly precise and pleasant. It wasn’t a “better” writer than steel, but it was a unique and fantastic writer, proving gold nibs don’t have to be a luxury item.
The Ink That Is 100% Waterproof the Second It Dries
The Magic of Pigment Inks
I addressed an envelope with my favorite fountain pen ink. A single drop of rain turned it into an illegible, blurry mess. I needed a permanent ink. I discovered pigment-based inks, like Platinum Carbon Black. Unlike normal inks, which are dyes that soak into paper, pigment inks are made of microscopic particles of carbon that sit on top of the paper and bond with the fibers. The moment it dries, it is completely immune to water. It cannot be smeared or washed away. It’s like a ballpoint, but for a fountain pen.
How to Write With a Fountain Pen So It Never Skips
It’s All in the Rotation
My fountain pen would often skip on fast strokes, especially side strokes. I thought the pen was faulty. The problem was how I was holding it. A fountain pen nib only writes properly when both tines are touching the paper equally. I realized that as I wrote, I was unconsciously rotating the pen in my hand, lifting one of the tines off the paper and causing the ink flow to stop. I forced myself to keep the top of the pen pointed straight up, with no rotation, and the skipping problem completely disappeared.